outside reading 3/8/10

Golden, Arthur. Memoirs of a Geisha. Vintage: New York, 1997. 428 pages.

Memoirs of a Geisha tell the true life story of a young Japanese girl, Chiyo Sakamoto, taken from her home and forced into the profession of a geisha. She is taken to the Nitta okiya (geisha house) and begins training to be a geisha in order to pay off the huge amount of debt she owes the Nitta house, Chiyo faces many hardships, such as her elder geisha Hatsumomo’s attempts to ruin her career before it even starts, and a desperate search for the family she was torn from. The meets the chairman of a Japanese company and falls in love, more like a crush, though. But this crush gives her something to strive for, and all of her efforts in her training pay off when she becomes one of the most famous geisha in Japan and eventually inherits the Nitta house. As corny as this sounds, all of her dreams come true. This story details culture of Japan not too long ago, around the time of World War II. It shows many of the female objectifying things the Japanese world do to make a woman an object of beauty. The Japanese standard of beauty is much different from out western ideas of beauty, so the process of becoming a geisha may seem weird to most people reading this book. The idea of being a geisha also seems similar to prostitution, but people must realize the definite distinction. Prostitutes have sex for money, Geisha entertain men for money, whether it involve sex or not. This book gives much insight and knowledge about a side of Japanese culture that most people over look and gives it in a way that one can relate. It covers a coming of age theme, an overcoming hardships theme, and does so as if you were listening to Chiyo/Sayuri telling you her story herself.

What if…

What if this story was westernized, told from the perspective of an American or English girl sold to a brothel, so the story would make more sense to a western audience. How would the story be different and in what ways would the story be the same.

Haiku

(Ironically appropriate.)

Young girl bought and sold

She had to learn to be bold

Story to be told

A white guy and a black chick walk into a Spanish bar...

Hills Like White Elephants

A couple comes to a crossroads at a train station in Spain. They are both facing a tough decision in their futures. The man is known only as an American, and the young girl is known as Jig. Jig may refer to a derogatory term for black women. The man and the girl walk into a bar and have a conversation/ argument about something they never explicitly state. The girl states: “It tastes like liquorice,” and this statement may really how young she really is by Describing a beer as a candy.

Then the man tells her about the operation is really simple, and that he will stay with her the whole time. This suggests that this is something she is reluctant to do. He is insistent that the go thought with it but he doesn’t want to force her to do it. The girl might be pregnant and the operation their talking about might be an abortion. The man obviously doesn’t want the child, but doesn’t want to hurt his girlfriend’s feelings.

They wander from place to place in search of answers to their dilemma, wandering with no purpose but other than to try and escape from the issue that face.

Bernice Bobs Her Hair

The short story “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is the story of how a socially awkward girl is tricked into cutting off her hair. The story is about Bernice, who is visiting her cousin Marjorie, who is more outgoing but is a stereotypical “mean girl”, and Marjorie finds that having such an anti social person around with her during parties and other social activities during this summer is a burden on her fun. Bernice over hears Marjorie complaining to her mother and decides it’s time to leave, but Marjorie calls her bluff and offers to teach Bernice how to be more social, though not with the best intentions.

In the beginning Bernice’s hair is long and beautiful like any other girl’s during the “roaring twenties”. Long Hair is the symbol of femininity, and if girl expects to be popular, she must have long hair. When Marjorie teaches Bernice how to be more social and suggests that she tell all of the boys that she might bob her hair. The rich boys become more interested with her because the idea of cutting her hair seems almost scandalous, despite the fact that she has no true intention of cutting her hair. Bernice becomes much more popular, and actually begins to enjoy herself.

The crisis point of the story occurs when Marjorie reveals to Bernice’s male friends that Bernice was only teasing them when she talked about bobbing her hair. Bernice, willing to prove herself, goes into a barber shop and bobs her hair. When she arrives home that night her Aunt Josephine is in shock and awe. Bernice was not aware of the fact that the nest day she was supposed to be at a party hosted by a Mrs. Deyo, a woman who is against females with bobbed hair.

During the “roaring twenties” women were assuming greater roles in society. The line:”But a girl has to be dainty in person. If she looks like a million dollars she can talk about Russia, ping pong, or the League of Nations and get away with it”, Suggests two things. One; that women are expected to be “dainty, and behave a certain way, such as to have long hair. Two this line mentions the League of Nations, an organization created after World War One to prevent another war form ever happening. This is important because, the First World War was crucial for women to gain rights such a voting, and it was around this time that women, in a show of their independence began to bob their hair.

When Bernice bobbed her own hair, according to society she became less of a woman. Her so called friends abandoned her and her aunt explained how cutting her hair is now a burden because she will only cause chaos at Mrs. Deyo’s party. Contrarily, Bernice cutting her hair could symbolize being a stronger woman. The whole point of women cutting their hair at that time was to show they are stronger than once thought. This can be shown when Bernice gets her own revenge against Marjorie and is brave enough to go back to her own home. The night after she cuts her hair she cuts Marjorie’s hair as well.