Thousand Cranes Final Project

One of the most important factors that make up a book is the characters. Authors portray characters in various ways. In the novel Thousand Cranes, the author Yasunari Kawabata depicts various characters. One of the characters, Kikuji Mitani is used by Kawabata in the novel. Kikuji represents a character that has been put to the test in the Japanese culture. Kawabata also uses his relationship with other characters to advance the character of Kikuji.
Kikuji is a fairly young Japanese man in his twenties. Kikuji lives alone, being that both of his parents had passed away. One thing that is left out of the novel is a real introduction to Kikuji. We know little of his physical appearance and the only way to find out about the character is by reading the novel. Kikuji lives a basic life where he goes to work and then back home. He is also deeply affected by the choices that his father had made back when he was alive. Kikuji’s father was with several other women in his life and this is one of the main reasons that Kikuji wants nothing to do with his father. It doesn’t matter how much Kikuji tries to get away from his father’s past it still comes back to haunt him. Even though Kikuji knows what is going on around him, he does little to nothing to stop it.
Kikuji is a type of person that will just let things go by him and deal with them at the last moment. Kikuji’s personality can be described as passive because of his way of dealing with life situations. Throughout the story Kikuji is faced with the women of his father’s past who seem like they will never leave him alone. One of the Chikako Kurimoto is basically trying to take over his life. She tries to set him up with a girl without Kikuji’s actual consent. At first Kikuji isn’t exactly in love with the idea but then he begins to fantasize about the girl. After a while Kikuji wants nothing to do with the idea of marrying the girl because he doesn’t want Chikako to be involved with his life. In the novel Kikuji says, “I have bad memories of Kurimoto……..I don’t want that woman’s destinies to touch mine at any point. It’s hard to believe that she introduced us.” (Kawabata 53). This shows how Kikuji had a problem with Chikako but he didn’t directly deal with it, instead he just passed it on to another person. Kikuji is the type of person that will bottle stuff up inside and he never gets the chance to express himself. Being the only real male character in the novel, Kikuji represents someone against the odds. He is being pushed to the limit with his father’s women but he has no real way of dealing with it. When another one of Mr. Mitani’s women, Mrs. Ota, comes into Kikuji’s life he also doesn’t know what to do. He ends up having relations with her but he tries to escape it. Mrs. Ota kills herself before Kikuji gets a chance to talk to her. I believe that Kikuji should try to express himself more often and stop worrying about what other people do around him.
When Kikuji is faced by other people he tends to back down. When he is told that he is going to married to the Iwamura girl by Chikako he doesn’t really express his disapproval. At the beginning of the novel Kikuji doesn’t really have a clear motivation. As the novel progresses Kikuji is faced with opportunities that interest him. Kikuji begins to like the Iwamura girl but before he can act upon his desires he is told that she is already married. Kikuji also begins to fall in love with Mrs. Ota’s daughter Fumiko. Kikuji is around her frequently and in his mind he knows that he loves her but he never tells her. This is one of the main reasons Kikuji is left alone at the end of the novel, if he would just act upon his thoughts, he would be in a different position. At the end of the book Kikuji is left alone with Chikako, a thought that he dreads. I believe that its Kikuji’s fault that he is alone at the end of the book because he had many opportunities to be with someone. Kikuji represents a Japanese man, which in perspective differs from Western men. In my opinion a Western man would probably put Chikako in her place and fight for what is basically his.
Overall, a key character can help a story advance a lot. One thing that I dislike is that Kawabata leaves a lot of the story out. I feel that not just Kikuji, but many other characters are incomplete and are only an outline of what the character could potentially be. We don’t really know much about Kikuji and we are left to interpret the character. If Kawabata would of included a little more information on the character, then we could of possibly be able to understand the decisions he makes.