Memoirs of a Geisha

Personal notes and analysis

Character analysis

Hihi..now..a little of my own analysis of the characters..

Main characters of ‘memoirs of a Geisha’

1.    Sayuri Nitta(chiyo sakamoto)

-         She is the protagonist of this novel, a girl that was once called chiyo that lived in Yoroido, a fishing village. She was sold along with her sister Satsu to Kyoto. She began growing up in the okiya learning the arts to be a Geisha, she goes through a lot of hardships and difficulties. Hatsumomo hates her and attempted to make her life nothing but all the worst. However she strives to survive through these awful days and after the meeting with the chairman, that gave her courage and hope to move on in her life. She meets up with Mameha that taught her the way of being a Geisha. Together, Mameha as her older sister and her apprentice geisha Sayuri, they go out to teahouses to gain popularity. Although Hatsumomo still stands in their way, Mameha helped Sayuri to catch hatsumomo off balance and they overpowered her in the end. Sayuri became the daughter of the okiya adopted by Mother and Hatsumomo was driven out in the end. War came and Sayuri, Mameha and the other Geisha’s retreated to different locations to avoid the violence. After the war, they all came back as Geisha again and in the end Sayuri has the chairman as her danna and live her a happy life.

2.    Hatsumomo( Sayuri’s arch enemy)

-         Hatsumomo is Sayuri’s rival. In the beginning she made Sayuri’s life miserable by blaming her in many thing that she didn’t do, thus causing her to be punished and spanked and even caused her to have a huge debt to her okiya. She somehow knew Sayuri has potential to be a much successful Geisha than her. When Sayuri was training to be a Geisha with Mameha, hatsumomo stood in their way and tries to sabotage Sayuri’s career. In the end, Sayuri got a high price for her mizuage and was adopted as the daughter of the okiya. With her power and authority that she now have, Hatsumomo was driven out from the okiya.

3.    Mameha (Sayuri’s older sister- a successful and popular Geisha)

-         Mameha is Sayuri’s older sister and also her teacher. She teaches her how to be a Geisha and helps her get rid of Hatsumomo and protected her from Hatsumomo’s cunning plans. She introduced Sayuri to a couple of famous and rich people, Nobu-san, Doctor Crab, the Baron that is Mameha’s danna.

4.    Nobu san and the chairman

-         Nobu-san met Sayuri at a sumo tournament. He is interested in Sayuri and a good friend to her. He helps her escape to a safe place when the war took place. He is also interested in being her danna.

-         The chairman is the person Sayuri loves and admires, when she was still a little girl, the chairman shows a bit of kindness and bought her some snacks and helped her, she was filled with hope again. In Sayuri’s  perspective, he is her savior that brought her out of darkness and into the light. In the end he became Sayuri’s danna and they lived together happily.

Themes

1.     Destiny

-         Throughout the story we can see how the protagonist,  Sayuri struggles through various difficulties before she reached her goals and dreams and to be a Geisha with a successful career. Although it is not the path she chose to walk, it is her destiny to become a geisha according to the story.

2.     Beauty

-         By looking through the Marxism lens at the novel, appearances is strongly applied to a person’s success in their career.  The apprentice geisha’s mizuage  of a more popular or much more beautiful Geisha will be paid for in a larger amount of money comparing to a less beautiful one.

3.     Deception

-         Through the novel, competition and deception was brought out. Friends betrayed their friends and they compete and try to take out one another using cunning ways in order to compete to be the best.

4.     Power and authority

-         Power and class issues can be seen throughout the whole novel, popularity, fame, beauty all applies to one’s success in whatever they do.

5.     metamorphosis

Interesting Quotes

1.     “’ You, growing up in a dump like Yoroido. That’s like making tea in a bucket!’” (Golden 2)

2.     “Someone has been cruel to you…or perhaps life has been cruel.’”( Golden 124)

3.     “In that brief encounter with the chairman, I had changed from a lost girl facing a lifetime of emptiness to a girl with purpose in her life.” (Golden 125)

4.     “A lower class geisha…nightly basis”(Golden 165)

-there is a difference in class issues, here Geisha’s are judged by their class. As this line that was quoted described how a lower class Geisha would go out with any random men for the whatever income the men pays.. but a higher ranking Geisha would not do such things as they are ranked higher and are afraid to lose their fame and spoil their good reputation.

5.     “ And when…pleasing him” (Golden 172)

6.     “’Because I’m more beautiful. Does she need a better reason?”(Golden 154)

7.     “ It isn’t what you’d called an exciting affair; and as …shadow”(Golden 193)

8.     “I don’t mean to suggest Pumpkin had become a beauty rival to Hatsumomo…before”(Golden 420)

9.     “Whatever our struggles… ink on paper” (Golden 493)

Critical lenses

1.     Marxism

2.     Gender

3.     Historical

LENS to focus…

MARXISM lens (class issues)

~ important points to look on using the Marxist lens…

-         beauty

-         patriarchy

-         fame/popularity

-         power of higher status or people given power and authority

-         physically overpowering

Analysis of film and development of the Thesis

Themes and  thoughts

1. Power and authority

-          In the film, there is various scenes where mistreatment towards lower class people were shown. Power and authority determines a person’s worth and quality.

-          There is patriarchy in the film where men are seen to have power over women.

-          People will automatically judge and treat you according to your class. This provides a huge amount of evidence where Marxism is seen. A person’s worth and quality is measured by the class and power.

When a men named Bamatabois assaulted and touched Fantine’s body, she scratched his face. Javert the police inspector came into the scene and asked what happened. The men who touched Fantine accuses her of what she did to his face and made up a story that she was the one who attacked him. Javert believes his story and accuses Fantine of being sent to the court. Patriarchy is shown here, that the men have authority over the women,  that Javert chooses to believe the story made up by the men instead of her. To him, she is just a mere prostitute and that her words are not worth to be believed.

2. Fighting for freedom

-          They fight for freedom because their freedom was restricted.

-          They are restricted by the laws and they have no power to choose their own way in life.

-          The characters in the film are restricted from being able to become an honest and better person. Judgments was placed on top of their heads even before they have the strength to change their lifestyle.

The theme where freedom to choose one’s path in life and the will to live determined with pride by higher class people shows how one’s freedom to live their life freely is stolen away from them. This is significant to the plot because it shows how people are judged and their life can be freely lived according to classes in society.

 Quotes in film(shows Msrxist in society)

      -  The film argues that it is not right to determine one’s behavior by only recognizing the class they belong to.

Q: “And of course the thief denies it, You’d expect that from a con. But he couldn’t run for ever, No, not even Jean Valjean.”(Hugo)

     -  The antagonist in Les Miserables by the name Javert is wrong to discriminate Jean Valjean, saying that he will never change. (not given any opportunities)

Q: “Men like me can never change. Men like you can never change. No, 24601! My duty is to the law. You have no rights. Come with me, 24601!”(Hugo)

3    -  Putting judgments on one based on their class, considering their honorable lives as much more valuable and worthy and that those of the lower classes that is judged to be worthless. 

Q: “He knows his way in the dark.Mine is the way of the Lord. Those who follow the path of the righteous Shall have their reward. And if they fall as Lucifer fell - The flame! The sword!”(Hugo)

1.      Patriarchy- shows how men and women is treated with a totally opposite approach when Javert chose to believe the men’s tale instead of the women’s. People that are unfairly treated.

Q: “My life was a war that could never be won. They gave me a number and murdered Valjean. When they chained me and left me for dead. Just for stealing a mouthful of bread! ” (Hugo)

2.      Higher class people in Les Miserables have better life and people treat them with honor and courtesy, but people considered as of the lower class losses their pride and dignity. One should not treat a person with a judgmental eye but he should accept them like any other.

Q: “He treated me like any other. He gave me his trust. He called me brother. My life he claims for God above...Can such things be? For I had come to hate the world -This world that always hated me!”(Hugo)

1.      Valjean, the protagonist of Les Miserables, having to run away from the despicable yet stubborn Javert that hunts him for years and he is not allowed to be free from the law.

Q: “I am the law and the law is not mocked! I’ll spit his pity right back in his face! There is nothing on earth that we share! It is either Valjean or Javert! How can I allow this man, to hold dominion over me?” (Hugo)

Using the Marxist criticism to make an analysis and connection to the film:

1. Les Miserables is all about how one’s quality of life if affected by their class. There are many people from different backgrounds and class, and they were treated and judged differently. It raises Marxist issues when a person’s freedom and opportunity was restricted just because of their class.

2. Les miserables criticizes on class differentiation and inequality, portraying the social abomination.