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almost no one, he found himself longing for a companion” 19. He wants a friend to talk to, and he asked to be called a geisha to accompany him.
4.2.4 Concept of Love between Shimamura and Komako
Robert Sternberg said that liking is kind of love that reflects true friendship, in which a person feels a bondedness, a warmth, and a closeness with
another but not intense passion or long-term commitment. It involves closeness and communication. It has no passion or deep commitment 315. Liking is
became the first stage of love between Shimamura and Komako because it only involves intimacy. From the first meeting between Shimamura and Komako,
Shimamura has begun to like Komako, but he keeps distance from Komako for her cleanliness that he is affirmed that Komako is an innocent young woman and
not a geisha. He does not want an affair and only wants to be friend with her because he will fell guilty if he has an affair with a clean woman.
“But haven’t I told you it’s exactly because I want to be friends with you that I behaved so well? ...Suppose I were to go too far
with you. Very probably from tomorrow I wouldn’t want to talk to you. I couldn’t stand the sight of you. I’ve had to come into the
mountains to want to talk to people again, and I’ve left you alone so that I can talk to you.”
To him this woman was an amateur. His desire for a woman was not of a sort to make him want this particular woman-it was
something to be taken care of lightly and with no sense of guilt. This woman was too clean. From the moment he saw her, he had
separated this woman and the other in his mind 22-23.
Shimamura also wants Komako as the friend that he will introduce to his family whenever he could bring his family to the mountain hot spring. He also
thinks even to take his wife take dancing lessons to keep from getting bored.
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Shimamura thinks that Komako is an amateur that would be a good companion for his wife.
Their relationship changes into infatuation when finally Komako gives herself to Shimamura at the night before he left to Tokyo the next day on his first
visit to Tokyo 37. Here their relationship involves passion but shares no intimacy or commitment. From the narrator’s explanation, it can be known that
Shimamura only a man that wants to fulfil his sexual desire although at first he only wants to be friend with Komako.
On the Shimamura’s second visit, their relationship then changes into romantic love that involves intimacy and passion. It can be known from
Shimamura’s mannerism that he observes Komako and then is aroused. “When she bowed her head, a little stiffly, he could see that even her back under her
kimono was flushed a deep red. Set off by the color of her hair, the moist sensuous skin was as laid naked before him”39. It shows that Shimamura’s
imagination wanders to the time when they had intimate activities and then lie together naked on his previous visit. The memory of Komako, brings Shimamura
closer to Komako. His stage of love involves intimacy and also passion. Shimamura not only interested physically to Komako, but also emotionally since
he has curiousity to read her diary. Although Komako does not want Shimamura to read her diary, Shimamura follow her to the house of dancing teacher, the place
where Komako lives. Shimamura become more curious about Komako, about her relationship with Yukio, the sick man, and also Yoko, who takes care of Yukio.
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On his third visit, at first Shimamura takes their relationship as a client and a geisha. He gets back to the snow country only for finds sensory and sexual
pleasure in Komako. It can be seen from his words asking Komako, “Aren’t you warm, though” 103. Passion overwhelms their relationship that according to
Robert Sternberg that their relationship is considered as infatuation. Eventually their relationship become romantic love since intimacy occurs
in their relationship. It can be seen from narration, “They had long been apart, but what eluded his grasp when he was away from her was immediately near and
familiar when he was beside her again.” 104. It shows that Shimamura begins to feel closer to Komako. The closeness feeling makes him talk to Komako like
close friends. Then they spend the day together. When he was far away, he thought incessantly of Komako; but
now that he was near her, this sighing for the human skin took on a dreamy quality like the spell of the mountains. Perhaps he felt a
certain security; perhaps he was at the moment too intimate, too familiar with her body. She had stayed with him the night befor.
Sitting alone in the quiet, he could only wait for her. He was sure she would come without his calling. 112
The quotations shows that Shimamura misses Komako when he is far away from her, but when he is near to her, he does not have the feeling since
Komako leaves no space for him to miss her. The more Komako wants to go further with Shimamura, the less interested
Shimamura with her. He is only interested on her physical attraction rather than emotional attraction. Instead, Shimamura gets more attracted to Yoko day by day,
“Now that he knew Yoko was in the house, he felt strangely reluctant to call Komako.” 127.
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Shimamura’s feeling to Komako continues to change throughout the novel. It is all because of Shimamura’s inconsistence. Shimamura started to
neglects Komako anymore. It can be seen from the statement that Komako complains that Shimamura does not glance back when he sees her 128.
Shimamura does not have concern about Komako anymore. Their relationship starts to decrease at the point when Shimamura
accidentally reveals the way he sees Komako when he is drunk. Komako takes care of him and in her warmness, Komako treats Shimamura like a child. They
were silent for some moments. “You’re a good woman.”
“How am I good?” “A good woman.”
“What an odd person.” Her face was hidden from him, as though she were rubbing her jaw against an itching shoulder. The suddenly
Shimamura had no idea why, she raised herself angrily to an elbow.
“A good woman-what do you mean by that? What do you mean?” He only stared at her.
“Admit it. That’s why you came to see me. You were laughing at me. You were laughing at me after all.” 147-148
Those quotations reveal the way Shimamura views towards Komako. Shimamura takes their relationship as merely between a client and a geisha, no more
friendship on it. They have no more intimacy and their relationship goes decreasing until finally Shimamura leaves the snow country. For Shimamura,
human intimacy is not long lasting. It means that he believes his intimacy with Komako is also not long lasting. It can be seen from his manner: “As Shimamura
thought absently how human intimacies have not even so long a life, the image of Komako as the mother of another man’s children suddenly floated into his mind.
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He looked around, startled. Possibly he was tired.” 154. It also shows that probably Shimamura is tired of all his relationship with Komako. Then he begins
to remember his own family. He had stayed so long that one might wonder whether he had
forgotten his wife and children. ... And the more continuous the assault became, the more he began to
wonder what was lacking in him, what kept him from living as completely. He stood gazing at his own coldness, so to speak. He
could not understand how she had so lost herself. ... And he knew that he could not go on pampering himself forever.
155
The quotation reveals that Shimamura only enjoys the pleasure with Komako physically. Their relationship loses the intimacy an more to the client and geisha
relationship. The final of the story tells that Shimamura’s relationship with Komako is
really wrecked as his thought that the years and months with Komako seemed to be lighted up in that instant; and there, he knew, was the anguish. Their
relationship only involves intimacy and passion without commitment, which combined differently as liking, infatuation, and romantic love on different
conditions of their meeting. It is all because of Shimamura’s selfishness and inconsistence.
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CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
This chapter consists of two parts. The first is the conclusion of the analysis. The second part is the suggestion for further researchers on the novels as
well as the suggestion for teaching-learning activities using the novel.
5.1 Conclusions
This part discusses the conclusion of the analysis in chapter 4. There are two conclusions based on the analysis of the problem formulation. It is related to
the characterization of Shimamura as the main character in Kawabata’s Snow Country and also his motivation to have a love relationship with a hot-spring
geisha named Komako. Shimamura plays significant role in the novel since he appears from the beginning until the end of this novel.
The first conclusion is about the characteristic of Shimamura in Kawabata’s Snow Country. The analysis of Shimamura’s characteristics is based
on Murphy’s theory which present nine ways in presenting characters in a novel. There are five characteristics of Shimamura in Kawabata’s Snow Country.
Shimamura is a good-looking man. It can be seen from the massager’s speech that he is an ideal man that has proportional body and how nice he is. From Komako’s
speech is also known that Shimamura is a neat man who always shaves himself nice and blue. Shimamura is also a wealthy man. He comes from a wealthy
family, from a merchant family in Tokyo. He is also a dilettante that can be
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