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faces his misfortunes, it helps us to define what man is and what he can be Gordon, 1973, p.1. Tragedy can occur because of a tradition. In this part, the
writer deals with the reason why Chieko has to go through her tragic life. Chieko becomes the victim from an old tradition in Kyoto, namely twins not being
accepted in society. Because of it, she was abandoned by her parents. It is the beginning of the tragedies that she goes through. The first tragedy, she is
abandoned by her biological parents; second, her love is betrayed by Hideo; third, her marriage is cancelled; and fourth, she feels lonely after being left by her twin
sister.
1. Chieko is Abandoned by her Biological Parents
Chieko has spent her life as an adopted child of Takichiro’s family. She is abandoned in front of their home. When Chieko is in middle school, Shige tells
her that she was adopted. She thinks a child who was in middle school is able to be mature and think clearly.
“I was in middle school, I think, when my mother called me to her and told me I was not her own daughter, not one who caused her the pain of
childbirth. She said they stole a lovely baby and escaped in a car. But mother and father slip up and tell me different stories about where they got
me. Sometimes they say it was in the evening beneath the cherry blossoms at Gion. Other times it’s the riverbed of the Kamo. They think it would be
too painful for me to know I was abandoned in front of the shop.” p.16
However, they lie about where Chieko comes from. Chieko feels strange and does not believe in the story. Their way in adopting Chieko is like in the old
story The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, in which the tiny princess Kaguyahime was found between the joints of a stalk of bamboo.
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“If it’s true, where did you find me?” “Under the cherry blossoms at night at Gion Shrine,” her mother
responded without hesitation. “I may have told you before, but there beneath the blossoms a lovely baby had been laid on a bench to sleep. She
looked up at us and smiled like a flower. I couldn’t help but pick her up. When I did my heart was pierced. I couldn’t bear it. I pressed my cheek
against hers. When I looked at your father’s face he said, ‘Shige,let’s take this baby.’ ‘What?’ ‘Hurry, let’s go.’ The rest is like a frantic dream. I
think we jumped into the car in front of the restaurant Hiranoya.” p.36
Actually, Chieko knows where she comes from. Chieko is very sad because she knows that Takichiro and Shige lied to her about her origin. The thing
that makes her so sad is that she learned that not from Takichiro or Shige, but from her neighbors.
Chieko had caught wind of the neighbors’ whispers and realized that she was a foundling, but she had forced not to wonder about what sort of
parents had abandoned her. p.93
Chieko was abandoned by her biological parents in front of the door of the shop. “I was a foundling, left in front of the red lattice door of the shop.” p.15.
There is a tradition in which twins must be separated. This tradition is done by Chieko’s biological parents. Twins are not common in Japan. In historical periods,
it was believed that having twins was a bestial act; hence it was common to hide this reality by doing separate registrations or in this case of Kawabata’s
characters, to be abandoned Anonymous, 1936. From this situation, the writer infers that her biological parents hope to help Chieko, to make sure that her
daughter lives and is cared for. Therefore, they placed Chieko at the door of the shop.
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There is a folk wisdom in Japan that says adopting a baby often induces a mother to bear her own p.73, but that does not happen to Shige. She still cannot
have a biological child. Chieko is then raised as a beloved only child. “The sky has turned such a summer color,” her mother said as she too
looked up. “Chieko, you were born in this house. I didn’t give birth to you, but you were born here.” p.72
Shige’s love for Chieko is very deep. Shige tries to guarantee Chieko’s love, so that the girl can assume Takichiro and Shige are her parents and
voluntarily stay with them. She does not want to lose Chieko and does not want Chieko to go back to her biological parents. It is because she is an invaluable
treasure which Shige cannot live without. “Your real parents were probably crazed with grief. When I think about it,
even now I feel I should return you, but it’s too late. If you wanted to leave us to seek out your real parents I couldn’t stop you, but I would probably
die.” “Mother, don’t say such thing. You are the only mother I have. I always
felt that way as I was growing up.” “I understand. And that makes my sin all the worse. I realize that your
father and I will go to hell …. What is hell? Perhaps it would be to have our dear daughter leave us.” p.35
A teenager when faced with such situation must feel stressed. Chieko then finds out that she is an orphan. Her biological parents have died and she has never
seen or met them. She learns this from Naeko, her twin sister. “And your father?” Chieko asked.
“A long time ago he slipped and fell when he tried to jump from one tree to another while cutting brances in the Kitayama cedars. He hit in a bad
place. That’s what the people in the village say. I don’t know for myself. I had just been born at the time.”
Chieko felt her heart had been pierced. p.87
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Chieko’s biological mother died ten years ago, which caused Naeko become an orphan; she was cared for by another family. Chieko is very sad
knowing it. “Miss, this is the house where I’m staying. Please come in and looked
around.” Chieko did not respond.
“They won’t mind. They’ve taken care of me here almost ten years,” Naeko said. p.170
Only a few people who actually know about Chieko’s problem. However Chieko is unable to bear the burden alone. Therefore, she tells her friend Shin’ichi
that she is an abandoned child. “Shin’ichi. I was an abandoned child, a foundling,” Chieko spoke
abruptly. p.15
However, Shin’ichi is confused by Chieko’s talk and does not believe that Chieko was abandoned. He tries to console her and give her wise words.
“Abandoned,” Shin’ichi whispered. “Even you sometimes feel as though you were an abandoned child, Chieko? If you are abandoned, then so am I
… spiritually. May be all people are abandoned children. Perhaps being born is like being abandoned on this earth by God.”
Shin’ichi stared at Chieko’s profile. The glow of dusk colored her cheeks ever so faintly. Perhaps it was the poignancy of the spring evening.
“They do say we are God’s children. He abandons us here, then tries to save us…” p.15
Chieko discovers something tragic, that she has been abandoned by her biological parents. Generally, an abandoned child is one who is not expected by
his or her parents. Moreover, her adoptive parents lied about Chieko’s origin, forcing her to learn about her true origins from other people. However, there is a
positive side to her life as an abandoned child. She is very lucky because she is raised by a good family and still follows the old traditions. Maybe if she was
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raised by her biological parents, she would not get a basic moral and intellectual education due to their background as cedar tree cutter in a small village in
Kitayama. Chieko’s tragic life, as an abandoned child, has cultural value. According
to Vansina, Chieko’s tragic life testimonies through the medium of the past because it conforms to cultural ideas, thus turning them into examples to be
followed 1965, pp.97-108.
2. Her Love is Betrayed by Hideo
