76
and restart another brand new life in eternity. Further, death will be able to create an eternal union which is not only for ‘the two of them’, but also for the three of
them including the husband.
185
It is because in death, the woman will find the utmost tranquility for her whole family in the Realm of Emptiness.
186
Those spectacles that are influenced by Zen Buddhism point of view which sees death as
another form of life since everything is parts of another. In the next section, another portrait of death which is depicted in others
selected Kawabata’s English version short stories used in this study will be revealed. In the further discussion, death is seen as total liberation that can be seen
in the two English version short stories used in this study entitled “Mother” and “Death Mask”.
D. Total Liberation
In this section, Kawabata presents another positive image of death that can be found in his writings. Besides depicted as final redemption, death is seen as
total liberation in Kawabata’s writings. This notion is aligned with Zen Buddhism teachings about death and its presence in human life.
187
Hermeneutically speaking, it reminds the readers that Zen Buddhism teachings do not acknowledge the
presence of logical dualism in the Realm of Emptiness since death and life are regarded as mere notions since everything comes from the same source in the
Realm of Emptiness.
188
Those notions are regarded only as point of references
185
ibid., p. 54.
186
Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture 37.
187
Hin-Jee 266.
188
Davies and Osamu Ikeno 225.
77
which may help people to understand their true nature as natural entities in the Realm of Emptiness that always exist. As mentioned by Hanh that there is no
coming or going since those are only notions which may create false illusion about the agony of death and life.
189
Hence, the consciousness about the true nature of death and life may bring total liberation to people. They will be free
from the misleading concepts of worldly notions and gain enlightenment that death is only another part of being alive.
190
These notions can be found in one of Kawabata’s English version short stories that are used in this study entitled
“Mother”. It is a story of a sick husband who is afraid of infecting his healthy wife and son. He even decides to stay away from his wife and son for the sake of their
health. It is because he does not want them to run the same terrible fate to be infected by the lung’s disease that sucks in his life spirit. The husband is really
persistent in defending his decision to keep a distance with his wife and son. No matter how hard his wife tried to convince him about her willingness to share the
same illness, the husband refuses her and prefers to ‘commit a love suicide together’ with his illness.
191
As it can be seen in the quotation that is taken from the story “Mother” below:
... Inside the glass door, the wife wiped her husband’s body with alcohol. He was so thin
that grime collected in the hollows between his ribs. “You look as though... Well, you and your illness want to commit a love suicide
together.” “Maybe so. Since it’s a lung disease, the bug is eating toward my heart.”
“That’s right. Those germs are closer to your heart that I am. When you fell ill, the first thing you did was to become terribly selfish. You’ve spitefully closed the door
189
Hanh 12.
190
Hin-Jee 266.
191
Kawabata, Palm of the Hand Stories 79.
78
through which I used to reach inside you. If you could walk, you would surely leave and abandon me.”
192
Further, the husband even thinks that his illness is a kind of curse instead of a fate that is passed down from his parents to him as their child and later will
also be passed down to his child with all its bad luck. The wife tries to convince him that it is only his negative thought since “what happened to the parents does
not necessarily happen to the child”.
193
In order to prove it, the wife urges her husband to infect her with his disease and finally, she gets what she wants as it
can be seen in another quotation below taken from “Mother”:
“A three-way suicide would be fine. I don’t want to just casually look on as the two of you commit suicide. Even if your mother did catch your father’s disease, I won’t catch
your disease. What happened to the parents does not necessarily happen to the child.” “That’s true. I didn’t know if I would come down with the same illness my parents
had until I got sick. But I have come down with the same disease.” “That’s all right, isn’t it? Perhaps I had better catch it. Then you wouldn’t try to stay
away from me.” “Think about our child.”
“Our child-what do you mean?” “You don’t understand how I feel. You don’t understand; your mother is alive.”
“That’s a prejudice-a prejudice. When you talk to me like that, I get so vexed I want to
kill my mother. I want to swallow some germs. And I will, I will” Screaming, she flew toward her husband, aiming for his lips. He grabbed her collar.
“Give me the germs. Give them to me.” His wife writhed. He forced her to the floor with just the strength in his bones. He lay on top of her. Her kimono was open. He spat
blood on her white round breast and rolled to the floor. “D-D-. Don’t give this breast to the child.”
194
Finally, the wife gets infected by the husband’s disease and must be put in the same room that the husband used to isolate himself. Yet, the wife’s reaction is
better than the husband’s reaction in treating the disease and the upcoming death. It is interesting how Kawabata puts in contrast the different point of views that are
used by the husband and the wife in seeing the disease and its deadly atmosphere.
192
ibid., p. 79.
193
ibid., p. 80.
194
ibid., p. 80.
79
The wife even finds a sort of enlightenment in welcoming her death. She regards that there will be time for people to find the seeds of wisdom in seeing the
presence of death since there is life after death.
195
For her, the presence of death has made her life meaningful due to the fact that she can liberate his husband from
a heavy burden of bringing the death itself into their family. She has chosen to take the path of death by infecting herself with her husband’s contagious illness.
By doing that, she wants to break her husband’s negative thought in seeing death as a curse that is passed down from generation to generation through his illness.
These notions can be found in the quotation below that is taken from “Mother”:
“His wife closed her eyes for a moment. Then she spoke. “We are unfortunate to have been born in an age of unbelief-an age that does not think of life after death.”
“And now is the most unhappy time for the dead. But, an age when the dead will be happy, an age of wisdom, will surely come soon.”
“Perhaps so.” The wife recalled all the times she and her husband had travelled far together.
Then she continued to have all kinds of beautiful hallucinations. She took her husband’s hand as if awakening. “I...,” she said quietly. “I think I am fortunate to have married you.
You believe me, don’t you, that I don’t at all resent having caught your illness?” “I believe you.”
“So, when that child grows up, be sure he gets married.” “I understand.”
“You suffered a lot before we were married, didn’t you? You thought you’d get
the same illness your parents had, that your wife would also become infected, and that you’d have a child who would become ill, too. But our marriage has made me happy. I
think that is enough for me. So, don’t let him taste unnecessary sadness and suffer, thinking it would be bad to marry. Permit him the joy of marriage. This is my last
wish.”
196
Further, another interesting aspect that can be found in this story is related to the use of the same poem in the story. This poem can be seen in the quotation
below taken from the story entitled “Mother” below:
Tonight I took a wife When I embraced her-the womanly softness
195
ibid., p. 81.
196
ibid., p.81.
80
My mother was also a woman Tears overflowing, I told my new bride
Become a good mother Become a good mother
For I never knew my mother
197
This lyrical poem is put in the beginning and ending of the story. Even though the poem is exactly the same, Kawabata has used it in a smart way to evoke different
effects for the readers in interpreting the poem. In the beginning of the story the poem is told in a sad heartbreaking tone when embracing his wife due to the
husband’s bitterness of not knowing the warmth of his own mother’s love. In the end, the same poem is put in contrast by interpreting it in a joyful heartwarming
tone. It is due to his relief that he has finally found his mother’s presence through his late wife’s unconditional love and warm affection. So, actually in the end of
the story, he embraces his ‘mother’ that he found through his wife’s presence. Besides, his wife last words have given him such a relieved feeling and natural
exception about the presence of death in his life. Further, the portrait of death as total liberation can also be found in
another short story used in this study entitled “Death Mask”. In this story, the detailed narration that is part of Japanese literary tradition of the classic Heian-
period monogatari can also be found.
198
This narration is able to draw the readers into an intense ‘déjà vu’ game of memories recalling and fine metaphors. As it
can also be found in another Kawabata’s writing that is used in this study entitled “Death Mask” below:
Her feet felt so lonely, as if death were creeping up from her toes. He sat at foot of her bed and held her feet tightly. They were cold like death. Then, unexpectedly, his
197
ibid., p. 79, 82.
198
Pollack 116.
81
hands trembled queerly. He could perceive the vital woman through her small feet. Those small, cold feet transmitted the same joy to the man’s palm that he had felt as he touched
the soles of her feet when they were warm and sweaty. He felt ashamed of this sensation that sullied the sacredness of her death. But, wondering if her request that he should hold
her feet might have been a last resort to the wiles of love, he grew fearful of her wretched feminity.
199
In the quotation above, the man becomes the living witness when death starts to embrace the woman’s body. Kawabata narrates the woman’s dying
process in a beautiful way by combining the mixing of past memories and present realities as it is aligned with Japanese literary tradition and its art convention
which are influenced by Zen Buddhism teachings.
200
Besides, he decorates the narration with many small details which covers the whole experiences that can be
found there. In hermeneutical practice, the use of those small details to decorate the story is related to the characteristic of the classic Heian-period monogatari.
201
Further, the use of those small details is able to create the readers’ particular experience in dealing with the story. Kawabata later can blend those emotional,
physical and spiritual experiences that can be felt through the male character’s description in sufficient quantities. As a result, this blend is able to draw the
readers to jump as a whole into the story and bring them to the extent that they cannot distinguish themselves with the male character himself.
Further, “Death Mask” itself is started with the upcoming death of a woman in front of her latest lover which is covered by the thick atmosphere of
jealousy. Through the flowing narration, Kawabata has described accurately the taste of bitter jealousy that is recalled by the man towards the woman’s other
199
ibid., p.153.
200
Sansom 336.
201
Pollack 116.
82
previous lovers. The man is torturing himself by thinking about the woman’s other previous affairs which cannot be forgotten even until the woman’s last
breath. It is very interesting how Kawabata portraits the man’s love madness to the woman through his total jealousy. The use of contrast in Kawabata’s writings
has reminded the readers to the Japanese literary heritage of haiku and its art convention that Kawabata adopts in his writings.
202
However, the man’s greediness towards the woman’s love is equally put on the same level with the
woman’s avarice in pursuing an intense love from every man that she met. The use of contrast in this story later can be related to the presence of things which are
part of others and its use only emphasizes its unity in the Realm of Emptiness.
203
Due to the woman’s unstoppable love adventure, the man even wants to kill her in order to preserve the woman’s last love for him only. These notions can be found
in the quotation below that is taken from “Death Mask”:
He did not know how many lovers she had before him. But, anyway, it was obvious that he would be her last because her death was already approaching.
... The man who now held her in his arms as she was about to die harbored no
anxiety that he would lose her to another, so perhaps he was fortunate compared to her previous lovers who had been tormented, knowing that there was no way to keep her
heart except to kill her. But he grew tired holding her. The woman had always pursued intense love. Even after she fell ill, she could not stop sleep peacefully unless she could
feel a man’s arms around her neck or on her breast.
204
Despite his love to the woman, he regards her as a love swindler who is able to deceive his heart with her beauty and charm. The woman’s love wiles even
can draw the man into a never ending lustful swirl of love which raises his wave of jealousy. The man jealousy is so great. Even, the woman can feel its thick dark
202
Cornyetz 18.
203
Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture 37.
204
Kawabata, Palm of the Hand Stories 152.
83
atmosphere covers her upcoming death. As it can be found in another quotation below taken from “Death Mask”:
“Hold my feet. My feet are so lonely I can’t stand it.” Her feet felt so lonely, as if death were creeping up from her toes. He sat at foot
of her bed and held her feet tightly. They were cold like death. Then, unexpectedly, his hands trembled queerly. He could perceive the vital woman through her small feet. Those
small, cold feet transmitted the same joy to the man’s palm that he had felt as he touched the soles of her feet when they were warm and sweaty. He felt ashamed of this sensation
that sullied the sacredness of her death. But, wondering if her request that he should hold her feet might have been a last resort to the wiles of love, he grew fearful of her wretched
feminity.
205
Further, the man’s massive jealousy towards the woman’s previous lovers has drawn him into the labyrinth of agony. Even until the woman’s death, the man
cannot stop his illogical jealousy which has already been warned by the woman herself right before her death. Through her last words, the woman wants to
liberate the man from his own prison of love devotion which has turned him into nothing but her love slave. Later, the woman’s death has made the man realizes
that nothing in this world lasts forever even his greatest love towards the woman. He finally realizes that his bitter jealousy and hard attempts in preserving his love
in the woman’s heart through her death on his lap is nothing but an empty victory. It is because everything will be united in the Realm of Emptiness which
everything becomes a part of another in the end.
206
These notions can be found in the quotation below that is taken from the same story “Death Mask”:
“You’re thinking that there is something missing in our love now that there is no longer any need for jealousy. But when I die, the object of your jealousy will appear.
Surely, from somewhere.” She spoke, then breathed her last. It was as she said.
An actor in the new theater came to the wake and applied makeup to the face of the dead woman as if to resurrect, once more, the fresh, vital beauty the woman had
possessed when she was in love with him.
205
ibid., p. 152-153.
206
Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture 37.
84
Later an artist came to spread plaster on her face. The makeup that the actor had applied earlier made the woman’s face appear so alive that it looked as though the artist
were smothering the woman to death out of jealousy toward the actor. The artist made the death mask in order to remember the woman’s face.
Seeing that the battle of love that surrounded the woman did not end with her death, the man realized that even having her die in his arms was nothing but an empty,
fleeting victory.
207
The notions that can be found in the quotation above are aligned with the notion that is delivered through the teaching of Zen Buddhism about the Realm of
Emptiness. Basically the madness of love or the greediness jealousy comes from the misleading worldly notions of coming and going that are not acknowledged in
the Zen Buddhism teachings since those notions only bring people into a never ending suffer. By liberating themselves from the concept of logical dualism, the
path of truth will be revealed and offers them some precious seeds of wisdom. This notion is perfectly said by Hosshin, a 13
th
century Japanese Zen monk through the quotation below:
Coming, all is clear, no doubt about it.
Going, all is clear, without a doubt.
What, then, is it all?
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E. Concluding Remarks
