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youthful spirit. On the contrary to the next quotation, the presence of flowers that is commonly associated with the lively atmosphere of spring is used to emphasize
the presence of death as they start rotting away. Kawabata keeps flipping through these death and life throughout the story as it can be seen in the above quotation.
Hermeneutically speaking, it is related to the core of Zen Buddhism teachings under the notion of emptiness which believe in the concept of oneness including
the presence of death and life.
226
Through the above quotation, Kawabata wants to deliver the idea that everything in this world simply comes and goes as well as
death and life. They are part of constant changes which should be genuinely accepted as natural events that have to be happened in order to preserve the
harmony in life. Next, this seed of wisdom leads to the presence of another seed as eternal
peacefulness. This seed of wisdom generates from the presence of death as total liberation which can also be used to enrich the life itself. In the next section, the
seed of wisdom that is related to eternal peacefulness will be discussed further.
B. Eternal Peacefulness
In this section, the second seed of wisdom is presented through the presence of death as total liberation. This presence of death is aligned with the
notion that Zen Buddhism is considered as “a philosophy to undo the philosophy itself” since it is aimed to free the philosopher from his own conceptual prison.
227
226
Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture 37.
227
Suzuki, Zen Buddhism: Selected Writings of D.T. Suzuki xvi-xvii.
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As mentioned by Suzuki that the purpose of Zen Buddhism teachings is to free people from the bondage of their own conceptual prison about things in the
universe that always be put in the logical dualisms concepts.
228
Hence, it can be said that Zen Buddhism offers an alternative way which is able to provide
freedom, naturalness and spontaneity from any worldly attachments that later will help in gaining eternal peacefulness. This notion can be found in Kawabata’s
short stories entitled “Death Mask” and “Mother” that present death as total liberation. In those two short stories, death are able to free the characters from
their own worldly bondage. In “ Death Mask”, death is able to free the male character from his massive
jealousy towards his woman’s other previous lovers. He keeps torturing himself with his woman’s previous affairs which cannot be forgotten even until her death.
Through the detailed narration, the readers can feel the male character’s greediness in claiming the woman’s love eternally. The man’s love is trapped by
his own love which puts him in his personal prison. The dark jealousy of the man is so dense, even the atmosphere is able to cover her until her upcoming death.
This notion can be seen in the quotation below taken from the short story entitled “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. 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.
228
Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture 375.
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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.
229
In the quotation above, the man’s jealousy brings him to the labyrinth of agony. His love towards the woman has drawn himself so deep. Yet, he is saved
by the presence of death that can be found in a death mask created from the dead woman’s face that save him from the abyss. After seeing the mask, he realizes that
that mask barely represent his woman’s face. Even, the mask itself represents both man and woman who are young and old in the same time. Later, the mixture
contrast in this story reminds the readers of Japanese literary heritage of haiku and its art convention which are inspired from Zen Buddhism teachings.
230
Further, through the male character in this story, death is described as an inevitable thing
that can be happened to anyone including to the woman that the man loves. Later, the presence of death itself has evoked his awareness about the temporariness of
worldly desires and how he has been tied by their bondage. The man finally gain eternal peacefulness that nothing lasts forever in the world, since death is an
inevitable episode in life. Hence, it can be said that the presence of death that has made life beautiful and meaningful due to its brevity. This notion can be seen in
the quotation below taken from the “Death Mask”:
But the death mask looked like a woman and also like a man. It looked like a young girl and also like an old woman. The man’s voice sounded as though the fire in his breast
had faded. “This is her, but it is not her. First of all, I can’t tell if it’s a man or a woman.” “That’s right.” The artist spoke, his face melancholy. “If you look at a death mask not
knowing who it is, you generally can’t tell the sex. For example, even with a powerful face like Beethoven’s, if you stare at his death mask, it begins to look like woman’s face...
Still, I thought her death mask would be feminine since there was no woman more womanly that she. But it is just like all the others-she couldn’t beat death. The distinction
of sex ends with death.
231 229
Kawabata, Palm of the Hand Stories 153.
230
Cornyetz 18.
231
Kawabata, Palm of the Hand Stories 153-154.
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The same notion about the presence of death as total liberation in gaining eternal peacefulness can also be found in another short story entitled “Mother”. In
this story, the wife’s death is seen as total liberation due to its ability to free the male character from his own prejudice and the female character from her own
jealousy towards her husband’s illness as they can be found in the intense dialogue shown in the quotation below taken from the short story namely “Mother:
“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 through which I used to reach inside you. If you could walk, you would surely leave and
abandon me.” .....
“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.”
232
Later, the relief feeling of eternal peacefulness that is felt by the husband is presented through the same poem found in the beginning and ending of the story.
The poem is quoted as follows:
Tonight I took a wife When I embraced her-the womanly softness
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
233
Though the poem that is used in the story is same, the poem above has created different sensory experiences and feelings for the readers. In the beginning, the
readers can feel the husband’s devastating feeling of not knowing his own mother which he lavished by embracing his wife’s body. Through a beautiful sad tone,
the readers can feel the bitter feeling of rootlessness for not knowing the love
232
ibid, pp. 79-80.
233
ibid., p. 79, 82.
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warmth of his own mother. But then, the sensory experience and feeling are changed in the end of the story. Through the same poem, the readers can feel the
husband’s joy for finding his mother through the presence of his wife’s unconditional love and warm affection. The tears that are overflowing from his
eyes are not tears of agony, but more as tears of happiness to show the sense of relief. Finally, the character in the story is able to gain eternal peacefulness due to
the death presence in releasing them from the worldly bondage. Next, this seed of wisdom leads to the presence of the third seed of
wisdom as self purification. This seed of wisdom generates from the positive presence of death as final redemption which can also be used to make life more
meaningful due to its brevity. In the next section, the seed of wisdom that is related to self purification will be discussed further.
C. Self Purification
