Analysis of Theme Through The Portrayal of The Protagonist in Arthur Golden's 'Memoirs of A Geisha'.
ABSTRACT
Di dalam tugas akhir ini, saya menganalisis tema melalui karakteristik
tokoh utama dari novel yang berjudul Memoirs of a Geisha karangan Arthur
Golden. Setelah membaca dan menganalisis novel tersebut, saya mendapatkan
bahwa tema dari novel ini adalah “untuk mendapatkan apa yang kita inginkan,
kita harus berusaha untuk mendapatkannya.”
Saya mendapatkan tema tersebut melalui lima karakteristik sang tokoh
utama yaitu berkemauan keras, berani, gigih, persuasif, dan cerdik. Karakteristik
tersebut saya dapatkan dari tindakan yang dilakukan tokoh utama novel tersebut
dalam usahanya mendapatkan pria yang telah memberi tujuan baru dalam hidup
sang tokoh utama saat dia kehilangan harapan. Pada akhirnya, sang tokoh utama
berhasil mencapai apa yang dicita-citakannya dan menghabiskan hidupnya dengan
pria yang dicintainya.
Penulis novel ini menyampaikan pesan bahwa dengan bekerja keras kita
akan mendapatkan apa yang kita inginkan. Dalam usaha untuk mencapai apa yang
kita inginkan, akan ada berbagai masalah yang menghalangi kita. Tema dari novel
ini dapat kita aplikasikan dalam kehidupan kita sehari-hari dan cara tokoh utama
tersebut mengatasi masalahnya dapat kita tiru dalam menghadapi masalahmasalah yang timbul ketika kita berusaha mencapai apa yang kita cita-citakan.
iii
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................. i
TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................ ii
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................... iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study....................................................................... 1
Statement of the Problem ...................................................................... 3
Purpose of the Study ............................................................................. 3
Method of Research .............................................................................. 4
Organization of the Thesis .................................................................... 4
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF
THEME THROUGH THE PORTRAYAL
OF THE PROTAGONIST IN ARTHUR
GOLDEN’S MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA ................................................. 5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION ......................................................... 16
BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................... 21
APPENDIX:
Synopsis of Memoirs of a Geisha ....................................................... 23
Biography of Arthur Golden ............................................................... 24
ii
Maranatha Christian University
APPENDIX
Summary of Memoirs of a Geisha
Chiyo’s mother is dying, and her father is really old at the time Mr. Tanaka
sells her and her sister to Gion. Chiyo is lucky enough to be sold to an okiya, a house
of the geisha, as her older sister, Satsu, is sold to become a prostitute. When Chiyo
tries to run away from her okiya, she fails and Mother, the owner of the okiya, does
not want to invest in her anymore. Mother considers Chiyo a bad investment and she
is only useful as a maid.
One day, when Chiyo is running errands in the city, she meets the Chairman.
the Chairman greatly impresses her. After her encounter with the Chairman, Chiyo
makes a promise that one day she will become a geisha. She hopes that by becoming
a geisha, she can meet the Chairman again.
Mameha, the most famous geisha at that time, sees the bright future of Chiyo
as a geisha. She takes Chiyo as her apprentice and changes her name into Sayuri.
They struggle to fight against Hatumomo. Mameha helps Sayuri to sell her virginity
at an outstanding price at that time. Sayuri is finally adopted as a daughter and
defeats Hatsumomo.
During World War II, Sayuri moves out from Gion. After the war has ended,
she comes back to Gion and works as a geisha again. Later on, she finds out that it is
23
the Chairman that has encouraged Mameha to take her as a sister and help her to
become a geisha. The Chairman becomes Sayuri’s danna and takes her out from
the okiya. Sayuri does not become the Chairman’s wife; she is only the
Chairman’s mistress. Therefore, it will be troublesome for Sayuri if she has a
child from the Chairman. She decides to move to America as the Chairman often
makes a business trip to America.
Biography of the Author
Arthur Golden was born in December 6, 1956 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Arthur Golden struck out on his own after graduating from Harvard College with
a degree in art history in 1978. He went on to earn a master's degree in Japanese
history from Columbia University and then spent fourteen months in Japan before
returning to the U.S. and getting a master's in English from Boston University. He
started his literary career when he was twenty-six years old.
After fifteen years of hard work, Arthur Golden finally manages to finish
his first novel, Memoirs of a Geisha. He rewrote the Memoirs of a Geisha for
several times before finally he used first person point of view, Sayuri’s point of
view. He made this novel based on his interview with Mineko Iwasaki, who was
once a geisha. He was sued by Iwasaki because he broke the agreement to keep
the source of his novel anonymous as Iwasaki is not supposed to tell anybody her
story when she was a geisha. Sayuri and her story is Golden’s invention, mixed by
historical facts of a geisha’s life between 1930 and 1940. Memoirs of a Geisha is
Golden’s first novel. Another book that he has written together with some other
24
writers is Leaves of Grass: A Textual Variorum of the Printed Poems (Volumes 13).
Golden now lives with his wife and two children in Brookline,
Massachusetts. He is still writing his new novel about a boy in Amsterdam who
comes to the U.S. after the death of his father and ends up, after considerable
struggle, as a successful businessman.
25
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Japan or “Land of the Rising Sun” has a cultural heritage that is called geisha.
Geisha literally means “person of the art” (Kaminsky). They are traditional Japanese
artist-entertainers (“Geisha and Maiko Girl of Japan (Kyoto)”). They are trained to be
a dancer, singer, samishen player, and in other entertaining skills. At first, geisha were
men, like minstrels in the medieval Europe. As the number of men taking up the job
decreased, women took over (Kaminsky). Geisha is not a prostitute, what they really
do is entertaining people with their skills, their witty jokes, and their beauty. They
were most popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and are still in existence
today, although the number is dwindling.
They belong to the okiya, the house of the geisha. The owner of the okiya
treats geisha not as a human being but as property. All the money the geisha girls
make goes to the okiya because they owe the food, the training fee, their kimono, and
1
Maranatha Christian University
basically everything to the owner of the okiya. In order to get their independence,
they should either buy themselves out or find a danna, a patron who is willing to
buy them out. Arthur Golden captures the life of the geisha in the 1930s in his
novel Memoirs of a Geisha. It is a modern fairy tale about geisha. “Her story is
that of a poor girl who struggles against all odds to find happiness and success in
life even includes the standard types found in a typical fairy tale” (Howard). This
book tells about the struggle of a girl who climbs up for her success as a geisha.
The protagonist shows that all the hard work will get paid off someday. After its
release in 1997, Memoirs of a Geisha stays in the New York Times bestseller list
for two years. It has sold more than four million copies in English and has been
translated into thirty-two languages around the world. In 2005, this novel was
adopted into a movie under the same title, Memoirs of a Geisha.
Arthur Golden, the author of this novel, takes ten years to write this novel.
He does an extensive research about the life of a geisha before World War II. He
writes this novel based on a study and an interview with a former geisha who now
lives in the USA. He writes his fiction and nicely combines it with historical
events. He gives us a very detailed description about life in Gion, Kyoto at that
time. He tells us a story which is totally different from his own background and
his time.
Arthur Golden's brilliant debut novel, Memoirs of a Geisha, is a reminder
of just how silly the exhortation 'write what you know!' can be. Clearly
Golden, a 40-something American male, has never lived anything
remotely similar to the experiences of a geisha coming of age in the '30s,
the glory days of Kyoto's Gion pleasure district. Yet it is precisely this
2
Maranatha Christian University
vanished world that he re-creates with subtlety, sensuality, and supreme
authority, bringing to life characters so complete and idiosyncratic — so
fully sprung from the eras he has evoked — that his novel ultimately
overwhelms us, as seductive and beguiling as the geisha of its title.
(“Memoirs of a Geisha”)
I will analyze the theme of the novel through the portrayal of the
protagonist. Theme is “a brief “mind’s full” on any particular subject; that is, it
presents and considers the subject in several of its various aspects.” “Theme, like
an essay, should be a short, accurate, and forceful presentation of ideas or
descriptions, well contrived as totality or unity.” (Roberts 8). A protagonist is the
main character in a novel or a film. A protagonist is usually put in a position
where the reader is able to empathize with them, basically the central character in
a story or narrative (“What Is a Protagonist?”).
I choose to analyze the theme of the novel through the portrayal of the
protagonist, which the author has created as willing to do anything to achieve her
dream. She wears poisonous make up, she lets people hurt her, she goes through a
very hard training, sells her virginity; and she does so to achieve her dream, which
is to be together with the man that she loves.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
1. What is the theme of the novel?
2. How does the portrayal of the protagonist help in revealing the theme?
3
Maranatha Christian University
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purposes of the study are:
1. to reveal what the theme of the novel is.
2. to show how the portrayal of the protagonist helps in revealing the theme.
METHOD OF RESEARCH
I use the library research for my thesis. First I read Memoirs of a Geisha as
the primary text. I also read a couple of books and compile some data from the
Internet so as to support my analysis of theme through the portrayal of the
protagonist. Finally, I draw some conclusions from my analysis.
ORGANIZATION OF THESIS
This thesis consists of three chapters, preceded by Abstract, Table of
Contents and Acknowledgments. The first chapter is Introduction, which consists
of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the
Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis. The second
chapter is the Analysis of Theme Through the Portrayal of The Protagonist of
Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha. The third chapter is Conclusion, followed
by Bibliography and Appendix, which contains the Synopsis of the Novel and the
Biography of the Author.
4
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
After analyzing the theme through the portrayal of the protagonist in Arthur
Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha, I would like to draw some conclusions. Sayuri, the
protagonist, is sold to be a geisha because her parents cannot take care of her
anymore. Because of her mistake, she loses her chance to be a geisha and becomes a
maid, and owes an even greater debt. She can repay her debt only by being a maid as
long as she lives. When she has lost all her hope and purpose of life, the Chairman
comes and brings into her life another purpose. She wants to be together with the
Chairman. She works her way up from being a maid to being a geisha.
After analyzing the protagonist’s characteristics in Memoirs of a Geisha, I get
the theme “In order to achieve one’s goal, one has to struggle to achieve it.” Sayuri,
the protagonist, is portrayed as a strong-willed, brave, persistent, persuasive and
resourceful girl. Sayuri has faced some difficulties in her life and she overcomes the
difficulties in her life with those characteristics.
17
Maranatha Christian University
Sayuri’s characteristic of being strong-willed helps her become determined
in achieving her goal. When she sets her new goal after her encounter with the
Chairman, she works very hard to achieve it. As she goes through a very hard
training and a painful process of being a geisha, she finds a way to practice her
skill amid her hectic schedule as a maid and as a student of a geisha school. With
this characteristic, she lives her life doing everything that she can to achieve her
goal. She goes through all of the process of being a geisha and finally she
achieves her goal.
From her second characteristic, being brave enables here to overcome the
obstacles that occur in her way to becoming a geisha. She endures the risk of
wearing a poisonous makeup, she lets someone apply a hot wax on her hair
although it is painful, and sleeps with a cradle that supports her neck. She does
anything just to get herself a step closer to her goal. Being brave helps her to do
things that are painful and dangerous for her. She endures the pain of being a
geisha because she knows that being geisha is her only way to be together with
the Chairman. Her bravery helps her to encourage herself to do things that are
painful and uncomfortable in order to improve her career and make herself a step
closer to the Chairman.
Her third characteristic is persistent. It helps her to focus on her goal. Even
when Nobu is already fond of her, she does not take her eyes off from the
Chairman. She knows that Nobu is a fine and nice man, but she does not love him.
She wants something more than just kindness and she can get it only if she is
together with the Chairman. Therefore, every time Nobu proposes to be her
danna, she turns him down. She knows that Nobu’s kindness would not make her
18
Maranatha Christian University
happy. She keeps on chasing the Chairman because she knows that she will be
happy if she is together with the Chairman.
Being persuasive makes her easy to ask for help from the people around
her. Her way to being together with the Chairman is not easy. There are a lot of
problems that she has to deal with. She cannot solve her problems alone;
therefore, she needs help from others. Pumpkin, her friend in the okiya, helps her
when she needs to go out. Pumpkin also tells her what Hatsumomo has done to
ruin her career. It shows that in achieving her goal, Sayuri needs help from other
people. Her ability to persuade people makes her get the help that she needs in
order to achieve her goal.
Her last characteristic is resourceful. It helps her to find a way to resolve
the problems that come her way. For example, she seduces the man who has an
interest in her by using the scar on her thigh. She uses her femininity and acts so
innocent in front of Dr. Crab. She knows the fact that the doctor loves buying
geisha’s virginity and probably will buy hers too. She uses her scar to sexually
attract Dr. Crab. From this quality of hers, she can find a solution to deal with her
problem. Although they are only two men who bid on her virginity, Dr. Crab pays
an outstanding amount of money for her virginity.
The protagonist, Sayuri, is portrayed as someone who is different from
other geisha girls. They become geisha because they do not have any other option.
All geisha girls go to parties and try to make themselves acknowledged by the rich
men who come to the geisha district. The geisha receives expensive gifts, jewelry,
extravagant kimono and anything that they cannot afford from the men who are
fond of them. If they ever get a patron, they will be even more famous. Sayuri
19
Maranatha Christian University
sees her being a geisha as a stepping stone for something greater, not as a dead
end. By becoming a geisha, she can get closer to the Chairman. When she has
become a geisha, she works hard to achieve her dream. I believe that the author
wants to tell us that we have to work hard if we want something and do whatever
we can to achieve it. Do not get stuck by what other people say, but do what
matters to us. Sayuri sees being a geisha as a chance to get closer to the Chairman.
In my opinion, the author has succeeded in creating a detailed story about
the life of a geisha. He has spent so much time studying the life of a geisha and
writing it down in his novel. The author also combines his fictional character with
historical events in World War II. After fifteen years of hard work, he can finally
get his novel finished. His novel becomes a bestseller and has been translated into
thirty-two languages. We can see both from the author and the protagonist that we
are able to achieve something if we work hard for it.
After analyzing this book, I believe that the theme can be applied to our
daily life. The five characteristics that I have mentioned above can help us to
struggle in our life. While working towards our goal, we will face some
difficulties. We have to compromise with other people, we have to be able to sell
our ideas, and we have to find the best way to deal with our problems. We can use
Sayuri’s characteristics in our own life to solve our problems. We can also learn
from Sayuri to not give up easily on our way to achieve our goal.
20
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary text:
Golden, Arthur. Memoirs of a Geisha. New York: Vintage Contemporaries, 1997.
Print.
References:
“Arthur Golden”. Wikipedia. March 4, 2011. Web. Mar 21, 2011.
“Brave”. oxford dictionary. Oxford University Press. Web. Sept 13, 2011.
“Geisha”, Wikipedia. Web. Sept 4, 2011.
“Geisha and Maiko Girl of Japan (Kyoto)”. Phototravels. Web. Oct 28, 2011.
Howard, Melisa. “Review of Arthur Golden's Historical Novel Memoirs of a
Geisha.” Suite101. Web. Apr 9, 2011.
Kaminsky, A. “What is a Geisha?”. Wisegeek. Web. 28 Oct2011.
“Memoirs of a Geisha”. barnesandnoble. Web. Apr 9, 2011.
“Persistent”. Cambridge Dictionaries Online. Cambridge University Press,
2011.Web. Oct 28, 2011.
“Resourceful”. Cambridge Dictionaries Online. Cambridge University Press,
2011.Web. Oct 28, 2011.
21
Maranatha Christian University
Roberts, Edgar V. Writing Themes About Literature. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall,
Inc, 1977. Print.
“Strong-willed”. Cambridge Dictionaries Online. Cambridge University Press,
2011.Web. Oct 28, 2011.
“ Struggle”. Cambridge Dictionaries Online. Cambridge University Press,
2011.Web. Oct 28, 2011.
Trachtenberg, Jeffrey. “The Next Chapter”. The Wall Street Journal Online. July
12, 2004. Web. Mar 25, 2012.
“What Is A Protagonist?”. Blurtit. Web. Apr 9, 2011.
22
Maranatha Christian University
Di dalam tugas akhir ini, saya menganalisis tema melalui karakteristik
tokoh utama dari novel yang berjudul Memoirs of a Geisha karangan Arthur
Golden. Setelah membaca dan menganalisis novel tersebut, saya mendapatkan
bahwa tema dari novel ini adalah “untuk mendapatkan apa yang kita inginkan,
kita harus berusaha untuk mendapatkannya.”
Saya mendapatkan tema tersebut melalui lima karakteristik sang tokoh
utama yaitu berkemauan keras, berani, gigih, persuasif, dan cerdik. Karakteristik
tersebut saya dapatkan dari tindakan yang dilakukan tokoh utama novel tersebut
dalam usahanya mendapatkan pria yang telah memberi tujuan baru dalam hidup
sang tokoh utama saat dia kehilangan harapan. Pada akhirnya, sang tokoh utama
berhasil mencapai apa yang dicita-citakannya dan menghabiskan hidupnya dengan
pria yang dicintainya.
Penulis novel ini menyampaikan pesan bahwa dengan bekerja keras kita
akan mendapatkan apa yang kita inginkan. Dalam usaha untuk mencapai apa yang
kita inginkan, akan ada berbagai masalah yang menghalangi kita. Tema dari novel
ini dapat kita aplikasikan dalam kehidupan kita sehari-hari dan cara tokoh utama
tersebut mengatasi masalahnya dapat kita tiru dalam menghadapi masalahmasalah yang timbul ketika kita berusaha mencapai apa yang kita cita-citakan.
iii
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................. i
TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................ ii
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................... iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study....................................................................... 1
Statement of the Problem ...................................................................... 3
Purpose of the Study ............................................................................. 3
Method of Research .............................................................................. 4
Organization of the Thesis .................................................................... 4
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF
THEME THROUGH THE PORTRAYAL
OF THE PROTAGONIST IN ARTHUR
GOLDEN’S MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA ................................................. 5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION ......................................................... 16
BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................... 21
APPENDIX:
Synopsis of Memoirs of a Geisha ....................................................... 23
Biography of Arthur Golden ............................................................... 24
ii
Maranatha Christian University
APPENDIX
Summary of Memoirs of a Geisha
Chiyo’s mother is dying, and her father is really old at the time Mr. Tanaka
sells her and her sister to Gion. Chiyo is lucky enough to be sold to an okiya, a house
of the geisha, as her older sister, Satsu, is sold to become a prostitute. When Chiyo
tries to run away from her okiya, she fails and Mother, the owner of the okiya, does
not want to invest in her anymore. Mother considers Chiyo a bad investment and she
is only useful as a maid.
One day, when Chiyo is running errands in the city, she meets the Chairman.
the Chairman greatly impresses her. After her encounter with the Chairman, Chiyo
makes a promise that one day she will become a geisha. She hopes that by becoming
a geisha, she can meet the Chairman again.
Mameha, the most famous geisha at that time, sees the bright future of Chiyo
as a geisha. She takes Chiyo as her apprentice and changes her name into Sayuri.
They struggle to fight against Hatumomo. Mameha helps Sayuri to sell her virginity
at an outstanding price at that time. Sayuri is finally adopted as a daughter and
defeats Hatsumomo.
During World War II, Sayuri moves out from Gion. After the war has ended,
she comes back to Gion and works as a geisha again. Later on, she finds out that it is
23
the Chairman that has encouraged Mameha to take her as a sister and help her to
become a geisha. The Chairman becomes Sayuri’s danna and takes her out from
the okiya. Sayuri does not become the Chairman’s wife; she is only the
Chairman’s mistress. Therefore, it will be troublesome for Sayuri if she has a
child from the Chairman. She decides to move to America as the Chairman often
makes a business trip to America.
Biography of the Author
Arthur Golden was born in December 6, 1956 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Arthur Golden struck out on his own after graduating from Harvard College with
a degree in art history in 1978. He went on to earn a master's degree in Japanese
history from Columbia University and then spent fourteen months in Japan before
returning to the U.S. and getting a master's in English from Boston University. He
started his literary career when he was twenty-six years old.
After fifteen years of hard work, Arthur Golden finally manages to finish
his first novel, Memoirs of a Geisha. He rewrote the Memoirs of a Geisha for
several times before finally he used first person point of view, Sayuri’s point of
view. He made this novel based on his interview with Mineko Iwasaki, who was
once a geisha. He was sued by Iwasaki because he broke the agreement to keep
the source of his novel anonymous as Iwasaki is not supposed to tell anybody her
story when she was a geisha. Sayuri and her story is Golden’s invention, mixed by
historical facts of a geisha’s life between 1930 and 1940. Memoirs of a Geisha is
Golden’s first novel. Another book that he has written together with some other
24
writers is Leaves of Grass: A Textual Variorum of the Printed Poems (Volumes 13).
Golden now lives with his wife and two children in Brookline,
Massachusetts. He is still writing his new novel about a boy in Amsterdam who
comes to the U.S. after the death of his father and ends up, after considerable
struggle, as a successful businessman.
25
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Japan or “Land of the Rising Sun” has a cultural heritage that is called geisha.
Geisha literally means “person of the art” (Kaminsky). They are traditional Japanese
artist-entertainers (“Geisha and Maiko Girl of Japan (Kyoto)”). They are trained to be
a dancer, singer, samishen player, and in other entertaining skills. At first, geisha were
men, like minstrels in the medieval Europe. As the number of men taking up the job
decreased, women took over (Kaminsky). Geisha is not a prostitute, what they really
do is entertaining people with their skills, their witty jokes, and their beauty. They
were most popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and are still in existence
today, although the number is dwindling.
They belong to the okiya, the house of the geisha. The owner of the okiya
treats geisha not as a human being but as property. All the money the geisha girls
make goes to the okiya because they owe the food, the training fee, their kimono, and
1
Maranatha Christian University
basically everything to the owner of the okiya. In order to get their independence,
they should either buy themselves out or find a danna, a patron who is willing to
buy them out. Arthur Golden captures the life of the geisha in the 1930s in his
novel Memoirs of a Geisha. It is a modern fairy tale about geisha. “Her story is
that of a poor girl who struggles against all odds to find happiness and success in
life even includes the standard types found in a typical fairy tale” (Howard). This
book tells about the struggle of a girl who climbs up for her success as a geisha.
The protagonist shows that all the hard work will get paid off someday. After its
release in 1997, Memoirs of a Geisha stays in the New York Times bestseller list
for two years. It has sold more than four million copies in English and has been
translated into thirty-two languages around the world. In 2005, this novel was
adopted into a movie under the same title, Memoirs of a Geisha.
Arthur Golden, the author of this novel, takes ten years to write this novel.
He does an extensive research about the life of a geisha before World War II. He
writes this novel based on a study and an interview with a former geisha who now
lives in the USA. He writes his fiction and nicely combines it with historical
events. He gives us a very detailed description about life in Gion, Kyoto at that
time. He tells us a story which is totally different from his own background and
his time.
Arthur Golden's brilliant debut novel, Memoirs of a Geisha, is a reminder
of just how silly the exhortation 'write what you know!' can be. Clearly
Golden, a 40-something American male, has never lived anything
remotely similar to the experiences of a geisha coming of age in the '30s,
the glory days of Kyoto's Gion pleasure district. Yet it is precisely this
2
Maranatha Christian University
vanished world that he re-creates with subtlety, sensuality, and supreme
authority, bringing to life characters so complete and idiosyncratic — so
fully sprung from the eras he has evoked — that his novel ultimately
overwhelms us, as seductive and beguiling as the geisha of its title.
(“Memoirs of a Geisha”)
I will analyze the theme of the novel through the portrayal of the
protagonist. Theme is “a brief “mind’s full” on any particular subject; that is, it
presents and considers the subject in several of its various aspects.” “Theme, like
an essay, should be a short, accurate, and forceful presentation of ideas or
descriptions, well contrived as totality or unity.” (Roberts 8). A protagonist is the
main character in a novel or a film. A protagonist is usually put in a position
where the reader is able to empathize with them, basically the central character in
a story or narrative (“What Is a Protagonist?”).
I choose to analyze the theme of the novel through the portrayal of the
protagonist, which the author has created as willing to do anything to achieve her
dream. She wears poisonous make up, she lets people hurt her, she goes through a
very hard training, sells her virginity; and she does so to achieve her dream, which
is to be together with the man that she loves.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
1. What is the theme of the novel?
2. How does the portrayal of the protagonist help in revealing the theme?
3
Maranatha Christian University
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purposes of the study are:
1. to reveal what the theme of the novel is.
2. to show how the portrayal of the protagonist helps in revealing the theme.
METHOD OF RESEARCH
I use the library research for my thesis. First I read Memoirs of a Geisha as
the primary text. I also read a couple of books and compile some data from the
Internet so as to support my analysis of theme through the portrayal of the
protagonist. Finally, I draw some conclusions from my analysis.
ORGANIZATION OF THESIS
This thesis consists of three chapters, preceded by Abstract, Table of
Contents and Acknowledgments. The first chapter is Introduction, which consists
of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the
Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis. The second
chapter is the Analysis of Theme Through the Portrayal of The Protagonist of
Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha. The third chapter is Conclusion, followed
by Bibliography and Appendix, which contains the Synopsis of the Novel and the
Biography of the Author.
4
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
After analyzing the theme through the portrayal of the protagonist in Arthur
Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha, I would like to draw some conclusions. Sayuri, the
protagonist, is sold to be a geisha because her parents cannot take care of her
anymore. Because of her mistake, she loses her chance to be a geisha and becomes a
maid, and owes an even greater debt. She can repay her debt only by being a maid as
long as she lives. When she has lost all her hope and purpose of life, the Chairman
comes and brings into her life another purpose. She wants to be together with the
Chairman. She works her way up from being a maid to being a geisha.
After analyzing the protagonist’s characteristics in Memoirs of a Geisha, I get
the theme “In order to achieve one’s goal, one has to struggle to achieve it.” Sayuri,
the protagonist, is portrayed as a strong-willed, brave, persistent, persuasive and
resourceful girl. Sayuri has faced some difficulties in her life and she overcomes the
difficulties in her life with those characteristics.
17
Maranatha Christian University
Sayuri’s characteristic of being strong-willed helps her become determined
in achieving her goal. When she sets her new goal after her encounter with the
Chairman, she works very hard to achieve it. As she goes through a very hard
training and a painful process of being a geisha, she finds a way to practice her
skill amid her hectic schedule as a maid and as a student of a geisha school. With
this characteristic, she lives her life doing everything that she can to achieve her
goal. She goes through all of the process of being a geisha and finally she
achieves her goal.
From her second characteristic, being brave enables here to overcome the
obstacles that occur in her way to becoming a geisha. She endures the risk of
wearing a poisonous makeup, she lets someone apply a hot wax on her hair
although it is painful, and sleeps with a cradle that supports her neck. She does
anything just to get herself a step closer to her goal. Being brave helps her to do
things that are painful and dangerous for her. She endures the pain of being a
geisha because she knows that being geisha is her only way to be together with
the Chairman. Her bravery helps her to encourage herself to do things that are
painful and uncomfortable in order to improve her career and make herself a step
closer to the Chairman.
Her third characteristic is persistent. It helps her to focus on her goal. Even
when Nobu is already fond of her, she does not take her eyes off from the
Chairman. She knows that Nobu is a fine and nice man, but she does not love him.
She wants something more than just kindness and she can get it only if she is
together with the Chairman. Therefore, every time Nobu proposes to be her
danna, she turns him down. She knows that Nobu’s kindness would not make her
18
Maranatha Christian University
happy. She keeps on chasing the Chairman because she knows that she will be
happy if she is together with the Chairman.
Being persuasive makes her easy to ask for help from the people around
her. Her way to being together with the Chairman is not easy. There are a lot of
problems that she has to deal with. She cannot solve her problems alone;
therefore, she needs help from others. Pumpkin, her friend in the okiya, helps her
when she needs to go out. Pumpkin also tells her what Hatsumomo has done to
ruin her career. It shows that in achieving her goal, Sayuri needs help from other
people. Her ability to persuade people makes her get the help that she needs in
order to achieve her goal.
Her last characteristic is resourceful. It helps her to find a way to resolve
the problems that come her way. For example, she seduces the man who has an
interest in her by using the scar on her thigh. She uses her femininity and acts so
innocent in front of Dr. Crab. She knows the fact that the doctor loves buying
geisha’s virginity and probably will buy hers too. She uses her scar to sexually
attract Dr. Crab. From this quality of hers, she can find a solution to deal with her
problem. Although they are only two men who bid on her virginity, Dr. Crab pays
an outstanding amount of money for her virginity.
The protagonist, Sayuri, is portrayed as someone who is different from
other geisha girls. They become geisha because they do not have any other option.
All geisha girls go to parties and try to make themselves acknowledged by the rich
men who come to the geisha district. The geisha receives expensive gifts, jewelry,
extravagant kimono and anything that they cannot afford from the men who are
fond of them. If they ever get a patron, they will be even more famous. Sayuri
19
Maranatha Christian University
sees her being a geisha as a stepping stone for something greater, not as a dead
end. By becoming a geisha, she can get closer to the Chairman. When she has
become a geisha, she works hard to achieve her dream. I believe that the author
wants to tell us that we have to work hard if we want something and do whatever
we can to achieve it. Do not get stuck by what other people say, but do what
matters to us. Sayuri sees being a geisha as a chance to get closer to the Chairman.
In my opinion, the author has succeeded in creating a detailed story about
the life of a geisha. He has spent so much time studying the life of a geisha and
writing it down in his novel. The author also combines his fictional character with
historical events in World War II. After fifteen years of hard work, he can finally
get his novel finished. His novel becomes a bestseller and has been translated into
thirty-two languages. We can see both from the author and the protagonist that we
are able to achieve something if we work hard for it.
After analyzing this book, I believe that the theme can be applied to our
daily life. The five characteristics that I have mentioned above can help us to
struggle in our life. While working towards our goal, we will face some
difficulties. We have to compromise with other people, we have to be able to sell
our ideas, and we have to find the best way to deal with our problems. We can use
Sayuri’s characteristics in our own life to solve our problems. We can also learn
from Sayuri to not give up easily on our way to achieve our goal.
20
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary text:
Golden, Arthur. Memoirs of a Geisha. New York: Vintage Contemporaries, 1997.
Print.
References:
“Arthur Golden”. Wikipedia. March 4, 2011. Web. Mar 21, 2011.
“Brave”. oxford dictionary. Oxford University Press. Web. Sept 13, 2011.
“Geisha”, Wikipedia. Web. Sept 4, 2011.
“Geisha and Maiko Girl of Japan (Kyoto)”. Phototravels. Web. Oct 28, 2011.
Howard, Melisa. “Review of Arthur Golden's Historical Novel Memoirs of a
Geisha.” Suite101. Web. Apr 9, 2011.
Kaminsky, A. “What is a Geisha?”. Wisegeek. Web. 28 Oct2011.
“Memoirs of a Geisha”. barnesandnoble. Web. Apr 9, 2011.
“Persistent”. Cambridge Dictionaries Online. Cambridge University Press,
2011.Web. Oct 28, 2011.
“Resourceful”. Cambridge Dictionaries Online. Cambridge University Press,
2011.Web. Oct 28, 2011.
21
Maranatha Christian University
Roberts, Edgar V. Writing Themes About Literature. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall,
Inc, 1977. Print.
“Strong-willed”. Cambridge Dictionaries Online. Cambridge University Press,
2011.Web. Oct 28, 2011.
“ Struggle”. Cambridge Dictionaries Online. Cambridge University Press,
2011.Web. Oct 28, 2011.
Trachtenberg, Jeffrey. “The Next Chapter”. The Wall Street Journal Online. July
12, 2004. Web. Mar 25, 2012.
“What Is A Protagonist?”. Blurtit. Web. Apr 9, 2011.
22
Maranatha Christian University