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Kokoro
by Natsume Soseki



More information on the radar plot criteria

This radar plot is meant to give a graphical representation of the book in question. For a better idea of what each spoke means, see the table below. Also, keep in mind that higher numbers are not necessarily better. Depending on your taste, a 0 may be just as appealing as a 10 (or a 5, etc) in a particular category. (Click to close)


Category 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Maturity 18+ 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8
Violence Excessive Violence Violent acts (no blood-gore) No Violence
Action Constant Action Even mix of action-drama No Action
Epic Lord of the Rings Epic Large scope, less detailed Limited scope
World Completely unique Half real/half unique Set in our world
Realism Focus outside the realm of accepted science Focus evenly split between explainable-unexplainable Nothing unexplainable - not the focus
Modernity Present Day (or beyond) 1980-1999 1960-1979 1930-1959 1870-1929 1800-1869 1700-1799 1400-1699 200-1399 (1000)-199 Ancient
Humor Laugh out loud throughout Funny (but not primary focus) Intentionally not funny

Kokoro is broken up into 3 sections, with the first called Sensei and I. Our narrator meets Sensei on a vacation and is drawn to him, though he does not know why exactly. They become friends. Sensei does not understand why the narrator wants to befriend him, but over time he accepts the young university student. Soon we meet Sensei's wife, a pleasant woman, and learn that the narrator's father is sick with a kidney disease. Sensei tells the narrator that his mother-in-law died of the same disease.


Once, while visiting Sensei, the narrator learns that Sensei has gone to visit the grave a friend, something he does every month. In their time together, the narrator tries to understand why Sensei does not work, nor have any friends. In a private conversation with Sensei's wife, we learn that she does not even know why, though she suspects it could be because of her. She also mentions the death of the friend as a possible cause, but she doesn't understand how one death could change a man so much. The narrator, however, successfully convinces Sensei that he wants to learn from his experiences in life, so Sensei promises to tell him eventually all about his past.


In the second section, My Parents and I, our narrator returns home as he father's illness has worsened. Before he had left, Sensei warned him to ensure that his inheritance was straightened out before his father dies. However, he is never able to bring himself to bring up the subject. His father's illness gets progressively worse until, nearly dying, our narrator receives a letter from Sensei. While glancing through it, he reads "by the time you read this I will be dead" causing the narrator to catch a train to Tokyo while his father is on the verge of death.


The third section (and the remainder of the book) is the letter Sensei wrote to the narrator, thus it is told entirely from Sensei's perspective. In the letter we learn Sensei was cheated out of his inheritance by his Uncle after his parents had both died. This began his lack of trust in humanity. However, while at university, he began to live with a widow and her daughter. Slowly, Sensei began to trust them and eventually fell in love with the daughter. At this time, he invited a friend who was struggling to live with him as well.


At first, things went well, and the friend, who was a very religious man, began to enjoy life more again. Unfortunately, the friend (K) confesses that he is in love with the daughter as well. Stricken by fear, Sensei acts cruelly and tells K that it is weak of him to love a woman and profess to be a strong-willed religious man (the sect K is a part of is celibate and considers love a weaknesses). It is clear that K is devastated by Sensei's words, but he appears to agree. Sensei, not wishing to take any chances, proceeds to ask the widow for permission to marry her daughter, and the widow agrees. K learns of this in a few days, and shortly after he kills himself.


This, confesses Sensei, is the reason he was so cold and unfeeling throughout the rest of his life. Every time he saw his wife, he was reminded of how he betrayed K. He was, he realized, not unlike his Uncle who had stolen his inheritance. His only recourse, he had concluded, was to kill himself. Which was what he planned to do now that his promise to the young narrator was kept. We are left not knowing Sensei or the father's fates as the book concludes with Sensei exacting a promise from the narrator not to tell his wife the truth.




Kokoro, according to the foreword by the translator, is best translated as "the heart of things". In many ways, this seems fitting for this book. From the beginning, when the narrator meets Sensei for the first time and begins to develop a friendship, we get an honest insight into their relationship. There are multiple times where the narrator is stricken with a sense of sadness or depression when Sensei speaks to him coldly, or is unable to remember who he is. It reminded me very clearly of those times where you are unaware of your position in a relationship or how the other person feels about you. Thus, every word or gesture carries greater meaning, even if it is not purposeful. Soseki's ability to capture this feeling is excellent.


In addition to honestly capturing a burgeoning relationship, Soseki also attempts to get at the heart of things through the conversations of Sensei and our narrator (and later, via Sensei's letter). For example, once when trying to warn the narrator, Sensei says "I bear with my loneliness now, in order to avoid greater loneliness in the years ahead. You see, loneliness is the price we have to pay for being born in this modern age, so full of freedom, independence, and our own egotistical selves" (24). Obviously, this is also Sensei's self-inflicted punishment for his treatment of K, but I think there is further insight here into the way culture has changed as we have become more modern (which is particularly interesting considering it was evident in early 20th century Japan, as well).


Another moment that I felt was accurately captured was when K and Sensei begin living together, and Sensei reflects on how their friendship now is defined by the boundaries established when it was initially formed (p 150). As a result, they were not able to easily discuss the subject of love (and of course, much heartache may have been avoided had then been able to discuss it more openly). Sadly, this observation is true, and redefining a long term friendship can be difficult (though not impossible).


Ultimately, it is worth reading Kokoro if you want to read a book that will delve deeply and honestly into friendship, love, trust, and honor. It is not always pleasant, and I don't always agree with what Soseki is trying to say, but on the whole it is interesting. It should also be noted that in terms of quality, this book is extremely well written. There is a clear and obvious difference between the short, simple, honest sentences of the narrator in the beginning and the deeper, more complicated thought process of Sensei in the letter. Not once did I find myself confused about who was speaking - in many ways it felt almost as though the letter were an entirely different book. This strikes me as a difficult effect to achieve, and Soseki's ability to do it so completely is impressive.


As a final note, I found it particularly interesting that in the story of the love triangle between Sense, K, and the daughter, we are given an honest account of the events by the one who betrayed his friend to get the girl. It seems that literature typically gives us account of the one who is hurt and betrayed, and not of the one who acts cruelly out of selfish desire. It was, while not fun or pleasant, a unique and interesting experience. "Through cunning, I have won. But as a man, I have lost" (177).




"I believe that words uttered in passion contain a greater living truth than do those words which express thoughts rationally conceived. It is blood that moves the body. Words are not meant to stir the air only: they are capable of moving greater things" (110).



17 - Deals with suicide - probably not interesting to anyone younger



Yes


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