Hernandez 1 Pamela M.

Hernandez ENC 1102 Angela Jacobs 16 April 2014 The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket: Analyzing its Cultural Context ant the role of Fate and Love in Japanese Culture. Japanese culture has always been greatly influenced by different kinds of superstitions, a vast amount of urban legends, and different beliefs that influence the peoples way of thinking and even of living. This might have been set by their main source of beliefs; their religion and philosophical beliefs have the most influence over the matter. No matter what beliefs they set theirs to be, Japanese people greatly believe in destiny and fate. It gives shape to their everyday relations and encounters giving them a sense that everything is set a certain way and that they must embrace what occurs because it is meant to be. The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket by the Japanese author Yasunari Kawabata is a short story which explores how love influenced by fate is viewed by the Japanese culture, using the forms of symbolism to portray it throughout the story. The tale of two children whose love encounter has been predestined by fate is portrayed in the story of The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket. This piece, narrated by who has been assumed to be a man, is about a group of Japanese children making paper lanterns to catch some insects in the hope to obtain the best catch. The lanterns are the first noticeable use of symbolism encountered within the piece. In Japanese and Chinese cultures, lanterns are widely viewed as a symbol of luck (Constantakis). People from all of the regions of Japan try to do their best to craft

Hernandez 2 the most impressive of lanterns in an attempt to maximize their chances of luck. The children in this story were crafting their own lanterns to use them as little cages for the insects they were getting ready to catch. This action represents, as Sara Constantakis pointed out for Gale in her review of the piece, the individuality of the children (Gale). The fact that they all worked by themselves to craft their lanterns in their own special way to be able to show others how well they were able to do is seen in the story. This sense of individualism can be viewed as a way of self-expression, and even as a sense of self-consciousness within a competitive world. When looking at the childrens attitudes towards the crafting process, readers can take notice how important in life the idea of striving for the best is, especially within Japanese culture. Life is a big race in which only the ones who work hardest will get what they strive for, but sometimes we miss the opportunity thinking otherwise. This idea is represented by the use of the symbolism behind the insects. The next use of symbolism encountered in the story is found behind the two insects that make up the whole story; the grasshopper and the bell cricket. As aforementioned, the group of children was on the search for some insects, but two of them stood out from the crowd: Fujio and Kiyoko. Fujio was the first child to catch what appeared to be a grasshopper, an insect fairly rare to catch for its unusual presence. He, after denying everyone elses request to have it, decides to give the grasshopper to Kiyoko. It is no secret to the narrator that the grasshopper was meant to be hers from the beginning. Kiyoko pointed out that the much sought-after grasshopper was actually something much more special. Instead of a really exciting insect to catch, it was a very rare onea bell cricket. This insect is said in Japanese culture to be so special that it is believed to be the voice of Buddha singing (Short Stories for Students). Kawabata uses this cultural link with the insect as another connection to fate that portrays how the Japanese view love and the

Hernandez 3 influence fate or destiny has in their daily lives. The author proceeds to notice that after the children exchanged the insect from one hand to another, their lanterns reflected each others name on the opposites chest. He notes: Even if they remembered forever that Fujio had given her the cricket and that Kiyoko had accepted it, not even in dreams would Fujio ever know that his name had been written in green on Kiyokos breast or that Kiyokos name had been inscribed in red on his waist, nor would Kiyoko ever know that Fujios name had been inscribed in green on her breast or that her own name had been written in red on Fujios waist (Kawabata). That it is a signal of fate that these kids are meant to be; that even though they did not realize the fact that such thing happened they were destined to be together; it is love, it is fate. The narrator closes the story by giving Fujio very interesting advice about life. He points out in the last couple of lines in the story: you [Fujio] will find a girl like a grasshopper whom you think is a bell cricket. And finally, to your clouded, wounded heart, even a true bell cricket will seem like a grasshopper. He explains that, in life, one might find a companion who appears to be a bell cricket when it is really a grasshopper and that one might have a bell cricket thinking it is a grasshopper instead (Kawabata). This statement represents the Japanese version of the famous American saying Not everything that shines is gold or the idea of A diamond in the rough were the idea that in life not everything is what it seems to be. The last use of symbolism within the story can be recognized in the roles of the children as characters in the piece. Fujio had all of the intentions of giving what he thought then to be a grasshopper to Kiyoko from the very beginning. Even though he called for everyones attention, his purpose was solely on catching hers. As Sara Constantakis analyses this exchange, the bell cricket in this scenario acts as a token of his admiration for Kiyoko. Fujio metaphorically

Hernandez 4 represents the men of the world who are in search of the true love but they can oftentimes not realize what they had. Kiyoko, on the other hand, represents the women and all which is good and pure (Constantakis). She represents both of the sides men could choose: the good one, which is not always easy to discern at plain sight, and the bad one that appears to shine as good. Yasunari Kawabata had a greater lesson behind this story, one in which he intended for the reader to understand something important about love. Love is controlled by fate but men must learn to realize what they have in front of them, take care of their significant other when they have the chance, to learn from their mistakes, and move on. They must keep in mind that one day they might let go of a bell cricket thinking is a grasshopper without realizing it.

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Works Cited: Kawabata, Yasunari. "The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket." The Norton Introduction to Literature. Alison, Booth. J. Paul Hunter and Kelly J. Mays. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2006. 366 - 368. Overview: The Grasshoper and the Bell Cricket. Short Stories for Students. Ed. Sara Constantakis. Vol. 29. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Literature Resource Center. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. "The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Sara Constantakis. Vol. 29. Detroit: Gale, 2010. 146-170. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. WriteWork contributors. "An Analysis of "The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket"" WriteWork.com. WriteWork.com, 24 July, 2007. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. "Yasunari Kawabata (1899-1972)." Short Story Criticism. Ed. David Siegel. Vol. 17. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995. 233-259. Literature Criticism Online. Gale. 7 April 2014.