Analysis Of The Samurai's Garden By Gail Tsukiyama

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The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama follows Stephen’s journey through Tarumi, as he learns about the human nature and dives deep into the world of human fallibility. Stephen, a boy taking a break at Tarumi to regain his health, gets the opportunity to watch the role of emotions play a huge part in his life, and Sachi's life, a woman whose life was turned around after being affected by leprosy. First, he watches a fight between Kenzo, Sachi's ex-lover and Matsu, a friend who is Sachi's only connection to her old life, go down after fighting about Sachi’s leprosy. He's also able to encounter his own father betray his family to live a different life in Kobe with another woman. Through the use of characterizing Stephen and Kenzo’s thoughts and …show more content…

For example, when Kenzo first learns that Sachi has obtained leprosy, Kenzo reacts in a way that Sachi remembers as, "I will never forget the look in his eyes when he [realizes] it [isn’t] a joke---a look of both fear and betrayal. He quickly [drops] my hand and without a word, [backs] away from me and [walks] out" (Pg.136). The phrase "look of both fear and betrayal" shows Kenzo's fear that Sachi will never be beautiful again and shows the emotion of anger in the form of betrayal, that Sachi would hide such an important game-changing factor from him. Kenzo's anger towards the fact that Sachi's beauty is being eaten away by leprosy, overlooks all of his love and respect for her, and ends up keeping them separated. When Kenzo sees Sachi for the first time since he separated himself from her, "...he [turns] to Sachi and [tears] the scarf away from her face...'To think I wasted all these years on a monster.' " (Pg.67). The phrase "wasted all these years on a monster" shows Kenzo's anger coming into play and takes him as far as calling Sachi a monster. Kenzo's anger pushes him to insult Sachi for his personal flaw of only loving her for her physical beauty. The phrase "[tears] the scarf away" emphasizes the anger that Kenzo had building up within him that Sachi's beauty may actually be gone forever. Kenzo's anger blinds his eyes from considering Sachi's point of view and thinking about what she's going