I recently read the novel Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden and found that the theme of appearance versus reality is very prominent. Many characters come across as much different than they are in reality, like Nobu, a seemingly grouchy man, and Hatsumomo, an outwardly beautiful geisha.
Hatsumomo, the resident geisha in the okiya, is famous for being beautiful, but infamous by those who know her well, for having a bad attitude. In Chiyo’s first glimpse of her, she sees how beautiful she is, commenting on the beautiful kimono that and is wearing, and that “her clothing wasn’t the only thing extraordinary about her” (Golden, 36). Hatsumomo is truly beautiful, so much so that her beauty overshadows her terrible personality. One night, Hatsumomo comes home with a friend and orders Chiyo ruin the kimono of another geisha. When Chiyo is delivering it, she looks back and “ couldn’t help noticing how extraordinary Hatsumomo’s beauty was… she may have been cruel as a spider, but she was more lovely” (74). Even as Chiyo is doing this terrible act that will most likely keep her in debt to the okiya forever, she can’t help but notice that the orchestrator of this terrible deed, is so beautiful. Even in this moment, Hatsumomo’s beauty still overshadows her
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Nobu is a very peculiar man, both physically and in his personality. He has terrible burn scars on his face and neck and is missing one arm. After Nobu snaps at Sayuri, she says that she thinks that he no longer likes her, to which Mameha responds saying “Sometimes his temperament seems as gentle as a sack of gravel, but he’s a kind man in his way, as you’ll soon discover” (224) . This statement is proven to be true throughout the novel because although he is short with her, he gives her gifts and when the war starts, he provides her shelter. Nobu seems on edge all the time, but is in reality very