Sayuri's Use Of Sacrifice In Pop Culture

Pop culture was ablaze when Stannis Baratheon believed that the only way of ruling the Iron Throne would be to sacrifice his own daughter, Shireen, to the Lord of Light. He burns her alive, but as opposed to winning the throne he was abandoned and murdered. In the more realistic but no less exciting context of Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden, Sayuri quickly learns that making sacrifices are necessary in order to entrench a stable future. Forced into the sophisticated life of a geisha at a young age, Sayuri not only sacrifices her freedom and childhood, but is also left to make many life-changing sacrifices.

Sayuri realizes that she no longer has the freedom of one not devoted to pleasing others. When Hatsumomo and Pumpkin follow Sayuri

Sayuri vividly describes her mizuage: “I felt no more pleasure there than if someone had rubbed a file over and over against the inside of my thigh until I bled” (283). Sayuri knew that there was no way to stop Dr. Crab, as he had paid so much money for her, so she bravely endured the pain. Similarly, Mrs. Fidget yanks off Sayuri and Satsu’s clothes to feel around their bodies and in between their legs. At the time Sayuri struggled to hold back her tears as she felt uncomfortable and exposed; she was unaware that she would have to bear this feeling again, when she had a danna. Later, when Sayuri delivers the hair ornament to Hatsumomo she watches the schoolgirls chatter. Justifiably Sayuri feels jealous of the girls and longs to become a successful geisha like many of them would one day be. Sayuri shows great maturity throughout her life as she accepts that she does not have control over her body and what she

Although Sayuri tried to forget her love for the Chairman by picturing an encounter with Nobu in Kyoto, all she could think about was the Chairman kindly comforting her with his reassuring words; however, Sayuri knew that the only way she could repay Nobu for sending her to the safety of the Arashino’s was to be his danna, even if it meant having to spend her life without her true love. She treasured the Chairman’s handkerchief as it reminded her of his kindness and the possibility of one day receiving his love. Furthermore, Sayuri discusses the importance for Dr. Crab to win the bid for her mizuage:

“The fee for my mizuage was more than enough to repay all of my debts to the okiya….When I became the daughter of the okiya, my debts ceased to exist because the okiya absorbed them all. But all of my profits went to the okiya as well, not only then, at the time of my mizuage, but forever afterward.”