The Wise Old Woman

Story elements can help a reader to identify the theme of any type of literature. “The Wise Old Woman”, retold by Yoshiko Uchida, is a Japanese folktale that slowly develops an important life lesson using story elements. “The Wise Old Woman” is about a young lord who decides to eradicate anyone over the age of seventy-one, but realizes he is wrong after being told that the only person over seventy-one, although she is clandestinely hidden, saved the village from being conquered by solving three difficult tasks presented by a lord ruling a neighboring town. Uchida uses the story elements conflict and plot, along with the characters’ feelings to develop the theme that the old have wisdom, and need to be respected, protected, and honored. The

The wisdom they have is precious and needs to be guarded. In conclusion, the author uses story elements to create an important life lesson in the folktale.

A story element that helps develop the theme is the story’s plot. The plot leads to the main events that, in this case, evidently state the theme of the story. The second paragraph of the folktale helps develop the theme. The first problem in the plot is when the young lord decides that, “ ‘I therefore decree that anyone over seventy-one must be banished from the village and left in the mountains to die.’ ” Everyone in the village reluctantly obeys the decree and slowly, the number of elderly people begin to decrease. However, all but one villager follows the decree. In paragraphs 16 and 17, a young farmer has a mother who is slowly reaching “...the terrible age of seventy-one.” When it is time for her to be left in the mountains, the farmer takes her up the mountain, but in the middle of the trip, he decides to create a plan to keep his mother safe. Paragraph 17 says, “The farmer dug a deep hole in the floor of his kitchen and made a small room where he could hide his mother.” In paragraph 19 and 20, Lord Higa of

As I have mentioned in the previous paragraph, the villagers obey the decree, but they dislike it. In paragraph 3, they say, “ ‘What a dreadful decree! What a cruel and unreasonable ruler we have,’ …” Then, when Lord Higa presents the three difficult tasks, both the lord and the young farmer are impressed with the answers the old woman proposed. Each time the farmer’s mother (the old woman) finds the solution for Lord Higa’s tasks, he is amazed by her knowledge and says, “ ‘You are far wiser than any of the wise men of the village.’ ’’ The farmer feels that the young lord was unwise to banish all the elderly people of the village. The characters’ feelings help develop theme because when the young lord finally comprehends the fact that the elderly should be “ ‘...treated with the respect and honor they deserve and share with us the wisdom of their years.’ ” He feels that his actions were wrong and apologizes to the elderly; and he decides to banish the decree that outlaws any sign of disrespect towards the old people. The reader infers how the characters are feeling based on their dialogue; and use their inferences to conclude the theme of the story. In conclusion, the characters’ feelings in a piece of literature help develop the theme that leads to a life