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Essay on Harakiri and Obligations in Conflict

posted 20 years ago by kstough
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What occurs in a shame society when the two completely different ideals, both of which you have an obligation to obey, are pulling you in different directions? The movie Harakiri and the short stories of “On the Conduct of Lord Tadanao” and Patriotism display the horrific result between a clash of ideals.
The ancient Japanese are known to us to be a shame society. Everything that they do in based upon how the action will affect your honor. But what happens when the obligations that you hold come in conflict with one another. In Harakiri, a Japanese movie based upon obligations in conflict, Motome Chijiiwa provides for us the perfect example. Motome was a skilled samurai in the house of Geishu. The House of Geishu was one of extremely large proportions and among the retainers it was decided that improvements needed to be made to the castle. A misinterpretation by the Shogunate to see these improvements as a sign of war caused the immediate dismemberment of the house. All 1200 of its retainers were left helpless on the streets, poverty stricken, with nowhere to turn; for samurai were not allowed to pursue the jobs of a normal citizen. But, one of the few things that a samurai could do was teach the ways of Confucius. So with nothing else to do, Motome worked hard, taught the Confucian studies and made a modest living. He married a younger girl named Miho and the two of them had a son. Fortunately, Motome was making just enough money to support his family and therefore life went on as it should, happily. But such happiness is short lived, for soon Miho fell ill with tuberculosis. And to make matters worse, shortly thereafter Motome’s son Kingo came down will a ferocious fever. Trying to save the lives of his family members Motome sells everything valuable that he has in his possession and yet he still cannot scrape together enough money to pay a physician. But Motome still has one thing of value in his possession, his samurai swords. But to sells these would be against the ways of the samurai, for a samurai’s sword is his soul.
Motome is being pulled in two different directions. On one hand, he has the obligation to his family, and should sell his swords in an attempt to save them. On the other, Motome cannot sell his swords, for he is a samurai, and he is thereby force to stand by and watch his family die. In making this decision Motome cannot win. He must disobey one of the things that he has an obligation to. In short, Motome sells his swords to save his family. Motome disobeys his obligations as a samurai in an attempt to heal is wife and son. Motome is most unfortunate though, because this is only the first time that he is face with a conflict of his obligations.
Selling his swords did not create the revenue needed to pay a physician and therefore Motome was forced to take desperate actions. In order to save his family, Motome threatened to commit harakiri, or suicide, in the hope that the fief which he threatened would either pay him to leave, or take him in as a retainer. Either of these reactions would greatly benefit his cause. Within this action lies Motome’s second obligation in conflict. Motome, by threatening harakiri when he has no intention of committing the act, is expelling from within him all the honor that he has in order to save his family. In a shame society the actions that Motome is taking are seen as a disgrace, redeemable only in death. But, once again Motome is faced with a choice. He once again is forced to either stand by and watch his family die, or commit a most dishonorable act.
Masaki Kobayashi, the maker of Harakiri, put Motome through such harsh conditions to prove a point to his audience. That no matter what, we are all faced with choices. And these choices will always please someone, while infuriating the other. Basically, what Kobayashi was trying to say was that no matter what, no matter how hard we try, we cannot avoid conflicts of our obligations.
With a similar goal in mind Kikuchi Kan created the short story of “On the Conduct of Lord Tadanao.” In “On the Conduct…” Kan paints for us the extravagant scene of a Daimyo, who is being driven insane by his obligations in conflict. Lord Tadanao, the Daimyo of Echizen, was a very young and powerful man. In fact, he had been in control of the fief since he was 13 years old. But, Tadanao has a problem; everything in his life has come to him with such ease. He has never known defeat and the lack of this necessary life experience leads to his downfall. One night, Tadanao overhears two of his retainers talking about the night’s mock battle. One the retainers tells the other that he had let Tadanao beat him and that the daimyo really was not as talented as he thinks he is. This puts Tadanao in a most difficult position. He can either ignore the statement and resume his duties as Daimyo, or he can ignore his duties as a leader and attempt to discover the validity of the statement. I believe that Kan makes an attempt to show the reader that obligations in conflict will truly drive you insane, for Tadanao absolutely loses it. Not only does he believe that the retainers allowed him to win, but because of this he assumes that everyone he has ever know has just allowed him to win because of his position in society. He loses the sense of who he is as a person, and has no idea who he can trust to discover the answer. This loss of self leads Tadanao on a 7 year killing spree in an attempt to rid the world of all those who have “let him win.” Eventually the killing stops; Tadanao even becomes a Buddhist priest. But Kan’s point is made; obligations in conflict can force a man to do things that before would have seemed irrational.
The final story in which a conflict in obligations is displayed is in the short story of Patriotism. This very basic story displays clearly the effects of a conflict in obligations. The story is of a man, Shinji Takeyama. Shinji was a well respected member of the Imperial Army; he had achieved the high rank of lieutenant and was considered to be one most loyal to the army. Shinji received word that some of his closest colleagues had been involved in a mutinous affair. Shinji was well aware that because of his high rank and association with the people, he would be told to kill them. Here Shinji is faced with an extremely large conflict of his obligations. Shinji either had to disobey his friendship and kill his colleagues, or he would be forced to disobey the orders of the Imperial Army, a most shameful act. Shinji is distraught, for he knows that in making this decision he will have to disobey one very important obligation. But, unlike Motome and Tadanao, Shinji had one thing working in his favor. The orders to kill his colleagues had not been given yet. So there existed one way out. One way that he could avoid choosing between two of his most important obligations and that one way out was harakiri. So, instead of disobeying either the army or his friends Shinji kills himself, thus freeing himself of the responsibility of making a decision.
Although Shinji is portrayed as a coward, Yukio Mishima displays through him an extremely important message. If there exists a way to avoid choosing between 2 important obligations, take it. Instead of seeing Shinji as a coward, I see him as an intelligent man. He saw a way in which he could please both parties and not be forced to make a decision, for this I see Shinji as a genius.
Obligations in conflict can be extremely dangerous. The characters of Harakiri, “On the Conduct of Lord Tadanao” and Patriotism display to the reader the responsibilities that these conflicts entail. Some obligations will drive you mad, make you do irrational things, others will place in situations that there may seem to be no way out. However these three stories all share one common theme. In each of our lives their exist obligations in conflict and sooner or later we are going to have to face those conflicts and make a decision.

[–] vita-12 20 years ago

Nick Vita
12-23-04
Honors World Literature
Dr. McMahon, O.G.

Japanese Literature is rife with obligations in conflict. The movie Harakiri is a prime example of this as are the short stories Patriotism and On the Conduct of Lord Tadanao. The obligations in conflict in these stories and movie are harsh enough for death in some cases and exile in another. The conflict forces decisions that force the characters to decide which act is correct.

The movie Harakiri is a prime example of obligations in conflict. In the opening scene we are shown a Japanese man walking up to the gates of the house of Iyi. He threatens to commit seppuku and the house, not wanting a suicide committed on their front steps, lets the man in. The leader of the house of Iyi, Kageyu Saito, then speaks to the man, whose name is Hanshiro Tsugumo, an ex-warrior from the house of Geishu. Saito explains the fortunes of a man named Motome Chijiiwa, also from the house of Geishu, who a few months earlier had appeared at the house’s gate threatening to commit suicide. He was then forced to commit suicide with blades of bamboo that he had on him. The house of Iyi thought that Motome had no honor because his swords were bamboo and thus tricked him into a long and very painful suicide with his swords. Motome ends up biting his tongue off to hasten his death because his second, Hikokuro Omodaka will not chop his head off. Saito explains that he is telling this story to make sure Tsugumo is not trying to extort money from the house of Iyi. Tsugumo promises his intent is to die, and when asked if he knew Motome says he is not sure because of the number of people in the house of Geishu.

Tsugumo is then led to the court where he will commit seppuku. He then asks for three seconds, one of who is Omadaka. Saito sends a servant to get them but the all claim sickness. While the servant is out Tsugumo asks to tell a story. Saito lets him a Tsugumo begins his story. It is about Motome, the man who had come asking to kill himself a few months earlier. It turns out that when the house of Geishu was dissolved Tsugumo is assigned to take care of Motome. Motome eventually marries Tsugumo’s daughter Miho to prevent her from becoming a concubine in another house. Motome and Miho have a son, whose name is Kingo. Shortly thereafter, Miho gets tuberculosis and Miho gets a fever. Because Motome and Tsugumo do not have much money, they cannot afford a physician to see Miho and Kingo. The first conflict arises here. Motome, in an attempt to get money, sells his most valuable possessions; his swords that could cut through iron, to a pawn shop and gets bamboo swords in return. The problem with his act is that he is a samurai and a samurai’s sword is his soul. Thus Motome had sold his soul in an effort to save his family. When this proves to not be enough, the second conflict arises. Motome and Tsugumo both agree it is a shame to beg for money, so Motome says he knows a moneylender who will help him. The truth is, Motome is going to beg at the house of Iyi. Some ex-warriors had done this before by threatening to commit seppuku and being sent on their way with money to get rid of them. The conflict for Motome in this is that samurai are not supposed to give up, but they are also not supposed to beg for money. Also, when he gets to the house of Iyi and is let in, he begs for a few days to visit his family. Saito says that to beg for a few days of grace was the sign of a coward. The conflict here is that Motome just wanted to see his family before he was forced to commit seppuku after being tricked into thinking he was going to get money. His body is brought home by the three men who Tsugumo is requesting as his seconds, one of whom was Motome’s second. Tsugumo is the left alone as Miho and Kingo die and then seeks revenge on the three men who brought Motome’s body back. He cuts off their topnknots and shames them, but they pretend to be sick when the are called upon to be Tsugumo’s second’s. Tsugumo shows the topknots to Saito, who then orders him killed, and Tsugumo is eventually shot, but not until after his exposure of the lack of honor in the house of Iyi.

Another example of obligations in conflict is the short story Patriotism. This story is about a young Lieutenant Shinji Takeyama. He has been married for six months when he is called into action after a mutiny by some of the soldiers in the Japanese army. Shinji is gone for two days and when he returns tells his wife he must commit suicide because of an obligation in conflict. He knows that he will be called on to lead a unit of men to attack the insurgents, some of whom are his friends. Shinji’s two choices are to either kill his friends or go against orders, thus becoming an insurgent himself; he wishes to do neither. He cannot kill his friends but he also cannot go against orders. Shinji has worked hard to get the position in the army he has and has achieved it quickly at the age of thirty-one. To throw away all of his hard work and be labeled an insurgent is not what Shinji wants. Also, he knows he could be killed for disobeying orders. The only way for Shinji to resolve this conflict is to kill himself. He and his wife commit seppuku, thus keeping their honor.

A final example of obligations in conflict is the story On the Conduct of Lord Tadanao. Lord Tadanao is in charge of a large fiefdom and has been since he was thirteen. Everyone on his fief lets him winn and gives him praise because he is lord. When Tadanao finally figures this out for himself after hearing a conversation, he begins to go crazy. He tries many ways to find somebody who will resist him and when finding none, begins to kill people. Because Tadanao chooses to do this he loses his fief. The obligations in conflict in this story involve him and others. His obligations in conflict are whether or not he should ignore his two retainers he has overheard. Either way he loses, and he eventually goes insane by choosing to try to find someone who will resist him. The shogun puts him in charge of much smaller fief where he is much happier that people treat him as an equal. The retainers in this story also have obligations in conflict. They can either submit to Lord Tadanao’s will or resist him. Either way they are bound to incur his wrath in the end. Some end up killing themselves after attempt to challenge him and some kill themselves after attempting to submit to him. The situation is not resolved until Tadanao is relieved of his duties as Lord of the fief and sent away.

Japanese Literature has many obligations of conflict in it. Many times, these conflicts are only resolved through death. The movie Harakiri and the short stories Patriotism and On the Conduct of Lord Tadanao demonstrate this. These three have conflicts that are often too hard for the characters to resolve. Some of the conflicts are resolved through death. Much of Japanese Literature deals with this while also dealing with the concept of. The conflicts along with the characters honor make their decisions tough.