Snow Country Reflective Statement

Reflective statement on Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata (399 words)

From the interactive oral, my understanding of purity and cleanliness in regards to Shimamura and Komako's relationship has vastly improved as I now realise that the only time that Shimamura visited the baths was at night, after sleeping with Komako. This is significant as it makes the reader think that Shimamura was using the bath as a way to wash away his guilt. Firstly, for sleeping with Komako and secondly, for the way he treats Komako throughout the novel.

We also discussed how marriage is viewed in Japanese culture in relation to Shimamura's marriage within the novel. In 1930's Japan, when Snow Country was written, marriage was considered a business arrangement perhaps for reasons of wealth or power. Not only was it considered a business arrangement but it was also an expectation for both men and women of that time. They were expected to marry. From the little we are told of Shimamura's marriage in the novel we can tell that it is not a marriage based upon love but that of expectation. Shimamura was expected to marry so he did, his marriage also highlights a very non-committal side of Shimamura.

In the interactive oral, we established that Shimamura rarely commits himself to anything perhaps the most obvious example being his relationship with his wife and children, the way he is rarely told in the novel to have a relationship with his wife and the way he is often away from his family for long periods of time as he is away in the 'Snow Country'. Another example would be his obvious wondering eye as despite being married, Shimamura has a sexual relationship with Komako and a distant infatuation with Yoko. One of the less obvious examples of Shimamura's lack of commitment is the way he considers himself to be an expert on what he calls 'occidental dance' known to us as ballet, yet he has never been to a show nor has he made any attempt to travel to go to see the ballet in person....