The Reward

In this blog entry, I will be switching back to Memoirs of a Geisha to relate this stage.

Once again, here is my opening question:

How does this stage affect the main character positively and negatively? Why is it necessary for the character's journey to go anywhere?

Sayuri's reward for enduring the hardships of being a geisha in her time is becoming the geisha of the chairman, a man she has had a crush on for a good portion of her life. Sayuri has survived the wrath of Hatsumomo, by running her out of Gion as well as Pumpkin, who tried to zero Sayuri's chances of being with the chairman. Sayuri also had challenges with being a geisha because part of her career was during World War II. Sayuri actually had to quit her job as a geisha momentarily because Gion was closed during part of that period.

The biggest fear Sayuri overcomes is becoming the geisha of a friend of the chairman's, Nobu. This was a fear for her because she only saw Nobu as a friend, and if he were to become her danna, the chairman would never be able to. This is because there is an unwritten rule that a man does not become the danna of a geisha whom his friend was previously the danna of. However, Sayuri finds her way around it, although not in the most respectful way to do so. Sayuri almost doesn't succeed because of Pumpkin, but somehow, it all turns out for her.

This stage affects Sayuri positively because she finally has reached her long life goal of being with the chairman, but there is also a negative side to it. Although she has dreamt about being with the chairman for a long time, issues get in the way of them being together, and being with the chairman isn't as dreamy as Sayuri thought it would be. Sayuri ends up moving to New York so that the chairman's son has a chance at becoming the head of a company without there being suspicions that he is their son*.

* Geisha often would become pregnant with their danna and it was ultimately his choice on whether the geisha would get an abortion or not. Nevertheless, if the baby was kept, they would still be considered a bastard. Although sometimes a geisha's son would become the successor to their father, it was often looked down upon. This is because many believed the son of the man and his wife should be the successor, not the son of the man and his geisha.

This stage is necessary for Sayuri's journey to proceed anywhere because it taught her a few lessons:hard work can pay off, there is great deal of luck in people's lives, and that people aren't as perfect as they may appear. Sayuri orginally became motivated to become a geisha so that the chairman could become her danna someday, and she continually worked hard to be with him throughout her career. Sayuri was also extremely lucky to even become a geisha because of the time she tried to runaway, which only showed the mother of her okiya that she was unreliable and probably not the best investment. Lastly, although Sayuri was quite happy when the chairman finally became her danna, they didn't spend as much time with each other as they would have liked, and the chairman was often stressed about his company.

So, this stage had positive and negative affects on Sayuri, but taught her many lessons in the long run. The stage was necessary for her journey to go anywhere because of the experiences and wisdom she acquired from it.

The Ordeal

I shall relate this stage of the journey to the novel The Time Traveler's Wife.

Here's my original question restated:

How does this stage affect the main character positively and negatively? Why is it necessary for the character's journey to go anywhere?

Henry DeTamble, being the time traveler, has gone forward in time and has seen himself killed. As the date of his death draws nearer, Henry realizes that he has to face his wife, Clare and tell her about it. This is clearly the central "life-or-death-predicament" since it is taken so literally in this case. Henry's biggest fear isn't death itself though, it's telling Clare. Henry faces death by showing Clare love and compassion, as he always has and finally admitting to her that he is going to die soon. Clare, as suspected and as is uncontrollable, is extremely upset, but finds ways of momentarily coping.

In this novel there are truthfully two main characters: Henry DeTamble and Clare Abshire, but their answers to my question would be very similar. So, I will answer the question for Henry:

This stage affects Henry negatively because he's going to die, leaving his wife and child behind. I'm finding it rather difficult to figure out how this stage is affecting him positively. Dying: does it affect anyone positively? Well, if you’re in a lot of pain and need to be put out of your misery then I suppose yes. However, Henry is not in seething pain.

So, the only positive thing about death I can think of is that nothing lasts forever. This statement on its own may seem negative but how can you treasure life and the people around you if you have them for eternity? There will be some point in time that you’ll take them for granted, and they won’t seem as wonderful as they are; they won’t be as wonderful as they are. Even when we don’t have eternity with people we take them for granted. So, although Henry has died, he and Clare have had the remarkable privilege of knowing each other throughout the different stages of their lives. From the time Clare was six, to the time she was eighty-something.

Henry’s death was necessary for the journey to go anywhere because the journey ends with wisdom and a moral:

We all have our stresses with events and people in our lives all the way through. But sometimes we have to sit back and see all of the positive things that make it tolerable. Those are the things that keep us living, but we only seem to get them in moderation. That is because if there weren’t any negative things in our lives we couldn’t possibly know what true happiness was, or at least it wouldn’t feel the same. This relates back to taking things for granted.

So, in conclusion, the two things we need to truly appreciate happiness are having the opposite (stress, upsets) so that we can compare, and mortality. The opposite, so that we can appreciate how great happiness is in comparison, and mortality so that we don’t take happiness for granted. This still may not seem so swell, but hey, that’s life! So, considering this is how life is, then Henry’s death had a positive affect on him, like everyone else’s death has on themselves.

Tests, Enemies, and Allies

Since I am currently reading a non-fiction book, I will continue relating my posts to the last novel I read "Memoirs of a Geisha".

So, the question I have come up with to begin each of my last 4 entries is:

How does this stage affect the main character positively and negatively? Why is it necessary for the character's journey to go anywhere?

Tests, enemies, and allies definitely play significant roles in Sayuri's journey, both good and bad.

Without being tested by her okiya, Sayuri would not have had a chance to become a geisha, since her future in that field all relied upon the mother of her okiya allowing her to become one.

Allies Sayuri met were people such as the mother of her okiya, her geisha sister Mameha, and the chairman. The mother of the okiya aided Sayuri by giving her a chance to follow the path she desired, Mameha gave Sayuri advice on how to be a great geisha, and the chairman aided Sayuri with the expenses of her training.

However, Sayuri certainly had her enemies as well: Hatsumomo, another geisha in her okiya, and later in the game, Pumpkin, who also became a geisha in Sayuri's okiya. Hatsumomo had felt threatened by Sayuri when she first came to the okiya, and tried very hard to sabotage Sayuri's career. With the help of Mameha, Sayuri was eventually able to run Hatsumomo out of Gion so that she could be tortured no longer by her. As for Pumpkin, she was once a very close friend of Sayuri's until Sayuri stole her chance of being the daughter of the okiya. Pumpkin later seeked vengeance and lessened Sayuri's chances of having the chairman as her danna*.

The tests Sayuri faced were all brought on by her various enemies on different levels. From the time Sayuri and her sister were originally taken from their village, to Hatsumomo weakening Sayuri's chances of becoming a geisha, to Pumpkin and Nobu each separately distancing Sayuri's chances of being with the chairman.

Now, I say enemies of different levels because enemies such as Hatsumomo and Pumpkin intentionally tried to harm Sayuri, while enemies such as Nobu and Sayuri's kidnapper did not intentionally do so. However, the latter enemies' actions that impacted Sayuri negatively were done for self-centered reasons. Nobu wanted to be Sayuri's danna and didn't know of her affections for the chairman, while Sayuri's kidnapper believed he was giving her a better life in Gion while making a bit of money for himself.

These characters and events were necessary for Sayuri's journey to proceed because they led her to the district of Gion, aided her in becoming a notable geisha, taught her who to trust, and eventually, led her to being with the chairman as she desired.

Sayuri's tests were brought on by her enemies, she passed these tests with the guidance of her allies and a bit of luck, and her journey ended in the special world she had strived to acquire. Yet Sayuri did not reached her special world without hardships that taught her life lessons.

"Adversity is like a strong wind. I don't mean just that it holds us back from places we might otherwise go. It also tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that afterward we see ourselves as we really are, and not merely as we might like to be."
— Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha.




* Danna - Typically a wealthy man, sometimes married, who has the means to support the very large expenses related to a geisha's traditional training and other costs. This sometimes occurs today as well, but very rarely.