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.