Unit 13 curriculum overview and learning objectives

Akutagawa uses perspectivism in his story In a Grove here the main focus is on the incident that is being investigated by the high police commissioner. Here Takehiko is found murdered and the police highly suspect Tajomaru "The man that I arrested? He is a notorious brigand called Tajomaru." Tajomaru, confesses to the murder and gives a detailed description of the occurrence of the incident he began with agreeing and the "…when I disposed of him, I went to his woman and asked her to come and see him… (6)" then "...I was about to run away from the grove, leaving the woman behind in tears, when she frantically clung to my arm…"(6) and finally "…Then a furious desire to kill him seized me.(6)" As much as this appears to be an easy case to solve, matters get complicated when the wife of the slain Samurai testifies. She confesses to the same murder she claims "….neither conscious nor unconscious, I stabbed the small sword through the lilac-colored kimono into his breast."(7). Interesting is the strange turn of events as the murdered samurai through a medium also takes responsibility for his death. He confesses, "In front of me there was shining the small sword which my wife had dropped. I took it up and stabbed it into my breast" (8). It appears the motive behind the different accounts is to let the reader decide who did it. This is further complicated by Tajomaru's assertion that everybody is guilty of murder. Nonetheless, truth here is evasive, the reality of the circumstances that led to the death of the samurai is a matter of perception and the truth therefore is a matter of convenience. In the film, things appeared biased against the wife. There were uses of words such as "woman use their tears to fool everyone" and in addition to this, it appears the woodcutter's testimony supported Tajomaru's claim that she lured the men into sword fights.

Response

Yes, this is true; Masago is the one who creates a twist in both the text and the film. Her confessions raises more questions than answers, her confession appears more contradictory than other characters. The question is why she would kill her husband and not the Bandit? And what would be the most natural thing to do? Her argument "…since things have come to this pass, I cannot live with you. I'm determined to die, but you must die, too. You saw my shame. I can't leave you alive as you are…"(6) this is most unexpected, the honorable thing to do was to kill herself let alone kill the both of them (herself and the husband). However, she chooses to kill her husband and run to the temple to confess or in Tajomaru's testimony, she pleads with him to kill her husband. This is the strange twist which is consistent with what the other person said.

It could be true that Masago's character is deceiving to the eyes of those who interact with her, her stories all appear to be very convincing to the other characters in both the text and the film. Her innocence appears to be her greatest asset; she is able to manipulate others by her looks, "….But the moment I gazed at her face in the dark grove, I decided not to leave there without killing him..." (6) Her appearance even fooled other who did not know who she really was, in the film, the bandit claims that "woman use their tears to fool everyone" and in addition to this, it appears the woodcutter's testimony supported Tajomaru's claim that she lured the men into sword fights, which is her other hidden trait.

The film