Everything about Kokoro totally explained
Kokoro (こころ, こゝろ) is a novel by
Natsume Sōseki. It was first published in
1914 in serial form in the
Japanese newspaper Asahi Shinbun. The title literally means 'heart', and can be translated as 'the heart of things' or 'feeling'. The work deals with the transition from the
Japanese
Meiji society to the modern era, by exploring the friendship between a young man and an older man he calls '
Sensei'. It continues the theme of isolation developed in Soseki's immediately preceding works, here in the context of interwoven strands of
egoism and
guilt, as opposed to shame. Other important themes in the novel include the changing times, (particularly the modernization of Japan in the Meiji era,) the changing roles and ideals of women, and intergenerational change in values, what is family, the importance of self versus group, the cost of weakness, and identity.
During the novel's initial serial run, from
April 20 to
August 11,
1914, it was printed under the title
Kokoro: Sensei no Isho (心 先生の遺書,
Kokoro: Sensei's Testament). When later published in novel form by
Iwanami Shoten, its title was shortened to
Kokoro; the rendering of the word "kokoro" itself was also changed from
kanji (心) to
hiragana (こころ).
Plot
The novel was written in
1914. It is set a few years before and is divided into three parts. In the first part,
Sensei and I, the narrator, a student, befriends an older man, Sensei (most of the characters' real names are not given). Sensei lives as a recluse, interacting only with his wife and the narrator, but still maintaining a distance between himself and them. He regularly visits the grave of a friend, but for the moment refuses to tell the narrator any details of his earlier life. In the second part,
My Parents and I, the narrator returns to his home in the country to await his father's death. As his father lies dying, the narrator receives a letter from Sensei which is recounted in the third part of the novel,
Sensei and His Testament. Sensei reveals that in his own university days he was cheated out of most of his fortune by his uncle. Later he and his childhood friend (known only as K) moved into the same house and both fell in love with the landlady's daughter. Sensei proposed first and feels that he drove his friend to commit suicide; the girl then became Sensei's wife. In 1912, Sensei is prompted by the suicide of
General Nogi Maresuke (following the death of the
Meiji Emperor) to take his own life, writing the letter to his only friend to explain his decision.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Kokoro'.
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