Kokoro Quote Essay

290 Words2 Pages
Kokoro is on of the greatest pieces of Japanese literature ever written. The book was published in 1914 and divided into 3 parts with the 2nd part being of not much importance. The first part is the narrator or protagonist looking back and describing his relationship with Sensei. The first part is a response to the letter Sensei sent him, which is revealed towards the end of the book. Although there seems to be an attraction between the two we learn that the relationship is platonic. The third part of the book is Sensei’s story. This part reveals the older man completely bare and laid out. The story has many passages that struck me as important. However I feel like the most important is “You seem to be under the impression that there is a special breed of bad humans. There is no such thing as a stereotype bad man in this world. Under normal conditions, everybody is more or less good, or, at least, ordinary. But tempt them, and they may suddenly change. That is what is so frightening about men.” There are many themes that the story deals with. Some of these include the struggle between a duty and desires, freedom, individuality and isolation. However I feel like all these ideas revolve around one quote. Sensei shocked himself with the length he went to for a desire. He was willing to manipulate, undermine and lie to a friend for a girl’s hand in marriage. When his friend commits suicide he is haunted by his actions and isolates himself. Therefore, I believe that this quote is a central idea and is the ideology Sensei lives by. This quote gives us a intimate feel of Sensei’s life and
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