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Metaphors
Definition of Mood
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes... read full definition
Mood
Explanation and Analysis:
In Ozeki’s novel, life lasts for a time being. So do grief and trauma. A Tale for the Time Being unspools a harrowing, heavy account across multiple narratives, pressing shock and sorrow into almost every plot strand. What begins as otherwise cheerful, childish diary entries morph into nightmarish accounts as Nao endures horrific abuses at the hands of her classmates. Nao takes inventory of her ijime with anguishing clarity: entry by entry, she recounts how students stab her, peers and teachers stage mock funerals, and bullies film her in the bathroom. Nao endures the most humiliating extremes of exclusion, rape, and senseless violation.
Pain leaves even deeper fingerprints as Ruth reads deeper. “I mean, if you want to die sooner, you have to take matters into your own hands,” Nao declares in her diary—the first suggestions of suicide in a work that is rife with references to self-harm. A Tale for the Time Being makes its reader bear witness to Haruki #2’s two suicide attempts and to Nao’s terrifying thought processes as she plans out her own. Just as tragically, it focuses on Nao’s granduncle—Haruki #1—the kamikaze fighter pilot who struggles with the moral dilemma of ending his life on his own terms. Through his double diary entries, the pilot sheds painful light on the brutalities of Japan’s World War II regime.
Both Nao and her father eventually rediscover their will to survive. But despite its sense of resolution, A Tale for the Time Being presents enough sorrow and struggle to fill a journey, delivering poignant moments of loss and pain.
Related Themes:
