Sources: The Twilight of a Crane – Sample Answer – THE WORDS ACADEMY
Twilight of a Crane shows how human
beings are caught between their desire for money and passion for love.’ Do you
agree? Discuss, referring to the play.
The play is written by Junji
Kinoshita and is adapted from a folk tale. He is a leftist writer and used his
creativity to make people more aware of the insidious allure of money,
capitalism and consumerism. I agree with the above statement and in this essay,
I will explore how the love of money becomes a root cause of the dissipation of
human relationships.
At the beginning of the play, the
audience is presented with a serene scene with children running around. They
wake Yohyo and he plays with them. This implies that the children love being
around their house. Children love to spend time at places where there is love,
peace and harmony, and where they are given the attention they need. They also
ask for Tsu; they clearly love her. The neighbours trust them enough to let
their children play around their house. These facts show us that Yohyo and Tsu
had a great understanding and that there were signs of a happy, content and
satisfied family at their home.
‘sweet
heart’ / ‘darling’ / ‘dear’
The two main characters use
endearing terms as shown above to refer to each other. This is a sign of being
devoted or even doting on one another. It is safe to say that they love one
another. The use of such terms reveal the intimacy they share and the trust
they place on one another. Their lives have become valuable to each other. If
there is any resentment or bitterness toward your partner, using such words is
not possible. Therefore, we can argue that there is no conflict whatsoever
between them, and that they are transparent with each other.
‘Cold
soup is no good for my sweet heart.’
Likewise, their actions align
with these sentiments. Yohyo is portrayed in the play as someone who is not the
brightest nor the most skilled individual. However, despite this, he is very
keen in ensuring that the soup is warmed up for Tsu. He shows how considerate
he is, as he says that cold soup would do no good – he is genuinely concerned
about Tsu’s well-being and nourishment. This is evidence that Yohyo was fully
devoted to Tsu and loved her and valued her as an important person in his life.
However, Unzu and Sodo influence
Yohyo in a negative way. These two characters from the village represent
capitalist ideas – they are more concerned about profit and money than human
lives. The fact that Tsu becomes extremely weak while she makes the cloth is a
rather obvious symbol of the exploitation which is a feature of capitalism.
These two characters persuade Yohyo into getting his wife Tsu to make more and
more Senba ori. She becomes extremely weak. This reflects the capitalist system
which devalues human lives and gives a higher value to money and profit.
‘Well,
then, you might coax your wife again’
Unzu and Sodo manipulate Yohyo by
their enticing words. As mentioned above, they represent capitalism, and they
persuade Yohyo with promises about money and a fancy experience in Kyoto. The
significant fact is that he was perfectly content when the two of them
approached him. He had enough and more money (a whole sack full of it), He had
a loving wife who took care of him, and he had a life full of joy. It was a
simple, yet peaceful and fulfilling life. Even the villagers and the children
adored them and loved to spend time with them. Yohyo had a strong relationship
with his wife. He valued her and took care of her. With the arrival of Unzu and
Sodo, he begins to change. Tsu mentions that he is ‘gradually’ changing. This
adverb is important as it shows us that it is a slow process. Yohyo transforms
into someone else. His perception of things in his world changes. Even though
he valued Tsu more than anything in the world, the Senba Ori and the money it
would bring him entices him and he cannot help being more and more attached to
the idea of money.
Yohyo,
my dear- what’s happened to you? You are gradually changing. I can’t understand
why. But you are moving to the other world where I can never live.
Tsu perceives the change
happening in Yohyo, and is worried about the transformation. She reminisces
about how he used to be a kind and considerate person who cared about others
without expecting anything in return. But the love of money has begun to poison
his heart and she says that he is moving to the other world. She identifies the
love of money, or avarice, as a different world because capitalism and its obsession
over profit (at the cost of humanity and human relationships) is something
beyond her understanding. She fails to speak or understand the language of
capitalism. When Unzu and Sodo speaks to her, she does not understand them.
When Yohyo tries to persuade her, she finds it difficult to understand what he
says. This is because he is moving away from his passion for love and
becoming desirous of money. The first cloth he receives from her was received
as a gift – he was able to see the beauty and the value of it as something
special given to him by Tsu. Later on, they merely become objects that will get
him money. Rather than seeing the effort and the love that Tsu puts into the
cloth, or seeing the beauty of it, Yohyo’s perception of it has changed to a strictly
capitalistic one. This is the moment that he begins to lose his love for Tsu.
Yes,
I dislike you. I don’t like you. I’m not fond of you- you are a cross
woman!
Yohyo’s behaviour towards Tsu
changes as his priorities begin to get mixed up. Rather than valuing his wife
above everything, he values money or the Senba Ori above his wife. Therefore,
he begins to see her not in a loving manner, but through the eyes of the
capitalist system. An employee who needs to be exploited, or a resource to be
used up for maximum profit. When the desire to extract the value from this
human capital is not fulfilled, Yohyo acts like a disgruntled manager who is
complaining about his employee. Their relationship which was transparent and
genuine without any interference of a third party has been infiltrated by the
money.
As the play comes to an end, Tsu
leaves Yohyo and he holds on tightly to the cloth she made for him. This may
possibly indicate the fact that he is unable to let go of his desire for money.
He ends up losing Tsu, who loved him with all her heart – everything valuable
that he had is lost. This play thus exemplifies how Yohyo’s desire for money
overpowers his passion for love and he ends up making the wrong choices and
ends up losing his most valuable relationships.
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