By: Arthur Golden
According to Luce, M. (1997), Memoirs of a Geisha functions as a typical romance—poor girl climbs the social ladder—but Golden’s exquisite execution never fails. The implicit risk of writing in a foreign voice never becomes an issue; indeed, it was forgotten as Sayuri’s charm enraptures from the novel’s first line. The fictional Sayuri, based on Golden’s voluminous research, presents an illuminating portrait of a culture too often mistakenly considered synonymous with prostitution by outsiders. While certainly fiscal transaction and sex do occur in this context. Primarily the geisha is an entertainer, one who sings, dances, converses, and accompanies. In short, a type of professional companion. It is a tricky and often unfulfilling occupation, as Sayuri tells us, requiring tact, quick wit, and at times unbearable situations.
Sunland, E. (2016), stated that this novel follows Chiyo’s transformation from a poor fishmonger’s daughter into Sayuri, one of the most sought-after geisha in Japan in the years before WWII. Her rise is aided by her unique, grey eyes and Mameha, a successful geisha who helps complete her training. There’s plenty of backbiting and competition with a rival geisha, Hatsumomo, but as the book begins with a fictional “Translator’s Note” that places Sayuri in a posh NYC loft with well-heeled guests, there’s little suspense that she’ll rise to the top.
The plot may seem like the typical rags-to-riches story, the narration is anything but. Sayuri’s story is filled with underlying realism that readers could relate to. Her world and our world is filled with bitter rivalries that tear and build new relationships. Her world and our world is filled with the confusion of finding the right people to open our hearts to, making ourselves vulnerable. Her world and our world knows the feeling of the heartbreak in being betrayed and manipulated, thrown down to the very ground, never to stand again. Being left behind, lost and confused, is not an uncommon circumstance either. Like Sayuri, we often question the purpose of our lives with all the clutter and noise surrounding us. Literally or fictitiously, one often struggles to fight the ever-changing river as it winds around unknowingly. But Sayuri’s story shows readers that “we must use whatever methods we can to understand the movement of the universe around us and time our actions so that we are not fighting the currents, but moving with them.” For who could have “any more control than [a] poor beetle has over [a] gigantic foot as it descends upon it?” (Bulb, 2017).
The life of Sayuri has many obstacles that made her become a strong woman. She has dreams and, she is willing to do anything to uplift herself and to become one of the geisha in Okiya. There are lots of trials like her relationship with her friend named Pumpkin who brought the Chairman to the theatre instead of Nobu because she wants to sabotage Sayuri's relationship with the Chairman in order to get back at Sayuri for succeeding where she herself failed. She was a traitor and wants to drag Sayuri's life and career. She is not a good friend and even chose to destroy the life of Sayuri because she felt jealous. Pumpkin's action only shows that she is not a loyal friend. She is selfish and hates Sayuri secretly. A friend that cannot be trusted and willing to destroy a friend's reputation. However, Sayuri managed to get herself back on track with the help of other people. She may live in a poor family and faced cruelty from her mother, yet she continues to arise by gaining knowledge through education and prove to everyone that she can be a famous geisha. Another thing is her love life shows that true love does really exist. In the end, Sayuri lived happily with the Chairman, whom she truly loved from the beginning of the story.
Sayuri’s character represents as an extraordinary woman. She shows the quality as a young woman who could raise dignity through her struggle in facing life by her good deed. To the eyes of feminists, Sayuri is a symbol a strong and independent woman who has highly survived in facing the details of life in the geisha society and succeeded in becoming respected person. Thus, it becomes the good example for women in the whole society (Afif, S., 2012).
References
Afif, S. (2012). Woman Exploitation in Arthur Golden’s the Memoirs of a Geisha as Feminism
Study. Retrieved from https://www.unisbank.ac.id/ojs/index.php/fbib2/article/view/742?
PageSpeed=noscript
Bulb (2017). Memoirs of a Geisha Book Review. Retrieved from https://www.bulbapp.com/
u/memoirs-of-a-geisha-book-review
Luce M. (1997). Book Reviews Memoirs of a Geisha. Retrieved from https://book
fiction#.X51GyIgzbIU
Sunland, E. (2016). Review: Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. Retrieved from https://
efsunland.com/2016/07/13/review-memoirs-of-a-geisha/
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