Setting :
The author uses an unfamiliar setting to get the reader engaged in the topic. Not many people know about geishas nor where they live so this could be an incentive to the reader to read this book because most people reading historical fiction are looking for intresting things to learn about. She starts off by having the character live in a homely village with kind people who care for eachother and enjoy life Chiyo originally lives in a crooked house on the top of a bluff secluded from the rest of the town. When she meets Mr. Tanaka he author brings a new aspect into the setting, elegance. On page 27 he says,"the house was grander than anything in Yoroido,with enormous eaves like our village shrine." From the time she meets Mr. Tanaka to the time she is sold, she sees elegance and beauty in all the things she finds. (geishas,buildings).Once she is sold and is at the Okiya she sees all of the familiar poorness and ruggedness of her original home, this causes the readers to feel with Chiyo of the mourn of the loss of her home this causes Chiyo to become disoriented. On page 45 Chiyo says “when all at once I felt so disorientated I had to stop what I was doing for a long while to stare at my hands;for I could scarcely understand that this person drying rice bowls was actually me."The author brings in familiar settings allowing the readers to connect to Chiyo on an emotional level various times throughout the book. The author makes the readers actually visualize the places Chiyo visits and lives. The setting plays an exceptionally important role in the end of the book when she brings the characters to New York.on page 423 Chiyo says, “I don't think I quite believed that the great buidings of New York City really existed. And when I settled at last into my room ...and looked out the window at the mountains feelng I was seeing a world in which anything was possible. I confess I'd expected to feellike a baby who has been taken away from its mother; for I had never befor left Japan, and couldn't imagine that a setting as alien as New York City would make me anything but fearful." This is a place almost all americans have heard about and are able to connect even more to the characters because now they’re in their home and thus making it easier to connect to chiyo's feelings and actions due to the area in which she lived.It also connects with people because we've all experiencd a new beginning, be it with a spouse, getting a new home. Everyone has experienced major change at least once in their lifetime, so the ending of the book easily connects with its readers.
The author uses an unfamiliar setting to get the reader engaged in the topic. Not many people know about geishas nor where they live so this could be an incentive to the reader to read this book because most people reading historical fiction are looking for intresting things to learn about. She starts off by having the character live in a homely village with kind people who care for eachother and enjoy life Chiyo originally lives in a crooked house on the top of a bluff secluded from the rest of the town. When she meets Mr. Tanaka he author brings a new aspect into the setting, elegance. On page 27 he says,"the house was grander than anything in Yoroido,with enormous eaves like our village shrine." From the time she meets Mr. Tanaka to the time she is sold, she sees elegance and beauty in all the things she finds. (geishas,buildings).Once she is sold and is at the Okiya she sees all of the familiar poorness and ruggedness of her original home, this causes the readers to feel with Chiyo of the mourn of the loss of her home this causes Chiyo to become disoriented. On page 45 Chiyo says “when all at once I felt so disorientated I had to stop what I was doing for a long while to stare at my hands;for I could scarcely understand that this person drying rice bowls was actually me."The author brings in familiar settings allowing the readers to connect to Chiyo on an emotional level various times throughout the book. The author makes the readers actually visualize the places Chiyo visits and lives. The setting plays an exceptionally important role in the end of the book when she brings the characters to New York.on page 423 Chiyo says, “I don't think I quite believed that the great buidings of New York City really existed. And when I settled at last into my room ...and looked out the window at the mountains feelng I was seeing a world in which anything was possible. I confess I'd expected to feellike a baby who has been taken away from its mother; for I had never befor left Japan, and couldn't imagine that a setting as alien as New York City would make me anything but fearful." This is a place almost all americans have heard about and are able to connect even more to the characters because now they’re in their home and thus making it easier to connect to chiyo's feelings and actions due to the area in which she lived.It also connects with people because we've all experiencd a new beginning, be it with a spouse, getting a new home. Everyone has experienced major change at least once in their lifetime, so the ending of the book easily connects with its readers.
Point of View
The author tells the story through the eyes of the wizened, old Chiyo. You can tell that he is very thorough about switching back and forth between past and present using key words like "I didn't know it at the time..." or like on page 7, "Suppose that you and I were sitting in a quiet room overlooking a garden, chatting and sipping at our cups of green tea while we talked about something that happened a long time ago..." He uses this ingenuity to develop a connection between the reader and Chiyo herself, making you feel as if Chiyo herself is telling you her story in person. We think this is brilliant because it draws you deeper into the story and makes you feel as though you are there yourself, experiencing what Chiyo is feeling, and seeing her world through your connection to her. He doesn’t change the point of view either, but instead allows you the insight of everything Chiyo thinks, feels, and experiences. This gives you a closer connection, in a sense, to the main character. Rather than ending up confused by seeing through the eyes of different people, you get the clear, crisp image through Chiyo’s eyes and are able to understand what is going on perfectly. We also think it was interesting for the author to choose to
write I the viewpoint of a girl, instead of his own gender, and believe he put a lot of effort into this novel to figure out how women thought and acted in that time period. The author’s choice to do this lets the structure of the story flow beautifully, and in a sense, much like a river. We’re glad the author chose to write it this way for it would probably have been extremely confusing for him to do it any other way.
The author tells the story through the eyes of the wizened, old Chiyo. You can tell that he is very thorough about switching back and forth between past and present using key words like "I didn't know it at the time..." or like on page 7, "Suppose that you and I were sitting in a quiet room overlooking a garden, chatting and sipping at our cups of green tea while we talked about something that happened a long time ago..." He uses this ingenuity to develop a connection between the reader and Chiyo herself, making you feel as if Chiyo herself is telling you her story in person. We think this is brilliant because it draws you deeper into the story and makes you feel as though you are there yourself, experiencing what Chiyo is feeling, and seeing her world through your connection to her. He doesn’t change the point of view either, but instead allows you the insight of everything Chiyo thinks, feels, and experiences. This gives you a closer connection, in a sense, to the main character. Rather than ending up confused by seeing through the eyes of different people, you get the clear, crisp image through Chiyo’s eyes and are able to understand what is going on perfectly. We also think it was interesting for the author to choose to
write I the viewpoint of a girl, instead of his own gender, and believe he put a lot of effort into this novel to figure out how women thought and acted in that time period. The author’s choice to do this lets the structure of the story flow beautifully, and in a sense, much like a river. We’re glad the author chose to write it this way for it would probably have been extremely confusing for him to do it any other way.