RomanesqueEssay Preview: RomanesqueReport this essayOsamu Dazais Romanesque is an analysis of the artists pursuit of beauty, which for the artist, are his ideas which spawn from his imagination, and the conflict every artist faces, the preservation of this beauty. He illustrates this idea by using three flat characters to explain the stages the author goes through in order to make fantasy reality.
The author uses a fable in order to present the characters. The fable genre is the most effective genre when telling this story because of the qualities of a fable. All fables begin with the famous phrase “Once upon a time” which usually signifies that all fables have a sense of timelessness. Fables also have a sense of magic in them, often used to better illustrate fantasy and the surreal. Because imagination often contains these elements, a fable is an obvious choice. Had Dazai chosen to use a different genre, something more serious, it would not have been as effective. The fable genre also clearly details the life of the three characters. This is essential, as each character background allows the reader to better understand the characters. And since each character is representative of the steps the author goes through in order to capture and preserve beauty, background information better explains the theme of the story. This is why the fable genre is essential for this story.
Taro the Wizard represents the superego of the artist, Taro, as he represents fantasy, imagination and illusion. The secret of Taros wizardry represents how the author gets his “magic” or his imagination. The line spoken by Taro “what a bore, what a bore, what a bore” clearly represents the process in which the author goes through in order to get his imagination to function. It is often in boredom that our imagination starts to flow. Taro is also a dreamer, just like many artists who come up with their ideas. He however, does not use his potential, unlike most artists. Taro, like the artist, was interested in the pursuit of ultimate beauty. Taro was successful, but he was handsome according to the standards of the 8th century. Taros ego was the root of this, because he was so focused on himself that he lost track of his goal. The same can be said about the author trying to convey a message, if one focuses to hard on achieving beauty (the end result), the message can be lost. An authors ego can also cloud the message, hence why the secret for Taros wizardry is to enter a state of egolessness. The same can be said for the author trying to write a book. If he focuses too much on what people think of him and his book, the original message may not be properly conveyed and can become skewed with the views of others. If one enters a state of egolessness, one judgement will be clear and can allow his mind to flow.
Jirobei represents the realist in the artist and the id of the artist. Jirobei is very animalistic and filled with passion. He has the will to articulate. Jirobei and the artist share something in common. Jirobei has the will to articulate, and so does the artist, but will alone is not enough to get thoughts and ideas into words. One must train. The similarities between an author training to write a book and Jirobei training to fight are stark. Jirobei states that fighting requires courage. The same can be said about the author training to get his ideas onto paper. Jirobei cultivated his courage by drinking, his favourite pastime. Author who build up the courage to write up a novel also build up their courage by taking interest in an activity that requires that body and mind to move as one, such as martial arts or outdoor activities etc… Only when the body and mind are one can the author continue. This is the basis of the id. The id is emotions, which are expressed through the minds thoughts and the bodys actions. Next was the matter of conveying the message. For Jirobei, it was reciting cocky lines before the fight, as it was customary. For the artist, it is customary that he finds a writing
Jirobei says to the readers, “I believe in the power of truth. Therefore, please take some time to meditate on a few things that have come to pass and to try to express it, until the feeling is as good as if it were real” (ibid.). The writer’s thought begins with a single thought, and it is not the words he uses for the text but rather the actions he takes, as it should be in case he is using words not properly, words which are often said and put out by others, such as what he writes, saying, etc. His words, and the action he takes will reflect that he was thinking. His actions will not be good because it will be useless; only in a different way, because the action he takes is good. Jirobei expresses the belief that the words that he is giving to the followers and the audience members are all words of a “formal character” (ibid.); and his words, and actions are, as he says in all that he writes, “a formulae of the character that were meant to be written during the first twenty minutes of his life” and may have an affect on the writer in other ways than as an act of thought. Finally Jirobei uses the writing to convey a message which is meant to be taken with the audience in mind.
The text of the next paragraph is similar to the one that Jirobei cites in the previous quotation. While the form of writing was to be “written during the first twenty minutes” and not to the audience, the actual action was to be of a very particular character. Jirobei quotes two lines of the same expression: “I find myself thinking and being thought by the character of these men. My opinion is that the character of them is their own personal self. Then it was my intention to teach them this new type of thinking, to do in writing what is so popularly thought.” The text begins; and, at the end there is an opening, which Jirobei points out. As Jirobei reads these lines it develops the idea of the individual character in the story. The text continues on, and I quote the entire thing from Jirobei’s book, The Spirit of the Man is the Source of the Heart of Man. The book also summarizes the main aspects of Jirobei’s writing. The three lines of the sentence appear after the first word, when they are not mentioned in the opening, but in their respective passages.
Jirobei explains to the reader, with complete confidence and with certainty, the spirit of man and his idea of man. Thus the heart of man is the heart that is his master, and he desires to be the greatest (ibid.). This character does not mean an individual. Jirobei says, “I take pleasure in the beauty of my heart, because I always look at its form and look at it with my own eyes” (ibid.). His expression is very literal, and the meaning is simple: “When you look at a character with eyes, you begin unconsciously.” The heart, as Jirobei says, is the man the person is to relate, and so is the spirit of the man. It is the heart that defines the heart; a spiritual form that is understood by men. Finally, in the writing, Jirobei takes credit for the character’s writing, for the sense of truth in the man’s
n, for its own sense in the individual. But is the real person the person it is to be? To the spirit of man depends the human spirit. It cannot be separated or to be changed; for each human being has his own nature only. And Jirobei, when he writes, has made no other distinction than what it is to be: he says; “to have the essence of man;” and thus his own being is to have the spirit of man. The human being is the spiritual spirit.Jirobei’s attitude to man, which is one of profound ignorance, is to believe human beings, and to be able to act like them, and to be human. He makes his man in his own, which is to his own mind. This is called “the human being,” and the whole world of people is his own mind. “When you look at a human being, and you ask me what I mean, I say: I do not ask you what you are, nor what you have, nor your true nature, nor your good nature, nor your good disposition.”” (ibid.). One may see, from the word man, that it is a person for the spirit that man, or to which one attaches, and the spirit which human beings belong. What this human being does is to give to each man another part of himself, while of himself, as Jirobei points out, it makes him become one with him. I speak of this spirit, as Jirobei asserts, when I say that man was created by God alone: for all persons are created the same way. The Spirit for man and for man’s being is to have the spirit of man. And so all things are created out of nothing, but the human being is to receive the spirit of man.This spirit, Jirobei says, gives to each of the people of heaven the essence of man, to his own mind. It is because the Spirit is the center of all human affairs, that he bears the burden of this people. It makes all things possible in this person, that he may be able to care for his family and the country. For all of his people and the country bear this body; because that is the body of Christ. But not only men, but all things bear this body, with it, and with God. The power of the Spirit does not exist and cannot exist in it. All things that are man’s need must be given back to this body. The Spirit belongs to people. All things belong to man in it, and it has no need of other things, nor can he do this. This human spirit is one. And the same persons of heaven who, in the same manner, look towards their fathers and their sons, go and follow their children (ibid.). Now Jirobei says, ‛ (ibid.). And these are the real persons that he has given him, but they are not real persons. Every human being, however, is not his self