In A Grove

1.      Give significant background information about the author or the literary piece

Answer:

Akutagawa, Ryinosuke was born in the Kyobashi district of Tokyo in 1892, the son of  a milkman (Toshito Simbara). Shortly after his birth, he was adopted and raised by his uncle, from whom he received the Akutagawa family name. He was interested in classical Chinese literature from an early age, of which were popular when he was growing up. In creating stories, Akutagawa was a strong opponent of naturalism, which had dominated Japanese fiction in the early 1900s. He continued to borrow themes from old tales, and giving them a complex modern interpretation, however, the success of the stories prompted his turn increasingly towards more modern settings.

As a short-story writer, poet, and essayist one of the first Japanese modernist translated into English, Akutagawa published no full-length novel. He was a stylistic perfectionist, who often favored macabre themes. In 1921 he traveled to China as correspondent. Due to health problem, he was not able to write any articles there. Akutagawa wrote almost of his central works in the ten years before his suicide. His early short pieces were carefully plotted historical tales, but towards the end of his short life, he focused more on his emotional state and contemporary settings. In his whole life, he wrote more than 150 stories, several of which have been filmed, e.g. “Rashomon” (the adaptation of “In A Grove”), story rape and murder.

2.      Write the synopsis or summary of the literary text

Answer:

In a Grove, a classic short story written by Japanese writer, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, tells the tale of a murdered young samurai, from the perspectives of 7 different characters in the story.

The story of a young couple on a journey met by tragedy along the way is pieced together from the accounts of 7 different people, questioned by the High Police Commission regarding the murder – a woodcutter, a policeman, a thief, a monk, the young samurai’s wife, the samurai’s wife’s mother, and the murdered samurai’s spirit, through a medium.

The story, as told by the 7 individuals, is simply about a young couple on a journey who had the bad luck of meeting a thief along the way.  The thief, who was not only interested in acquiring their possessions, also coveted the young samurai’s wife.  Posing as a travelling companion, the thief managed to get the couple to a secluded grove in the forest, where the young samurai ends up being bound, and his wife ends up being raped by the thief.  In the end, the thief manages to leave the grove, the samurai’s wife somehow escapes, and the samurai ends up dead.

Each of the 7 individuals have their own version of who the young couple was, and what really happened in the grove.  A cross-reference of the 7 individuals’ stories show that each of them is lying about something, but what and why?  As each of them give their account of the tragic event, their sense of morality is reflected in their version of the story, as well as their need for self justification.

In the course of reading the story and trying to solve the mystery, the reader’s sense of justice and morality will also be put to the test as he/she chooses whose version he/she will believe, and why.  And like the characters in the book, the reader will probably find himself/herself trying to justify his/her chosen version of what really happed on that fateful day, in the grove.

3.      List down three questions that come to mind while reading the text, then choose one explore it more fully

Answer:

a            How is the writer technique to end the story?

b           Why do the husband, the wife, and the thief all claim to have done the stabbing in "In the Grove"?

c            Why “In a Grove”? Or  what does the writer mean by it?

I will answer the first question. The writer creates an ending which is obscure to make it even more controversially debatable. Conclusion is dependent upon the reader’s interpretation of the different versions of the characters. However, this conclusion of course is based on information the writer permitted each character to generate so sufficient information may be at hand to formulate a somewhat logical conclusion.

4.      Explain the emotion that literary text awoke in you or which you felt while or after reading the piece.

Answer:

I felt this story was not really about different perspectives on a crime, distorted by panic and shoddy memory. You don't forget or misremember a fact like stabbing and killing a guy (or not). And yet there are multiple killers admitting to doing their task individually?
I think this is more of a story about the depths of the human psyche, which has its own reasons to deceive... take blame for crimes undone or done as to protect themselves or others. 

5.      Copy a part of literary text (sentence, paragraph, dialogue) which is striking, puzzling or enlightening for you and why?

Answer:

“………it was I who found the body in a grove in a hollow in the mountain………”

 There was no statement showing that he made such complaint, however, without these statement, the murder would never have been discovered. It means that the officers must have received a complaint or report because there was no other witness besides the woodcutter who found the body.

                “………the time? It was the early hours of last night.  You say that this bow and these arrows look like the ones owned by the dead man?.........”

Those were asked to an officer, so it has proved that a higher commissioner received a report from. The officer reported whatever he knew and had done to this crime complaint.

            “.........I killed him, but not her......no torture can make me confess what I don’t know......I won’t keep anything from you.........”

From this statement, the suspect stated he told the truth. Truth isn’t gained for his confidence but it depends on the existing evidence.

6.      Identify the theme of literary piece.

Answer:

The theme of this story is about the mystery. The writer provides some mystery in her writing and direct the reader critical thinking to solve it without showing the answer, only some clues to solve it.

7.      Write the critique of the works using an appropriate literary approach or theory (Example: Feminism, Marxism, formalism, behaviorism, etc)

Answer:

There are some of the literary approaches to criticize this poem, and I will discuss it from READER-RESPONSE CRITICISM. Rynosuke Akutagawa brings into question the accuracy of the human perception and fully illustrates our tendency to lie he excelled in examining the darker side of humanity in his writings. But the thing about this story is Ryunosuke Akutagawa didn't really provide us with a distinction between what the truths are and what are merely fabrications. What he did is provide us with information, and it would be up to the readers to form the puzzle and make out the story for it to be rational. This is a series of testimonials about a murder. And as you go on reading along, your former belief of what really happened would be contradicted by another person's account...leaving the readers to wonder what really happened after all. In a Grove is a story of mystery by Akutagawa. In this story, the murderer was not stated in the story. It was meant for readers to guess who the murderer is using the statements of the characters.