Angela Clarisse R.

Reyes Written Insight #2

X-Newton October 2, 2019

Rashōmon
by Ryunosuke Akutagawa

“Violence begets violence.”—As the saying goes, promoting violence will only get
violence in return. In Akutagawa’s Rashōmon, the dehumanization of men slowly builds
up as the story revolves around the servant’s ethical dilemma —to take the path of
righteousness even if it meant starvation, or to become an impenitent thief to survive in
the barren times. Contemplating with two different ideas, he makes a resolution upon an
encounter with an old woman who has already committed herself in doing heinous crimes,
surviving for as long as she could. The story showcases the great temptation of
committing immoral acts that clash with values and ideas—all for the sake of survival.
Following the lines said by the characters, I can say that the dehumanization portrayed in
Rashōmon is the battle of one’s survival instincts and morality, and the abandonment of
one’s humanity and being robbed of it.

Throughout the story, we follow the presentation of the servant’s consciousness

where he has exhibited grave desperation, as stated near the beginning, “He was
determined to find a way to keep himself alive for one more day—that is, a way to do
something about a situation for which there was nothing to be done. To do something
when there was nothing to be done, he would have to be prepared to do anything at all.
If he hesitated, he would end up starving to death against an earthen wall or in the
roadside dirt.” The strong emotion within these lines displayed the overwhelming burden
of values and such in the midst of agony and chaos, creating a heavier tension in the
story. The thought of committing atrocious acts have slowly corrupted the servant’s mind
to become inhumane, losing sense of his integrity bit by bit.
 Upon meeting the crone who was doing something that was said to be
‘unpardonable evil’, the servant regained his stand in morality as he garnered his loath
for the woman as soon as he knew what she was doing: “If now someone were to present
this lowly fellow again with the choice he had just been mulling beneath the gate—whether
to starve to death or turn to thievery—he would probably have chosen starvation without
the least regret, so powerfully had the man’s hatred for evil blazed up, like the pine torch
the old woman had stood between the floorboards.” But then we later on encounter: “As
he listened, a new kind of courage began to germinate in his heart—a courage he had
lacked earlier beneath the gate: one that was moving in a direction opposite to the
courage that had impelled him to seize the old woman. He was no longer torn between
starving to death or becoming a thief. In his current state of mind, the very thought of
starving to death was so nearly banished from his consciousness that it became all but
unthinkable for him.” The irony of the incident is that the woman’s justification for stealing
from the dead becomes the rationalization for him deciding to become like her, giving
meaning to the quote said in the first paragraph. The eventual rise of evil to facilitate
arises.

Interestingly, if you look at the story in another perspective, you may notice that
animal-like descriptions or inhuman characteristics were used for the servant in the
middle of the story where he leaned onto survival, symbolizing that he is, in fact,
dehumanized (e.g. “With all the stealth of a lizard, the servant crept to the top tread of the
steep stairway.”) But as he gradually became “calmer” with his past values thrown away
and adjusting to his present situation, the servant reverts to human descriptions, but also
somewhat different due to the transformation of his perception (e.g. “He plunged down
the steep stairway.”)

Rashōmon has shown the dehumanization of men with the presentation of one‘s
survival instincts becoming a hindrance to morality and integrity. The theme is the ironic
exposure of the rationalizations of survival as the ultimate value; The way it portrays the
transcending of the limits of morality through circumstances tells us that we should keep
leaning to what is right, while listening to our ethical judgments.