Part One — Prominent features of the story that are "closely related to language"

One of the prominent features of style in Kawabata’s stories is juxtaposition, as

mentioned by Table 2 on Day 1. For instance, Kawabata uses juxtaposition of rhythms
in Arigatou to emphasize on the contrast between the never-changing bus driver with
his work, and everything else that happens around the story. I selected this feature of
style because it is a very strong and obvious example of how the rhythm is affecting
presentation and reception of the story.

Another prominent feature of style by Kawabata, although it does not appear in

every single story that we have read, is repetition. Kawabata repeats phrases and
words such as to create a unique sense to the story. For example in Arigatou,
Kawabata’s repetition of the first sentence at the end emphasizes on how everything
has happened yet remains unchanged. I selected this feature because this repetition is
different from usual references of repetition that focus on frequency to create emphasis.

Besides, as many have discussed on Day 3, Kawabata uses sensory words that
involve descriptions of colors, temperature, sound and such very effectively at the right
position in the text to create and strengthen the visual effects for the readers. I chose
this feature because the visualization of the “pink” color in Yubiwa was extremely vivid
for me, even though Kawabata does not repeat that color word very frequently.

Part Two — Story tone and mood

In my opinion, most of Kawabata’s short stories that we have read have an

overall isolating mood, as mentioned by Franchesca on Day 4. Kawabata’s narrators in
the stories that employ a third person point of view (Yubiwa, Arigatou, Shinjuu) has an
almost-impersonal tone that creates a barrier between readers and the narrative,
isolating the readers away from the story, as if they are looking at everything that is
happening but not getting involved. For example, in Yubiwa, the narrator mentions that
the girl might not even be surprised to find the man pulling her naked body into his lap.
The narrator does not speak on behalf of the character, but instead makes it clear that it
is just the narrator’s assumption of the girl’s thought.

Also, in the remaining stories that employ first person point of view (Hinata,
Yowaki Utsuwa, Kanariya), the narrators ‘I’ often describe their emotions in depth and
focus a lot on their thoughts instead of giving a very clear context or background on the
story. This creates a situation where the readers know and might even feel narrator’s
emotions, yet they do not understand fully the reasons behind those emotions, as if the
narrator is too immersed in his own world and isolates himself from the readers.

This isolating mood is perhaps related to Kawabata’s tendency to be present yet

isolate himself from events around him. For example, during the war period, although he
knew that the war is ongoing and was active socially, thus being present, he was not
active politically, as if he was trying to distance and isolate himself away from the event.

Part Three — Style's role in story message

I think it might be difficult to identify one specific common message out of the six
short stories that we have read, as each of them has its own theme and message. But
the common concept is the idea of ambiguity, because this concept, although in
different form, is present in all six stories.

In Shinjuu, Kanariya, and Yubiwa, there is behavior and moral ambiguity

because the actions and decisions of the characters seem to be different from the
expected “norm.” In Hinata, Arigatou and Yowaki Utsuwa, there is ambiguity in the
characters’ thoughts and also the context of the story.

Kawabata’s styles, especially the impersonal narrative tone and isolating mood
strengthen the message of ambiguity. Taking a more extreme example such as Shinjuu,
in the narrative there is domestic abuse, and the mother ended up killing her own
daughter. However, the steady and impersonal narrative tone tells the story as if there is
nothing unusual about the characters and the events. This will probably create a sense
of uneasiness for the readers, and thus highlight the moral ambiguity, because the
events in the narrative are against society norm and will usually be deemed as
“immoral,” thus the tone would make readers wonder why does the story not seem
wrong for the narrator.

Moreover, the effect of isolating mood further strengthens the feeling of

ambiguity, because readers could not fully understand why the characters make such
decision. For instance, there is not enough background given, nor enough direct
interaction with the Geisha’s daughter in Yubiwa for the readers to understand her
action or empathize with her.

Therefore, the effect resulted from isolating mood and the impersonal tone combined
with the actions of the characters in the stories express the ambiguity in the stories felt
by readers.

References:

Yasunari Kawabata, Palm-of-the-Hand Stories, translated by Lane Dunlop and J. Martin

Holman. San Francisco: North Point Press, 1988

Franchesca’s presentation on Day 4.