Ishiguro week 3

            The character Masuji Ono is obviously caught in between stepping stones in his life.  Since we are only so far through the book there is very little known about what is exactly happening in Ono’s life.  We do know a few things so far.  We know of his two daughters and their conflicts with married life.  We know he is a well known artist and owns a very prestige home located on a hill overlooking the town.  And we know his town is partly destroyed due to the war. 

            We start this book off learning a little about Ono’s immediate family.  His two daughters are alive and well and are visiting Ono and are accompanied with the grandson of Ono.  There is an immediate mystery revealed about one of the daughters and her previous engagement plans.  It appears that arrangements were already made for her to marry into one family but there plans were brought to a screeching halt.  The reader is unsure of why these plans were canceled but it is hinted that the groom backed out because their family didn’t feel honorable enough to be welcomed into Ono’s family.  So right off the bat we can see that maybe Ono and his family is seen to be a very respected family in their community.  But my question is, how does an artist become this respected in post-war Japan?

            As we enter the home of Ono we cannot see any of his art.  We know he is retired but we don’t know why he is retired.  There are a lot of mysteries about his profession that we are not aware of yet in the book.  We do learn, from a flashback in the book, that Ono’s father didn’t want him to become an artist.  He thought artists are not respected people.  Is this why Ono is so respected in his community for being an artist?  Was he trying to prove something to his father?  Or was it just lucky that he became this way?  I say lucky because of the instance when he acquires the very lavish home on the hill.  Ono is obviously not a wealthy person but he acquires a very expensive home for a very affordable price.  The family that sells him the house obviously saw something very respectable in his character.  And I think this is why he is so respected.  It’s because of his character, because he is a noble person.