Kobo Abe

 

- born in Tokyo, but moved to Mukden (Japan-occupied Manchuria) in 1925.

- Father was a doctor

- Abe, as a child, quite interested in mathematics and insect collecting

- Abe moved to Japan in 1941 to attend Tokyo University for medicine

- During WWII, Abe was excused from service for respiratory illness (which he forged), and moved back to Manchuria

     - the next year, his father was killed by an epidemic

- After the war, he returned to Japan and sold charcoal and vegetables to make ends meet

- After graduating, he moved back to Tokyo and joined a literary group that wanted to fuse Marxism with Surrealism

- his works resemble Kafka in style and content, but he also borows from science fiction and Detective stories

     - Plot and character are usually subservient to symbol

 

 

 

The Woman in the Dunes

 

- Niki Junpei

     - Why is he there?

     - How would you describe The Man?  What is his philosophical stance?

     - What emotions does he go through once he begins to be aware of his situation?

     - Do you feel sorry for him?  Why or why not?

 

The Opening Quote

 

The Police Report (page 5+6)

• Why is he pronounced dead? 

 

Sand definition (13)

 

"Quite like the behavior of the beetle, he thought. (38)  also (63)

 

"This entire nightmare could not be happening."  Really? (51)

 

First Escape Attempt - Dig! (67)

• What is his plan?
• Why doesn't it work?

 

He is a teacher.  What is his attitude toward teachers? (80)

 

"If there was no scenery to look at, it was only natural to want to see pictures of scenery at least" (83)

 

Second Attempt

• How does he go about reasoning this plan out?

 

The newspaper (page 93)

• why does he request one?
• What happens once he receives it?

 

Existentialism

• arbitrary nature of social system
• the resulting meaninglessness of existence once the set of established social values are dispatched
• inherent isolation of the individual

 

The Abe Version

• the reality of life is banal (98)
• Sand as metaphor for the world (99)

 

The Note (100)

• Why does he believe that the police might think he committed suicide or took off?

 

Insect Collecting

• seeking to understand the rules governbing social behavior
• seeking to understand the rules of existence itself
• insects have a rigid social hierarchy: bees, ants, etc...that is genetically coded and unbending (no existential crises)

     -

Taking the Woman hostage

• Why does he do it?
• 120 - How does she handle the scene?  Why does she act that way?

 

The Existential Crisis #1: Man's responsibility to man(127)

 

• why doesn't he just drop it already?

 

The Existential Crisis #2: Men and Women (136)

 

• The Mobius Strip
• Spiritual Rape?
• Is it really that difficult?

 

 

One Way Ticket Blues (161)

• What is the difference between the one way ticket and the round trip ticket?
• Why does the round trip ticket holder want to drown out the cries for help from the one wayers?

 

The Escape Plan (165)

• Why don't they have a fishing boat if they're near the sea?
• What is his plan?
• What the heck is Columbus' egg?

 

His escape as a meditation on this existence (175)

• Why do these people submit to this kind of slavery?
• What kind of beauty is death? (182)
• Why does she want a radio or a mirror? (186-190)
• Why does she stay in the hole? (192)
• Why does he give up? (201)

 

Hope

• How does his thinking progress after he returns? (214-215)

 

Life After the Failed Escape

• Is this love?
• Turns out this sand goood for something - what? (222-223)
• Why do some people have rope ladders leading down into their holes? (228)
• Why does he consider the trade the villagers offer him? (229)
• Why is he so happy at not catching any crows?  (235)
• why doesn't he escape at the end?

 

 

 

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Outside Links

 

Documentary (Japanese)

 

Existential Primer

 

Mobius Strip