I promise I'm not a violent person, this is just how I deal with irritating fictional characters.
So here is a preliminary list of characters from Memoirs of a Geisha that I (or we, if you choose to add to it) want to punch in the face:
Mother--She is greedy and selfish and just plain annoying.
Pumpkin (well, maybe just slap)--She used to be nice and friends with Sayuri, but now she isn't. Even though it isn't her fault, since Hatsumomo is her older sister, I still think she could be nicer. Instead she just avoids Sayrui and doesn't talk to her.
The Baron--he is a slimy creep. period.
Dr. Crab--he is even creepier than the Baron.
Hatsumomo--do I really need to explain this one?
Yay, hate and violence! Two of my favorite topics!
ReplyDeleteSayuri – She is way too obsessed with the Chairman. It was creepy enough that she developed a crush on a guy that is old enough to be her dad when she was 12 and kept thinking about him for 3 years even though they only met for a minute. She even wore his handkerchief between her clothes and kept it with her all the time. Now after 18 years, she’s still creeping on him. I don’t know how far you guys are, but near the end, she becomes pretty unbearable. All I’m going to say is that I feel really sorry for Nobu.
Evelyn, you might want to use a hammer or chainsaw or car (depending on whether or not you like Sayuri) to slap Pumpkin when you get to the end. She’s such a “cat”. Though I think Sayuri did deserve it for doing what she did. Wow, this is really hard to talk about without giving anything away.
I also kind of like Mother, even though she’s selfish and mean. Maybe not exactly like, but I do admire her for dealing with money so well. I thought it was funny that she was gaining money during the war when everyone else was broke.
After finising the book, my feelings towards nearly all of the characters have changed. (WARNING: If you haven't finished the book, stop reading!) :)
ReplyDeleteChairman- I agree with Kathy. I used to think it was really creepy that Sayuri liked the chairmain, however, after he confesses that he has liked her ever since their encounter, I really like him. Sayuri/ Chiyo complains that the reason she doesn't like Nobu is that he doesn't see her as her true self (Chiyo). Since the Chairman is one of the only characters in the book who "knew" her as Chiyo, I think Sayuri feels a special connection to him. I thougt it was so romantic that they ended up together in the end until i read that he has a wife.... I think he definitely deserves a little slap for that.
Mr. Tanaka- Although no one has mentioned him so far, I think he played an integral part in Sayuri/ Chiyo's (Okay, i'm going to start referring to her as SC bcuase this is too confusing!) life. He was the one who ripped SC and her sister from their home in Yoirido. I think everyone can agree that the sister's fate after she left Yoroido was miserable. No good came out of her prostitution. In fact, she ran away to marry her childhood lover. This was probably what she would have ended up doing if she had lived a normal life in Yorido. SC, however, was drastically effected from this move in both positive and negative ways. At the end of the novel, I seem to think her experience as a geisha was a postive one. I am interested to hear what you guys think about this. So all in all, I thin Mr. Tanaka should get at least one hard slap for forcing Satsu into prostitution. And well i guess I'll leave the second slap up to your own judgement :)
Oh Mr. Tanaka that's a good one! I totally forgot about him. But about the whole ripping Sayuri and Satsu from their home thing, I thought Sayuri said at one point that her dad sold her and Satsu to Tanaka or something like that... Or maybe I'm just really confused. But I think I'm going to give him just one small slap because I was under the impression that he wanted both Sayuri and Satsu to become geishas, but Satsu was rejected and sent to be a prostitute because she was too wooden or ugly or something along those lines, so it wasn't Tanaka's fault directly. I definitely do agree that Satsu would have been better off without having been sold at all though because she had a boyfriend at home.
ReplyDeleteThis actually made me think that it was a bit cruel of Satsu to leave Gion without Sayuri. I know Sayuri couldn't get away in time, but I think Satsu still should have tried harder to find her, instead of just leaving after she didn't show up the first time. Maybe I'm being too harsh?