The Purpose of this Blog

This blog can be used as an outlet for sharing thoughts surrounding independent reading. This meets the standard that asks students to "use technology, including the internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology's capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically." Students can link to goodreads.com to create a place to track how much they've read, talk about what they're reading, link to information surrounding your reading, read/comment on other's reading, among other features.

the importance of kindness

Throughout Memoirs of a Geisha, the main character, Chiyo/Sayuri, grapples with the seeming pointlessness of life. After finding out her mother's death is near she comments "Was life nothing more than a storm that constantly washed away what had been there only a moment before, and left behind something barren and unrecognizable (13)?" She also states, after relaying her memoir to the reader, that "whatever our struggles and triumps, however we may suffer them, all too soon they bleed into a wash, just like watery ink on paper (428)." For someone who struggles with the pointlessness of life, she finds something very meaningful about 1/3 of the way through the book. When Chiyo is at her lowest point, and crying by the river, a man comes up to her and offers her comforting words, money, and a handkerchief. He says, "We non of us find as much kindness in this world as we should (112)." He then offers her a treat. She then goes on to say she tried to thank him, "for showing me that something besides cruelty could be found in the world, I suppose (113)." It's the first time she's encountered someone in her narrative that has shown her true kindness, and it's the reason that motivates her to turn around and become a geisha.

Another place Golden reveals the importance of kindness is through the character Mameha. Mameha goes out of her way to make Chiyo her little sister and is the main reason Chiyo becomes one of the most successful Geisha of her time. For example, Chiyo relays, "I'd grown accustomed to wearing Mameha's kimono, but in fact, it's unusual for a geisha to lend out robes from her collection this way. Two friends in gion might trade Kimono for a night or two; but it's rare for an older geisha to show such kindness to a young girl (193)." Chiyo believes that Mameha has interior motives for helping her, like getting revenge on another geisha (Hatsumomo), but in reality we find out that Mameha is just doing a favor for the Chairman (the man Chiyo met that showed her kindness). It is clear Mameha and the Chairman are both interested in helping Chiyo and are pure-hearted.

Another character that shows Chiyo kindness is Nobu. Nobu is attracted to Chiyo, but despite his interior motive to become her danna, he shows Chiyo/Sayuri kindness throughout her life, including finding a safe place for her to live during the peak of WWII that possibly saved her life. The disappointing factor is that Sayuri betrays Nobu later in the book because of her own selfish desires, which lead me to question the character of Sayuri herself. She also makes decisions, although partially out of her hands, that betray both Mameha and another close friend. It would have been nice to see Sayuri return the kindness that was shown to her. The Kirkus Review mentioned that the end was "increasingly flat." I agree the plot line was predictable and disappointing at the end.