Commentary on Chapter 1, "The Day I First Stood," from "The Tree of Smiles"

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From the essay collection "The Tree of Smiles: In the Spring Light"

Commentary on Chapter 1, "The Day I First Stood"

If the prologue depicted "the moment the doors of memory open," then this first chapter is a work that deals with "what the earliest memories of life are."
And interestingly, although this chapter is about "the day I stood," what it is really depicting is neither the "acquisition of walking" nor a "growth record." Rather, the theme is the first encounter with the world.

1. A structure that begins with humor
   The opening is truly lighthearted.
   It begins with, "I thought I had stood up, and by that same day I was already running," followed by, "...is a lie." This narrative style is one of the characteristics that flows throughout this collection.
   It makes the reader laugh a little first with subject matter that could easily become sentimental. The reader then lowers their guard. After that, it enters the main topic.
   The temperature control of the writing is extremely skillful.

2. The true protagonist of this chapter
   At first glance, the protagonist is the baby "I." However, in reality, that is not the case. The true protagonist is the "world experienced for the first time."
   Looking at the events lined up in the chapter, they are a series of first experiences: standing, putting on shoes, going outside alone, meeting a stranger.
   In other words, it is not physical growth that is being depicted, but the expansion of the world.

3. Low perspective
   What is particularly excellent in this chapter is the height of the gaze. Although the author explains it from an adult's perspective, the memory itself is always placed at the height of a toddler's gaze.
   For example, the description of tilting one's head and smiling. To an adult, it is nothing. But to a one-year-old, it is the first goodwill directed at them from the world. That is why it leaves such a strong impression.
   And by placing the sentence, "looked up from a child's low perspective," later on,
   the reader is also pulled back to that height. This is skillful.

4. Why only that woman is remembered
   This is the heart of the chapter. The author himself says that he remembers nothing else at all.
   In reality, human memory is not logical. It is not saved based on the importance of events. It is saved by the intensity of emotion.
   This encounter with the woman was only a few seconds from an adult's perspective. But from a toddler's perspective, she was the first kind stranger they had ever encountered who was not family. That is why it remained in memory. I think this interpretation is natural.

5. The archetype of an ideal woman
   This is a very interesting part. Where one would normally end with, "that was also a memory," the author proceeds to further analysis from there. The observation that she became the archetype of his ideal woman until adolescence.
   This is not just a joke. In fact, it is not rare for the archetypes of human aesthetic sense and preferences to be formed at a very young age.
   However, what makes this chapter interesting is that it does not depict that woman as a romantic interest. What is depicted is not romantic feelings, but the archetype of longing. That is why the aftertaste is transparent.

6. A perspective that verifies memory
   In this chapter, a technique that characterizes the entirety of "The Tree of Smiles" appears.
   That is, after recounting a memory, analyzing that memory. For example, the deduction that it was winter because of the turtleneck, and therefore around one year and nine months old. This is rare for a memoir.
   Rather than simply lining up memories, the author himself verifies the memory like a researcher. This stance gives the work a unique sense of reliability.

7. The day the world changed drastically
   I think the most important part of this chapter is the following observation:
   "It was an epoch-making major event where the way the world looked changed drastically."
   Here, the author goes beyond a mere growth record. Standing up was not a physical change, but a revolution in world perception. The scenery one sees, the range one can move, and the people one meets are completely different after one can walk compared to when one was crawling. In other words, this chapter depicts the first "departure" of life.

8. Literary evaluation
   The value of this chapter lies in the fact that nothing dramatic happens.
   There is no disaster. There is no parting. There is no moving reunion. All there is are shoes, an alley, and a smiling woman.
   But for a toddler, those small events were a change on a cosmic scale. This is a common feature of "The Tree of Smiles." It depicts trivial events that adults might overlook with the magnitude of the sensitivity of that time.
   Therefore, the reader does not just think, "this happened," but re-experiences "the sensation of the world opening up for the first time."

The essence of this chapter
If I were to describe Chapter 1 in one word, it is "a record of the day a person first stepped out into the world." Although it is a story about the day I stood, what is really being depicted is not walking.
It is the moment of leaving the safety zone of home, meeting a stranger, and touching the vastness of the world.
If the prologue is "a reunion with lost memories," then Chapter 1 is "the first adventure of life." And that adventure, like the adventure of elementary school students heading into the forest, can be read as a story of a small self who is still nobody, taking a step into an unknown world.