A Study of Natsume Soseki's "The Wayfarer" (14): Is Jiro an "Unreliable Narrator"?
1. "The Wayfarer" is a serialized memoir by Jiro Nagano
As I have mentioned several times, the novel "The Wayfarer," serialized by Natsume Soseki in the first year of the Taisho era (1912), is narrated by the character Jiro Nagano, who drives the story forward.
However, it is not Jiro's real-time inner thoughts, but rather his recollections after a certain period of time has passed since the events concluded (likely several years or more).
Furthermore, it is not merely an internal recollection, but a format in which Jiro has made the series of events public to a third party.
This is also common in other works by Natsume Soseki, such as the narration by Botchan in "Botchan" and the text narrated by the "I" in "Kokoro".
Below are descriptions that indicate this is a retrospective recollection and a disclosure to a third party.
・――I asked, "Why is it that you and your wife cannot have children?" At this, O-Kane suddenly turned red. I regretted that what I had said out of simple curiosity had caused such an unpleasant result. However, there was nothing I could do about it. At that time, I only felt sorry for O-Kane, and it never even crossed my mind to try to understand the meaning of her blushing.
("Friends" 6)
(Note: Free to quote as copyright has expired.)
Here, "At that time... it never even crossed my mind to try to understand the meaning of her blushing." — in other words, he now knows the reason, or at the present moment, circumstances have arisen that make him want to know the reason.
・It was a short while after that was finished that I was called into a separate room by my brother. At that time, my brother, with his usual demeanor (or, if one were to have his wife describe it, feigning his usual demeanor), said calmly, "Jiro, I have a word with you. Come to the other room."
("Brother" 42)
— "(or, if one were to have his wife describe it, feigning his usual demeanor)," in other words, Jiro had secretly? confirmed Ichiro's demeanor at this time retrospectively.
And the following description from the same "Brother 42"
I dissect my own psychological state at this time, andlooking back on it now, I must confess that it is certain I was in a mood to tease him a little, though perhaps not to the extent of mocking him. Of course, I do not understand myself why I was able to be so bold toward my brother. Perhaps my sister-in-law's attitude had transferred to me without my knowing it.Now, I want to deeply repentfor this attitude, which I canneither take back nor compensate for.
This description reminds me of the passage in Natsume Soseki's "Botchan" where Botchan talks about the three yen he received from Kiyo in his childhood, saying, "Now, even if I wanted to return it tenfold, I cannot." ("Botchan" 1), which indicates that this story is a recollection after Kiyo has already passed away.
(Note: I will talk about this expression "neither take back nor compensate for" somewhere else.)
・――He was sleeping soundly like a saint. This way of sleeping remains a mystery to me even now.
("After Returning" 2)
A description inside the sleeper train returning from Osaka to Tokyo. This "mystery" really bothers me, but I still don't understand it. Was Ichiro using sleeping pills regularly at this point? Or was he feigning sleep? Was his sleep abnormally deep due to some symptom? Did Jiro give him sleeping pills without permission?
・I still remember O-Shige's sullen face, as if it had been beaten by rain. It seems O-Shige cannot forget my strange face, which she thought looked as if I had plunged it into a washbasin of dissolved soap.
("After Returning" 9)
This implies that Jiro and O-Shige are talking about this sibling quarrel in retrospect.
Also, in "After Returning 10," which follows the above sibling quarrel, there are descriptions of conversations and O-Shige's inner thoughts that Jiro would not have been present for.
・Conversation between Nao and O-Shige ("You should also hurry up and marry someone like Mr. Sano" etc.)
・O-Shige's psychological description regarding that ("Being told at the end to marry someone like Mr. Sano was what bothered my nerves the most. etc.)
・The interaction between O-Shige and their father immediately after that ("Father must have thought it was troublesome. Without asking Nao a single question (kikitadasazu), he took O-Shige to Mitsukoshi the next day.)
It is thought that Jiro heard these from the people involved later.
Incidentally, while the father's inner thoughts are spoken as a conjecture, "must have thoughtso," the fact that the father "did not ask Nao a single question" is stated definitively.
Does this mean he confirmed it with Nao after the fact, but did not ask the father, or could not ask him?
(Or perhaps this description is Jiro's assumption, or even an intentional misdirection by Jiro?)
・―― Father, while looking at the guest, said, "O-Shige feeling unwell is like a demon's sudden illness," and then asked me again, "Earlier, from whatTsun (Mother's name) said, I heard it was a stomachache, but is it a headache instead?"
It is only after the story has progressed significantly that the name of Nagano's mother is revealed as "Tsun.". Incidentally, in the paperback edition I have, this occurs on page 247 out of 465 total pages. Furthermore, the name of Nagano's father is unknown.
The fact that it is explicitly written here as "Tsun (mother's name)" in parentheses indicates that this "Wayfarer" is not merely Jiro's internal monologue, but is written with the premise that Jiro is publishing this story to a third party.
・―― It's a story about how the student also said, 'In that case, let's leave it for next time,' and backed down on his own, which happened many times. Mr. H told me, 'Next time you meet Nagano (your surname), you should pay close attention to him. It might be a severe case of neurasthenia,' but I ended up forgetting about it, and to tell you the truth, I didn't remember until I saw your face just now.'
This is a story told to Jiro by Misawa, which he heard secondhand from H, who heard it from a student, about Ichiro, a scholar, behaving strangely during a lecture.
This is exactly on page 300 out of 465 total pages. The surname of the protagonist and his family is finally revealed here. This parenthetical note, "Nagano (your surname)," also shows that "The Wayfarer" is written in a format where Jiro is publishing it to a third party.
(But can H's story be trusted?)
2. To what extent is Jiro a reliable narrator?
Considering "The Wayfarer" as a published memoir by Jiro Nagano in this way, the question arises: "How much can we trust the narrator? Is the unreliable narrator hiding something?"
Moreover, the final part of "The Wayfarer" consists of letters from H. If we consider Jiro an unreliable narrator, the same applies to H, making them doubly untrustworthy.
Therefore, for the time being, I am interpreting Ichiro's words in H's letter,
"No, it really is that way. It's troublesome to be doubted. In fact, what I said is what I said, and what I didn't say is what I didn't say."
("Dust and Labor" 51)
literally, and interpreting it with the premise that:
"No falsehoods are written, but there are many important circumstances that are not written."
As I have written many times, my interpretation that "Yoshie is not the child of Nao and Ichiro" also came from this line of reasoning.
3. Evidence of an unreliable narrator
I will list the parts where Jiro's "unreliable narrator" nature is shown.
3 (1) Regarding Sano's desire for marriage
In the beginning, in "Friends," Jiro is told by his mother to meet Sano, who is a marriage candidate for O-Sada, saying,"He seems a bit too eager and somehow dangerous, so please go over there and take a good look at the situation."("Friends" 7)
Also, regarding Sano's strong desire for marriage, Jiro says,"I wonder why O-Sada-san likes him so much. Even though she hasn't even met him yet."(ibid.) and makes a remark that sounds like he is puzzled.
However, Jiro was actually convinced of the reason why Sano strongly desired the marriage, and furthermore, he was convinced with malice. This is shown later.
"But if only Sada is settled, Mother will feel very relieved. After all, the rest are just heavy burdens, you see."
"This is also thanks to Father," my brother replied. At that moment, a faint shadow of irony moved on my brother's lips, which Mother did not notice."It must be entirely thanks to Father. It's the same as how Okada is doing now," Mother looked quite satisfied.Poor Mother believed that Father still had the same influence in society as he did in the past. My brother, being my brother, saw through the fact that it would be difficult for our father, who had retired from society, to have even half that influence.
I, who shared my brother's opinion, could not help but feel that the whole family was ganging up to deceive Sano. But on the other hand, the thought that Sano deserved to be deceived had been stuck somewhere in the back of my mind from the beginning.
I, who shared my brother's opinion, could not help but feel that the whole family was ganging up to deceive Sano. But on the other hand, the thought that Sano deserved to be deceived had been stuck somewhere in the back of my mind from the beginning.
Although Jiro said, "I wonder why she likes him so much," he was actually convinced of the motive.
And he did not show that he was convinced until later.
However, Jiro does not tell "lies."
As in the remark above, he certainly made a "statement" as if he did not know Sano's motive. However, in the narrative text of his inner thoughts, he never once says, for example, that he could not imagine Sano's motive at all.
In other words, here, the narrator Jiro is shown to be an existence who:
・Does not tell active lies
・However, sometimes makes statements to others as if he does not know or is not convinced of things he actually knows or is convinced of.
3 (2) Regarding Sada's Worries
Regarding the marriage between Sada and Sano, while staying in Osaka, Jiro showed signs of concern, at least to the extent of thinking, "I felt like asking Sada, who was lying in bed sick, whether she would be grateful to see this, or whether she would think it was an unnecessary meddling". (The Elder Brother, 4). But other than that, he only teased Sada and did not describe anything about what Sada herself actually thought.
However, Sada was actually worried about Sano. Jiro was also aware of this. The scene of the sibling quarrel between Jiro and O-Shige.
The scene of the sibling quarrel between Jiro and O-Shige.
“What on earth have you been researching? About Mr. Sano.”
O-Shige was a woman who, once she started an argument, would treat me as if I were her peer—whether it was a habit, a sign of intimacy, a fierce temperament, or childishness.
“About Mr. Sano...” I asked.
“About Mr. Sano’s character.”
(Omitted)
“But isn't it too much, when Sada is so worried about him?”
“But Okada guarantees that he is reliable, so isn't that fine?”
“How much do you trust Mr. Okada, brother? Isn't Mr. Okada just a shogi piece?”
“Whether his face is a shogi piece or whatever...”
“It’s not his face. His heart is flighty.”
I became annoyed and irritated, and I no longer wanted to deal with O-Shige.
Here, O-Shige says, "Sada is so worried about him", and Jiro feels no surprise or doubt regarding that statement. He continues the conversation with that as a premise. However, when I read this, I was surprised, thinking, 'Eh, was she that worried?' Because there was no such description in Jiro's narrative at all.
This is also a pattern similar to the one mentioned earlier. It is true that Jiro does not state anywhere in the main text that 'Sada did not seem particularly worried about Sano's character.' However, despite the fact that she was 'so worried' and he was aware of it, he does not mention it at all.
3 (3) Having known Nao from the beginning
In 'The Elder Brother', Jiro is suspected by Ichiro, "Isn't Nao in love with you?"(18), and furthermore, he goes out with Nao alone in Wakayama, and then suddenly, they end up staying together on a stormy night.
However, despite being involved with his brother's wife and Nao to that extent, a premise fact that was not mentioned at all suddenly appears later, as usual.
The conversation between Jiro and his mother in Chapter 20 of 'After Returning'
“Though it is in front of you, Mother, it is about the relationship between Brother and Sister-in-law. There are various complicated circumstances regarding that, and also because I had known Sister-in-law from before, I am sorry for causing you worry, Mother, but to be frank. It is bad that Brother was stingy with spending time on things other than his studies, leaving everything to others, and acting like a nobleman without getting involved in anything.”
The main axis of 'The Wayfarer' is the relationship between Nao, the couple Nao and Ichiro, and Jiro. Despite this, the fact that they were 'acquainted from the beginning,' which is an important premise in the relationship with Nao, only appears in the second half. In the paperback copy I have, it is on page 271 out of 465 pages total.
In this respect, it is true that he never once stated that 'they met after Nao's marriage,' so Jiro is not lying.
In this way, Soseki is showing that 'The Wayfarer' is a story by an unreliable narrator.
However, regarding the final point, 'that Nao and Jiro were acquainted from the beginning,' Soseki might say that he indicated it early on.
'The Elder Brother' 14
・I sometimes found a coldness in her after she was married.
“Found in her after she was married”—see, with this one phrase here, I am showing you readers that they were acquaintances from before the marriage, he might say.
While thinking about these things, I suddenly began to wonder, 'Is Yoshie really the child of Jiro and Nao?' Yoshie laughs along with others and speaks directly to Jiro, even though she is afraid of Ichiro. The fact that Jiro becomes strangely anxious toward the end of the story might be due to his fear that the secret is finally being exposed...