Soseki's "Kokoro" Analysis 58: Shizu Knows the Sensei is a Murderer
Natsume Soseki's famous novel "Kokoro," serialized in the third year of Taisho (1914).
I am convinced that K, who appears in "Kokoro," was not a suicide but a murder victim at the hands of "Sensei," and I have been writing about this from various angles.
Here is one more piece of evidence for that argument.
1. If I am not there, Sensei will be unhappy!
1 (1) My husband will "only" become unhappy
Regarding the marriage between "Sensei" and Shizu, there is a general impression that Shizu (the young lady) is a devoted wife who, despite being troubled by her husband, stays with him, while Sensei is a difficult, world-weary man.
However, this wife shows a fair amount of self-confidence—or, in modern terms, a high level of self-regard in her statements. And she says this while her husband is away, to a young man (though the maid is present).
One night when there were many burglaries in the neighborhood and Sensei had gone out to dine with friends, Sensei asked me to keep watch. This is the conversation between me and Shizu.
"If you, who are so loyal to Sensei, were to suddenly disappear, what would happen to him? Sensei, who finds nothing in this world interesting, what would happen to him if you were to suddenly disappear? Not from Sensei's perspective. From your perspective. From your perspective, would Sensei be happy or unhappy?"
"Well, from my perspective, I know. (Though Sensei might not think so).If Sensei were to leave me, he would only become unhappy. Or perhaps he might not even be able to live. Saying that might sound conceited, but I believe that I am making Sensei as happy as possible as a human being right now. I am even convinced that there is no one else who could make Sensei as happy as I can. That is why I can remain so calm."
(* Since the copyright has expired, this quote is free to use.)
What do you think? Shizu goes so far as to declare that "(my husband) would only become unhappy if he were to leave me."
The lines that follow are understandable. "I am making Sensei as happy as possible as a human being" and "There is no one who can make Sensei as happy as I can." Well, that is quite a bit of confidence, but it is something a spouse might say.
But the first line is a bit different.
"I am the woman who can make my husband the happiest"—it is not just that.
It goes beyond that.
She goes so far as to declare that "if he were to leave me, my husband would only become unhappy."
And it is not just that he would "become unhappy." He would "only" become unhappy.
To talk about myself for a moment, I also take pride in making my wife happy. And I believe there is no man in this world who can make my wife happier than I can.
However, I could never go so far as to say, "If I were not here, my wife would be unhappy."
Much less could I ever say, "If I were not here, my wife would only be unhappy."
I have lost to Shizu (in what, I don't know).
1 (2) Sensei does not go so far as to call it 'unhappiness'
Perhaps in contrast to this Shizu, there is a scene where Sensei talks to 'I' about the happiness of a married couple.
On the contrary, Sensei once even let slip this thought to me: 'I know only one woman in this world. Women other than my wife hardly appeal to me as women. My wife, too, thinks of me as the only man in the world. In that sense,
we should be a pair of people born to be the happiest.'
This is an exaggerated statement in its own right, but when contrasted with Shizu's words, Shizu's are still more intense.
Husband: 'we should be a pair of people born to be the happiest'
Wife: 'If Sensei leaves me, he will only become un-hap-py'
1 (3) The basis for 'only become unhappy'
Then why on earth can Shizu assert, 'If he leaves me, my husband will only become unhappy'?
Answer
: Because Sensei is a murderer, and he cannot bear that guilt alone. Shizu knows this.
I have written this several times.
If you look only at the surface development of 'Kokoro', it is written as if Shizu knows nothing. About the fact that K also liked Shizu, and that Sensei knew this but proposed to her without telling K.
However, Shizu and her mother should certainly be able to infer at least that much.
From Shizu's perspective, the sequence of events is as follows:
・ Two young men were boarding, and I was on good terms with both of them
→ One of them proposed to my mother, and she accepted
→ However, for some reason, that one kept it a secret from the other
→ The other was informed of the engagement between the one and me by my mother's own lips
→ A few days later, the other committed suicide at the boarding house
No matter how you look at it, there is no woman who could not imagine, 'The cause of the suicide must be our engagement. Sensei must have had something to feel guilty about, which is why he kept the engagement a secret.'
In fact, from the exchange regarding visiting K's grave, one could even read it as Shizu trying to probe him by asking, 'K didn't commit suicide, did you kill him?'
And, having baited him, Shizu must have become completely convinced.
'My husband is a murderer.'
Furthermore, while holding that conviction, Shizu decided to stay with a husband who lives carrying the guilt of murder.
She decided that she would stay with this murderer.
That is precisely why Shizu could make such a definitive statement.
'If he leaves me, my husband will be unhappy only.'