Postwar Japanese Women In 'Bones' By Fumiko Hayashi
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The Postwar Japanese Women
In the postwar of Japan, everything has been changed dramatically though the war, which including social institution, culture, and personal values; however, the position of women in postwar Japan does not seem to have got obvious improvement. During the war, countless families have been separated cruelly, and after the war, most of women are suffering from loss of their husband and children. Meanwhile, they are also struggling for their lives because they have to deal with various problems such as the source of income, job, and marriage. The war brings great impact on them on both mental and physical ways. Compare with any other period of Japan, the women have to take more responsibilities to their family in the postwar.…show more content… However, the story “Bones” by Fumiko Hayashi gives a completely opposite situation. In the story, a woman called Michiko, whose husband dies in the war, has to take care of her whole family members, but the normal job cannot cope with their daily expenses. For this reason, she has to trade sex with other men in order to make money and survive. At the first time she tries to do the job, she is hesitating, but after Michiko encounters with a man, she stars to believe that it is an easy way to make money. Michiko’s experience shows that women in the postwar are still facing the overwhelming discrimination at the work place, and these unfair treatments compel women to make an extreme choice. In the story, although she feels guilty, by being a prostitute, she finally gets a little bit improvement of her life. To the contrary, her sick brother and aged father cannot provide any help but need a lot of cost to take care of. Eventually, she is eager to her brother and father’s death. The story shows the status of Michiko changes in her family, which also indicates the position of women changes in the postwar of Japan. The War forces men rush to the battlefield, and most of them are unable to return home; therefore, women gradually become independent and self reliant. In the postwar of Japan, women are no longer be regarded as burden for family; furthermore, they may have became the main economic resource of the family through different ways. Moreover, After the time of the war, women’s thought has been changed distinctly. Just like Michiko, she is not bound by the traditional values any more. In the story, she is not forced by anyone into sex trading but by her own consciousness. She is willing to make sacrifices for her child, even if she knows that what she has to do against the traditional moral values,