Throughout the story, the main character witnesses many deaths. In the beginning he watches his entire family get killed, later his mentor Togan. Do these events affect him? and if they do how.
Throughout The Samurai’s Tale, Taro experiences many deaths. In the very beginning of the story his entire family is slaughtered in front of him while he is powerless to do anything. This terror is something he never forgets. It causes him to go into the care of Togan who is like a father to him. While with Togan he learns all the skills needed to be a great person in society, but he still wants to become a samurai. The death of his family intensifies this goal because he wants to avenge his family. The next death Taro witnesses is the death of Togan, who is basically a father to him. He is crushed after this event occurs. Taro does not want to go on, but he knows that Togan would want him to keep fighting. The death that has the most profound affect on Taro is the death he causes himself when he kills the Ronin samurai Hanagata Minbu. This occurs after Taro is donned the “Master of Rice” and he begins to gain some respect. The ronin threatens him, but Taro does not back down and when he gets a chance he slashes Minbu’s arm. I think this death affects him the most because it is the first time Taro has seen what it is like to kill a man. He describes this event by saying, “When you take someone else’s world away from them, you feel the loss so strongly. That surprised me; I had not expected it,” (Haugaard 121). He feels connected to the old man and sorry that he has killed him. This marks the beginning of a long road to maturity for Taro because he now knows what it takes to be a samurai. With this wisdom he is able to perform tasks better, and at the end of the book when all the people he knows and loves are killed he knows how to properly go about avenging their deaths.
Death is strong motivating factor for Taro to continue to live. He strongly desires to bring honor back to his family's name. His family is killed before his eyes. The whole world around is emerged in violence. Many that are close to him, such as Togan, lose their lives before his eyes. He also was able to the see the effect death had on others. Yoshitoki was far more reserved and less gung-ho about going off into battle than Taro was. He knew the feeling of killing a man, and he did not enjoy it. Taro, too feels emptiness after his first kill, the ronin. He expected to feel proud, but he felt a void in his heart. Death always closely behind, waiting for its next victim. It depended on the actions of the individual on whether or not he would live to see anther day.
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Throughout The Samurai’s Tale, Taro experiences many deaths. In the very beginning of the story his entire family is slaughtered in front of him while he is powerless to do anything. This terror is something he never forgets. It causes him to go into the care of Togan who is like a father to him. While with Togan he learns all the skills needed to be a great person in society, but he still wants to become a samurai. The death of his family intensifies this goal because he wants to avenge his family. The next death Taro witnesses is the death of Togan, who is basically a father to him. He is crushed after this event occurs. Taro does not want to go on, but he knows that Togan would want him to keep fighting. The death that has the most profound affect on Taro is the death he causes himself when he kills the Ronin samurai Hanagata Minbu. This occurs after Taro is donned the “Master of Rice” and he begins to gain some respect. The ronin threatens him, but Taro does not back down and when he gets a chance he slashes Minbu’s arm. I think this death affects him the most because it is the first time Taro has seen what it is like to kill a man. He describes this event by saying, “When you take someone else’s world away from them, you feel the loss so strongly. That surprised me; I had not expected it,” (Haugaard 121). He feels connected to the old man and sorry that he has killed him. This marks the beginning of a long road to maturity for Taro because he now knows what it takes to be a samurai. With this wisdom he is able to perform tasks better, and at the end of the book when all the people he knows and loves are killed he knows how to properly go about avenging their deaths.
Death is strong motivating factor for Taro to continue to live. He strongly desires to bring honor back to his family's name. His family is killed before his eyes. The whole world around is emerged in violence. Many that are close to him, such as Togan, lose their lives before his eyes. He also was able to the see the effect death had on others. Yoshitoki was far more reserved and less gung-ho about going off into battle than Taro was. He knew the feeling of killing a man, and he did not enjoy it. Taro, too feels emptiness after his first kill, the ronin. He expected to feel proud, but he felt a void in his heart. Death always closely behind, waiting for its next victim. It depended on the actions of the individual on whether or not he would live to see anther day.
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