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Summary Of The Samurai's Garden By Gail Tsukiyama

933 Words4 Pages

Life is Beautiful
Set in rural Japan during the Japanese Army’s invasion of China near the beginning of World War II, Gail Tsukiyama’s novel tells the story of Stephen, a young Chinese man who is sent to his family’s summer home to recover from tuberculosis. During his stay, Stephen develops friendships with three older residents and a beautiful Japanese girl. Throughout the course of The Samurai’s Garden , Gail Tsukiyama uses the character of Sachi and her experiences with her garden and meeting Michiko to illustrate the idea that true beauty is revealed in one’s character by their actions and not just looks.
Sachi, a beautiful woman with leprosy learns that true beauty is deep within and is not what appears on the surface, she understands …show more content…

Sachi’s first reaction to Michiko, terrifies Sachi about how she could live amongst these lepers. Slowly she accepts the disease and trusts Michiko. Very slowly Matsu and Michiko convince Sachi to trust the other villagers too. Michiko comforts Sachi by telling her stories. The pearl diver story grabs Sachi’s attention and soon she learns from the story about physical appearance versus inner beauty as Michiko explains the story to Sachi ‘And every evening Sumiko would lift the rough shells from the bucket, prying open their closed mouths to find the translucent pearls hiding under their tongues ’ (145). Oysters are shown in this quote as ‘rough shells’ meaning oysters are not pretty. ‘….to find...translucent pearls hiding…’ this shows how oysters are not the most beautiful things in nature but inside them are pearls which is beauty. Sachi understands about how beauty isn’t just looks, from the ugly oyster and precious pearls in Michiko’s pearl diver story. The pearl diver story depicts Michiko’s life before coming to Yamaguchi. The ama-san story is really representing Michiko and her struggles with leprosy “ I must return to the sea now. My life as I knew it is over now. See that her child lives well “ (147). “return to the sea” this shows how

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