THE MAKIOKA SISTERS
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This paper is an analysis of The Makioka Sisters by Tanizaki Junichiro, using suggestions by James Fujii from his book Complicit Fictions as a way of examining the text, particularly as a historical chronicle and reflection. The story moves from 1937 to 1941; the novel itself was started in 1943 and finished in 1948. These were years of stunning transformation for Japan. While major historical events do not play significant parts in the much smaller personal episodes of Tanizaki's story, they provide its inescapable backdrop. Tanizaki records the radical changes occurring in Japanese society just before World War II as they affect one family, and his tale also captures his own post-war sense of longing for a past irretrievably gone.The Makioka Sisters concerns "an old and once-important family" (Tanizaki 8). The novelist writes, "The best days for the Makiokas had lasted perhaps into the mid-twenties. Their prosperity lived now only in the mind of the Osakan who knew the old days well" (8). There are four sisters; with the death of their parents, the husband of the oldest daughter has become head of the family and adopted the Makioika name. The sisters are Tsuruko (born around 1901, married to a bank employee), Sachiko (two years younger and married to Teinosuke, an accountant), Yukiko (born about 1907), and Taeko (born about 1911). The unmarried sisters live with Sachiko and Teinosuke between Osaka and Kobe, ignoring the tradition that should h
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hat "texts constitute history" (40), and The Makioka Sisters provides interesting examples of this.
The novel is set against recent history which its author observed firsthand. Tanizaki paints a quiet, careful picture of domestic life in which centuries-old traditions appear to blend seamlessly with modern life. The three younger sisters (Tsuruko, the oldest, is only a secondary character) symbolize this synthesis very neatly: "Each had her special beauties, and they set one another off most effectively. Still they had an unmistakable something in common--what fine sisters! one immediately thought . . . Yukiko was the most Japanese in appearance and dress, Taeko the most Western, and Sachiko stood midway between" (29-30). Sachiko's home, where they all feel most comfortable, is primarily Japanese but includes Western-style rooms. Yukiko, the most traditional, speaks English and French and understands Western music better than Japanese, while Taeko, the quite modern "rebel" of the family, nonetheless studies classical dance and doll-making.
Tanizaki began his novel in the middle of a war his country expected to win. The earlier passages reflect a reverence for traditions and a wistful sigh that change is inevitable. As the
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Approximate Word count = 1364
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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