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    A Study Guide for Yasunari Kawabata's "Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket"
    A Study Guide for Yasunari Kawabata's "Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket"
    A Study Guide for Yasunari Kawabata's "Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket"
    Ebook36 pages25 minutes

    A Study Guide for Yasunari Kawabata's "Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket"

    By Gale and Cengage

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    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for Yasunari Kawabata's "Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Short Stories for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Short Stories for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateJul 15, 2016
    ISBN9781535824187
    A Study Guide for Yasunari Kawabata's "Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket"

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      Book preview

      A Study Guide for Yasunari Kawabata's "Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket" - Gale

      10

      The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket

      Yasunari Kawabata

      1924

      Introduction

      Yasunari Kawabata was in the early stages of his writing career when he wrote Batta to suzumushi, (The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket) in 1924. Although he eventually gained fame and earned the Nobel Prize for Literature as a novelist, Kawabata preferred the short story genre and wrote hundreds of short stories until his death in 1972.

      Translated by Lane Dunlop and published in the short story collection Palm-of-the-Hand Stories, The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket is roughly 1,350 words long, short enough to be considered what is referred to as flash fiction. Although brief, Kawabata chooses his words with great care and presents the reader with a vividly imagined scene rife with imagery and symbolism.

      The Japanese and English languages vary greatly, and at times, meaning or intent can be lost in translation. The same can be said of American and Japanese culture. In order to understand Kawabata's meaning, it is important to understand certain aspects of Japanese culture.

      The bell cricket, for example, is not just another noisy insect. In Japan, the plain little bell cricket is revered and loved for its song. Each male bell cricket sings his own unique song, made individual by wing and body vibrations. There is even a Buddhist temple named after the insect, and for centuries, people have journeyed there to meditate to the sound of the bell crickets' songs. Those songs, heard collectively, are believed to be the voice of Buddha.

      Author Biography

      Kawabata was born on June 14, 1899, in Osaka, Japan. Kawabata's father died when Kawabata was two years old. In the next seven years, his mother, sister, and grandmother died. By the age of nine, Kawabata's life had brought more sorrow than anything else, and he found solace in reading. He read widely, but favored difficult Japanese classic texts, which he credited with influencing his use of language and sense of writing style. He decided to become a writer.

      His blind grandfather, with whom he lived, became bedridden. Kawabata kept a diary detailing his care of his beloved grandfather. In May 1914, Kawabata's grandfather

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