Taking a look at the book ''Memoirs Of The Geisha''

Mock writing sample for literature summary and analysis

The fiction novel written by Arthur Golden ''Memoirs of a Geisha'' tells a story about the life of Nitta Sayuri.

From her young age as a fisherman's daughter to one of the greatest geisha in Gion, the place where the young Sayuri starts a new life. The story seems to be one of a kind, because of the way it was written. The author of the book presents the story as an interview in which the real Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life. It is a story where men have all the power and women are expected to be only for entertainment but also a story of secret love, which she does not want to forget.

As a nine-year-old child, Sayuri, first known as Chiyo, is sold by her father and sent to the geisha school in Gion. Through her eyes, the readers follow her beginnings to become a young woman. Dance lessons, music classes, wearing a kimono, makeup art, and many more. All of this to become a future geisha. As a child, she found nothing but hate and evil in her life. Everyone is cold to her. Her new mother, Ms. Nitta runs the Okiya, the geisha school. She cares only about money and her well-being. The Hatsumomo is a beautiful geisha who treats Sayuri like she deserves nothing in her life. It all changes, when one day, Sayuri meets the man on the street known as The Chairman, who is the only one, who noticed her and offered help. He bought her some ice cream, gave her some money, and most important, he is the only one, who shows her any kindness. As a nine-year-old, she didn't understand what love is but from her perspective, The Chairman was a gentle, dignified man, she will try her best to be as close to him as she can be. She believes, that he is the only person that is going to help her keep going with her difficult time. But she will do everything, including becoming the best geisha, just to be close to The Chairman.

As Sayuri becomes older and more experienced as Geisha because of the help of her new mentor, Mameha, Sayuri started to become the most popular Geisha in Gion. Her conflict with Hatsumomo is still hectic, she is starting to see The Chairman more and more. Eventually, Sayuri starts to earn more money than others. The money belongs to Ms. Nitta, who runs the school, she is living in.

As the story goes on, in the final, she and The Chairman meet face to face, alone. He finally admits his feeling to her after all those years and he tells her that he remembers her as a small child but was afraid to confess to her until this moment.

One of the interesting features of this story is the detailed description of the different stages that a girl must pass through to become geisha. Most people probably think that geishas are working to spend nights with their clients but this is untrue. The book shows that geisha's work strictly involves skills such as playing instruments, performing the famous tea ceremony, and formal dancing. For those skills, conversation and appearance are also very important. Geisha's look involves a couple of assistants to help her put on her kimono, put the makeup on, and have her hair done to be noticed. Geisha can not get intimate with any man. It happens when a man is trying to be her Danna, the man to that she will lose her virginity. This progress is very important because geisha is most valuable when she is pure and clean. That is why the choice of getting a Danna is very significant for the geisha.

Personally, my favorite theme of the book is the love part. The reason for this is that the love that we can feel between Sayuri and The Chairman is not a common love that we see in other movies and books. Their love is modest, distanced, and pure. It is quite sad that she has to hide her love for one man for so many years and he secretly had to sacrifice his feelings to Sayuri as at the end of the story, he admits that she became important to him since he saw her crying on the street as a little girl. Even as a little girl, he saw in her an honest openness in her eyes that is different from the deceit and bleakness of the world. In secret, he had been trying for years, to get closer to Sayuri, using different strategies for that. Even though Sayuri thought, the man she loves does not send her any form of interest, his feelings were only growing and growing.

This novel is for everyone that enjoys reading peaceful and touching stories. I believe, it can move everyone and get into thinking about life and love. Additionally, readers can dig deeper into work as geisha and learn more about Japanese culture and their everyday life during the terrible years of the the economic crisis of the 1930s and later, World War II.