Aghwee the Sky Monster (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Kenzaburō Ōe
- First Published: 1964
- Type of Plot: Ghost story, frame story
- Time of Work: The mid-1950's to mid-1960's
- Setting: Tokyo
- Principal Characters: D, His nurse, His former wife, His mistress, Aghwee, The narrator
- Genres: Short fiction
- Subjects: 1950’s, 1960’s, Suicide, Murder or homicide, Twentieth century, Ghosts or apparitions, Guilt, Asia or Asians, Death or dying, Disabilities or physically challenged persons, Mental retardation, Composers, Visions, epiphanies, or revelations, Japan or Japanese people, Tokyo, Birth defects, Mental health
- Locales: Tokyo, Japan
The Story
“Aghwee the Sky Monster” is one of Kenzaburō Ōe's first stories about children born with mental defects, written after his own son was born in 1963 with a cranial defect that would cause mental disability. In the story, the father, D, succumbs to traditional Japanese pressures and prejudices against raising a mentally disabled child and lets his newborn son starve to death. This is in stark contrast to Ōe's own decision to love and raise his disabled son. D's baby returns as a ghost and ultimately drives D to suicide, creating a haunting tale about the grave...
[The entire page is 1451 words long]
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