Fountains in the Rain | Concepts of the Disparity in Power Between the Natural and the Mechanical World
In this essay, the author looks at Mishima’s concepts
of the disparity in power between the natural
and the mechanical world as portrayed in his story.
Akio, the protagonist in Mishima’s short story ‘‘Fountains in the Rain,’’ is a very calculating young man. He has contrived a plan much like an engineer might plot the dimensions of a proposed building. But there is a major flaw in Akio’s calculations, a blind spot brought on by his own obsessions. Akio has failed to see the difference between the mathematical precision of the mechanical world and the emotional ambiguity of nature.
Most of Mishima’s protagonists are ‘‘anti-heroes, physically or psychologically wounded,’’ states Philip Shabecoff for the...
[The entire page is 2367 words long]
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