Dec 25, 2009

Memoirs of a Geisha | Topics for Further Study

Much is made of Sayuri’s having a lot of water in her, as her mother did. Her father had a lot of wood in him. Research the meaning of the elements of water, wood, fire, metal, and earth in Japanese thought. How did they describe people, and were they used to describe anything else? Are they still used today? Finally, what insights into the characters and their fates do you gain from this research?

Hatsumomo hates Sayuri from the moment she arrives at the okiya, but the reader is never told directly why. How do you explain her deep, malicious hate? Write an Afterword containing...