Jason Andrew Buividas
English 112
In A Grove
Reponse 6
Rashomon, In a Grove
In a Grove, is the story of an investigation of the murder of Kanazawa no Takehiko and the rape of his wife, Masago. Considered as one of his greatest works, In a Grove (Yabu no Naka), was portrayed with gloominess, grotesque, and perfect aesthetic sense. One can surely notice the unusual story-telling method used since the story is portrayed from four characters (woodcutter, Buddhist priest, policeman, old woman)’s different point of views and the three confessions of the wife of Takehiko, Tajomaru the robber, and Takehiko himself through a medium. The story is full of psychological insights but not overly fictional since the author, Akutagawa, was naturally inclined to psychology since his mother’s death was proclaimed to be insanity. Because In a Grove gives the reader a unique touch of literature it was later made into a film along with Akutagawa’s probably most famous short-story the Rashomon. The different accounts claimed by the witnesses and confessors give the story a twist giving the reader somewhat a perplexing feel of Akutagawa’s mind and, true, perhaps he has a little bit of his mother disorder! Whether he had a little bit of psychological problem or it was purely aesthetic sense that made him write the way he did, no one can deny that “In a Grove” is a masterpiece in its own. The best thing of this short-story is the attention given to details and the lack of symbolism, yet despite of that it still retains the sense of fiction in the story.
The short story In a Grove by Ryunosuke Akutagawa was also made into a movie called Rashomon. The movie and the short story share both similarities and differences. The story starts out with the woodcutter's statement and how he was walking in the woods. The movie however starts out like the short story Rashomon which opens with people sitting under a big gate. The movie then goes into telling the different statements from...