Seventeen Syllables ; My Fa Essay, Research Paper

Seventeen Syllables ; My Favorite Short Story

The first paragraph in Seventeen Syllables by Hisaye Yamamoto describes the first time Rosie realized her mother wrote haikus. Her mother reads her a haiku she has written and Rosie pretends to enjoy and understand it. This is the first hint of deception. Rosie does not want her mother to know that she isn t as fluent in Japanese as her mother thinks. Rosie is being dishonest with her mother but little does she know that she is not the only one being deceitful. The theme of Seventeen Syllables is one of deception, which can be seen at various points through the story.

….Rosie and her father lived for a while with two women, her mother and Ume Hanazono . This sentence is foreshadowing the end of the story because of the remark, for awhile . It is understood that this living with two women will only be temporary. The mother is both Tome Hayashi, wife and mother, and Ume Hanazono, the writer.

The visit to the Hayano family s house is very significant to the story because here we see how other Japanese woman carry themselves. Mrs. Hayano is portrayed as a quiet and feeble woman, quite the opposite of Mrs. Hayashi. On this visit, Mrs. Hayano sat all evening in the rocker, as motionless and unobstrusive as it was possible for her to be . Meanwhile, Mrs. Hayashi is engrossed in talk with Mr. Hayano about haikus. I think Mrs. Hayano was placed in the story to show how different Rosie s mother is in contrast to her. At the end of this visit Rosie s father becomes annoyed because once again, he s placed second, to his wife s discussions about haikus with Mr. Hayano. He abruptly ends the visit, forcing Rosie and her mother to leave as well. When Tome realizes that she has upset her husband, she says, I m sorry you know how I get when it is haiku I forget what time it is. He doesn t respond. On the silent trip home Rosie feels anger and hate towards both of her parents. ..for her mother for begging, her father for denying her mother.

Another part of the story concerns Rosie and Jesus, the Mexican family s son. The young boy tells Rosie that he has a surprise for her, but that she must meet him later on that night to find out what it is. Rosie, being na ve and young, does not know what to expect from him so decides to meet him. When they do meet, she realizes that his surprise is a kiss. Thus, kissed by Jesus, Rosie fell for the first time entirely victim to a helplessness delectable beyond speech. I think this also is a hint of deception because love seems so different when you re experiencing it for the first time. Jesus could also have been nice and a friend to see how far he could get with her. He is two years her senior so he might have other things on his mind. He Can also be defined as deceitful.

Rosie s mother wins first place in a newspaper s poetry contest. The newspaper editor comes out to the farm in which they live, to give her the prize, a beautiful painting of a traditional Japanese scene. The mother offers the man some tea and invites him into their home. This seems to be the last straw for the father. The climax of the story takes place when the father becomes enraged and storms inside the house. The man leaves and the father exits the house with the painting Ume has won. He begins chopping it with an axe and finally sets it on fire. The mother s life and dreams go up in flames along with the picture.

The Japanese picture Ume Hanazono won is a symbol of her other life, her writers life. The picture, as her life, is at the mercy of a man, her husband. It s as if a part of her is dying in that fire. Her other half, Ume, is melting away with the flames of the picture. She will no longer be complete. Her husband has taken that away from her. To the husband, the painting represents Ume, the woman that cannot conform to traditional Japanese customs. It represents the wife that is not a wife. By burning it, he feels that he has some control over her, for once.

So much is her pain that she has a flashback and begins to tell Rosie about the reason she left Japan and why she married Rosie s father. This shows the deceitfulness towards her husband. The only reason she married him was to escape Japan. After her confession she pleads with Rosie, promise me you will never marry! She doesn t want Rosie to marry because she wants Rosie to be free. She thinks marriage is a trap in which a woman is unable to do as she pleases. She believes marriage is a deception. Understanding what she suffered makes it easier to justify her actions. It also makes it clear why she loves to write. To her, writing is an escape from her simple life. That was her motivation.

This story was not only about Rosie s mother but Rosie herself as well. There are two plots in the story. One dealing with the mother and another with Rosie growing up and losing a little bit of her naivety. Rosie s mother s character can be described as a round character, while her father is a foil to her mother. I think he could also be a flat character because throughout the story we do not learn much about him except for the way he reacts to his wife s actions. Rosie herself is a round dynamic character because she changes with every event in the story. Her view of the world has changed at the end of the story. Rosie is a different person because of the events that took place in her life.

The story is told in third person limited omniscience. Using this type of point-of-view makes the story more believable because the characters aren t able to taint the story with criticalness or feelings but instead we see the story as told by the emotions of only one character, Rosie.

The setting of the story takes place in America where one would think Rosie s mother could be free to do as she pleases. She herself believed that if she could get to America she would be better off. But, she was deceived. She married a Japanese man with certain expectations of her. And in those expectations there was no room for her writing. The theme of deception falls in here as well. Although America is a free land, Ume cannot remain alive.

Rosie s father can be compared to the character Johnson in Petry s Like A Winding Sheet . Johnson s life had been filled with unjust treatment because of the color of his skin. He never once lashed out at those who hurt or verbally abused him. But one day, after a two very trying and anger-filled situations at work and a coffee shop he comes home to his unknowing wife and after she makes a smart remark, he beats her. Letting out every emotion he had felt all of those years, on her face. In that same manner, Rosie s father lets out all of his frustration on his wife s painting. After 3 months of holding in all of the hatred and resentment he had towards Ume s haiku writing he finally unleashed on the painting.

I think the ending of the story can be described as a resolution because Rosie discovers her mother s true identity. Her mother is no longer deceiving her and her father. It is no longer a deception. I thought it was a wonderfully written story, which is why It has been one of my favorite short stories so far.