The True Story of Sayuri - Life Lessons to be Learned

By Alexandra N.

St. Marguerite d'Youville Secondary School
Brampton

According to Julia Blackburn, the novel Memoirs of a Geisha takes you by the hand and brings you to a world that is both intimate and formal. Blackburn also says that it is hard to believe that the main character, Sayuri, is only a fictional character. Sayuri tells her story from her memory with such gentle courtesy and imagination that it feels like you are in an Oriental world, where beauty, reputation, and money are the only things that matter. I agree with Blackburn when she says, "Sayuri's story feels so real that it feels like she is a real person, and not fictional". However, even though I agree with the fact that the way she expresses her struggles is so real, I do not believe she tells it with gently courtesy. I believe that if one faces so much pain in their life, it would be hard to tell their story as enchanting or determined. I strongly agree with Blackburn, when she says that Sayuri realistically portray a different world, but I do not agree when she claims that she speaks gently of her pain.

In the novel Memoirs of a Geisha, Blackburn believes the story of the Geisha named Sayuri feels so real that it is hard to believe that Sayuri is a fictional woman. She believes that "Sayuri takes you to a world that it both intimate and formal". I agree with Blackburn when she says Sayuri has a strong way with words. The way that Sayuri describes her struggles and her happiness makes us feel like her experiences has happened before. She describes her struggles or her happiness with similes and metaphors, to give us a clearer picture of what her experiences feels like: "The first drop hits me like quail eggs, and in a matter of seconds I was as wet as if I'd fallen into the sea" (13). Sayuri is on her way to Mr. Tanaka's house, when the rain comes down hard on her. Already we can imagine how cold and wet Sayuri really is. While reading Memoirs of a Geisha, I felt like I was right beside her, or perhaps a pedestrian admiring her beauty, as she walks gracefully over the Bridge, envying her blue-gray eyes. The way that Sayuri describes her experiences makes you feel lucky that you have such a loving family; she makes us believe there is some good in every bad situation; you just have to look for it. I agree with Blackburn, when she says that "Sayuri shows a world that it both intimate and formal". I agree, because being a Geisha is both intimate and formal. Only the rich men may be accompanied by the Geishas, and the richest men will be able to touch a Geisha: "We do not sell our bodies, but the movement of our bodies, for the very word Geisha means art" (135). Mameha is telling Sayuri what a Geisha really does, which is to entertain, not to be a prostitute. In many ways, Sayuri's story has touched my life. Her story made me appreciate my family and what I have, because you never know when happiness ends, nor when it will begin.

In the novel Memoirs of a Geisha, Blackburn believes that Sayuri tells her story with gentle courtesy and determination. She believes "Sayuri's life is extraordinary and lyrical". I do believe Sayuri's words in the novel are very powerful and persuasive, but I do not agree when she speaks of her life as if it were perfect and should be envied, because she has faced many hardships in her life. Blackburn believes that they way Sayuri tells her story is poetic and her life is the way to be happy. I believe that Sayuri tells her life story so that we do not envy her life, but learn from it. She tells us the hardships she faces in the novel, such as being sold to become a maid, then facing her nemesis Hatsumomo, and also the process of becoming a Geisha itself. Sayuri tells us the pains of leaving her family, and tells us how something as simple as dressing up to become a Geisha, is just as painful, and just as much work as being a maid. According to Sayuri, when getting her hair done at the hairdressers, they "tear a wooden comb through my hair until the muscles of my neck were sore from pulling against it"(163). She did not say that her life was graceful and poetic, nor does she speak as if her life was gentle. Sayuri is trying to show us another side of being a Geisha, the hard side. All we see is beauty and no truth, and, at first glimpse, I thought a Geisha was just a prostitute, until I learned the struggles they go through. As Keats says, "Beauty is truth, truth is beauty, that's all ye knows, that's all ye need to know". Even though I agree with the fact that her words are very powerful, I do no agree with Blackburn that Sayuri wants us to believe is as gentle and enchanting as she was.

Sayuri is a woman who is telling us to appreciate life, and to flow where the river takes us. Sayuri is telling us that if we struggle with the flow of the river, then we will only hurt ourselves. Even though I do not believe Sayuri wants to think she is poetic, I do believe she uses strong and powerful words that make me and others appreciate life more. Many people complain about many things in life, yet she does not complain about anything. She takes life as it comes, which I believe is truly inspiring. You can truly tell she has a water personality; she goes with the flow, and when barricaded by rocks or struggles, she finds a new path. Because of these inspiring words the critic have pointed out, I believe that you should take life as it comes and accept it as an experience, not a curse or a downfall of your so-called tragic life. Even though many people will have point of views that may differ from Julia Blackburn's and I point of view, I think we can all agree that Sayuri is a truly inspiring character, because she tells us nothing is impossible.