Final

Memoirs Final:
(1) Read the prompt below and respond in 2-3 paragraphs with supporting detail from the novel.

(2) Then, write your own question for another student in class that tackles an important theme, conflict, or event occurring in the novel. It needs to be thought provoking and should NOT be easily answered as a yes or no answer. Make sure your question comes at the end of your response and is clearly identifiable.

(3) Finally, choose a question posed by another classmate and respond in 2-3 paragraphs with supporting detail from the novel. Indicate which classmate you are responding to and COPY and PASTE the question at the top of your response.

Sayuri’s last reflection reads:

I cannot tell you what it is that guides us in this life; but for me, I fell toward the Chairman just as a stone must fall toward the earth. When I cut my lip and met Mr. Tanaka, when my mother died, and I was cruelly sold, it was all like a stream that falls over rocky cliffs before it can reach the ocean. Even now that he is gone I have him still, in the richness of my memories. I’ve lived my life again just telling it to you.

It’s true that sometimes when I cross Park Avenue, I’m struck with the peculiar sense of how exotic my surroundings are. The yellow taxicabs that go sweeping past, honking their horns; the women with their briefcases, who look so perplexed to see a little old Japanese woman standing on the street corner in kimono. But really, would Yoroido seem any less exotic if I went back there again? As a young girl I believed my life would never have been a struggle if Mr. Tanaka hadn’t torn me away from my tipsy house. But now I know that our world is no more permanent than a wave rising on the ocean. Whatever our struggles and triumphs, however we may suffer them, all too soon they bleed into a wash, just like watery ink on paper. (498-99)

(1) Earlier in the novel we discussed the role destiny plays in Sayuri’s life, and how much she believed she could control her own destiny. To what extent was she responsible for the way her life turned out and how much was placed in the hands of others and fate itself?

(2) Sayuri states in the last sentence of the novel: “Whatever our struggles and triumphs, however we may suffer them, all too soon they bleed into a wash, just like watery ink on paper” (499). What do you think she means by this?

Rising from the Ashes

Pumpkin believes that Sayuri betrayed her when she, rather than Pumpkin, was adopted by the Nitta okiya. Do you believe that Sayuri was entirely blameless in this incident? Might she have helped to make Pumpkin's life easier while they were in the okiya together? Or has Pumpkin's character simply been corrupted by her years with Hatsumomo and the entire cruel system that has exploited her?

Benefactor or Slave Trader

"The afternoon when I met Mr. Tanaka Ichiro," says Sayuri (Chiyo), "really was the best and the worst of my life" [p. 7]. Is Mr. Tanaka purely motivated by the money he will make from selling Chiyo to Mrs. Nitta, or is he also thinking of Chiyo's future? Is he, as he implies in his letter, her friend? How do you think Chiyo feels about the role Mr. Tanaka played in the direction of her life?