The Setting Sun

“I have sometimes myself thought things would taste better if we ate with our fingers, but I refrain from doing so, for fear that if a high-class beggar like myself imitates Mother badly, it might make me look a beggar plain and simple.”

Kazuko is aware of her mother’s refinement, so much so that she is hesitant to mimic her. She yearns to be as refined and as aristocratic, yet she will not even try to do so. Kazuko differentiates herself from her mother so much that she does not believe herself even capable of imitating her mother without embarrassment. Kazuko’s sense of unworthiness reflects The Decline of the Old Order, as the younger generation of aristocrats no longer feel capable of living up to their heritage.

“Kazuko, you mustn’t eat that way. You should try to make breakfast the meal you enjoy most.”

Kazuko has already stated her desire to eat in the same way that her mother eats, yet her mother encourages her to view meals in an entirely different way. Implicit in her advice is the tacit acknowledgment that her daughter is not like her. Both Kazuko and her mother are aware that Kazuko does not possess her mother’s grace, yet neither wants to explicitly state it.

“Mother understands less of money matters than a child, and when Uncle Wada described to her our situation, her only reaction apparently was to ask him to do whatever he thought best.”

Kazuko writes reverently about her aristocratic mother. She admires her mother, yet accepts that in many ways, such as financial matters, her mother has no pragmatic understanding of the world. Kazuko’s mother deals with the family’s dwindling finances by delegating all financial matters to Uncle Wada, rather than taking responsibility herself.