Whilst Adeline lived her younger years, Aunt Baba became her main carer. In many ways she actively fell into the shoes of a stepmother, trying to give her and her brothers a healthy prosperous childhood. This was done through the immense affection and protection that she showed. "… She became our surrogate mother, worrying about our meals…" This role was soon rivalled by the arrival of Niang who took away her power and authority "with grandma gone, she alone was in total control".
At the time both books were written the effect of war was evident. ‘Memoirs…"was written just after the war occurred when the country was going through its depression so money was extremely scarce and "Falling Leaves" was written at the beginning of the Sino-Chinese war. Even though both stories happened at different times, the effect of war was similar, as money was tight and people feared for their lives. At this time most women were regarded to be of a lower social status than men and were to be seen rather than heard. Unless powerful like Niang, many were given orders and had to obey and adhere to them. This is very evident in the case of both Adeline and Chiyo-chan. In the case of Chiyo, her life was owed to the Oyiko in which she worked. Again she was sold off with out her permission and with out any knowledge of her future. "I was too confused and upset to understand… I would have plunged in anguish through the floor of the train if I could have." Adeline was punished for her excellence in schools She was deemed a show off by her hateful stepmother Niang, virtually preventing any praise from her father. She also was taken away from her loved surroundings and abandoned in a boarding school without any contact from her family for several years.
This lack of control over both of the girl’s lives and future is very gripping because they are at the mercy of their owners. This oppression of women whereby other people constantly own them evokes sadness and empathy. ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ explores the sex trade and it shows the wide acceptance of the violation of a woman’s body. These women are of a young age and become entertainers for the men who can pay for their company, thus making women a commodity, so they soon become a piece of pretty furniture. This trade reminds me of the slave trade, a tradition where inequality was embedded in society even when it was morally wrong. Adeline, who was just a young girl, also had very little say over the changes that were to occur. The first sign of this was her name change from Jung- ling to Adeline. "… Over night, my sister Jun-pei became Lydia…. And I, Jung- ling, was called Adeline." Changes such as this not only signified her lack of authority over loosing her birth name but also her loss of identity and her Chinese roots which her step mother purposely did to alienate her from her own children as well as creating social class divisions. Niang, who was of half French decent, wanted to emphasise the difference in human and sub-human cultures. Adeline was treated not only as the sub-human culture but also as a scapegoat mainly because she was seen as a defiant, stubborn, Chinese girl, the fact that she was the daughter of her father’s first wife made the abuse even worse. Niang believed she was superior and therefore she chastised Adeline and her brothers.
The atmosphere created in "Memoirs…." is one which is filled with melancholy, because ‘Sayuri’, who is formerly known as Chiyo-chan loses all contact with her family even her beloved sister, this is similar for many of the girls who enter into Gion, and the book emphasizes the mass abandonment of young girls they too have been disowned by their families, evidently showing that women were not highly reguarded in such a society It also promotes the ideology that the Japanese society was very accepting of unjust systems such as this. "My uncle was a very nice man" she said " here’s the last thing he said to me before he sent me away: some girls are smart and some are stupid, you’re a nice girl, but you’re one of the stupid ones. You won’t make it on your own in the real world.". Even though this was set a long time ago, it is a representative of a society today, which still accepts such injustices.
The oriental setting in "Falling leaves" focuses on the family home life rather than society itself, but just as the society outside the house is unjust so, too, is the society inside the home. The home appears to act as a microcosm of society in general. The power hierarchy is very much interwoven into everyday life with Niang being at the top and controlling every one’s moves.
Niang purposely makes sure that Adeline and her family are treated as outcasts "…we the have - nots, were allocated the second floor…" Niang’s own mixture of heritage including her ability to speak French and her European background heightens her status this elitism is associated with the Americans, making her the envy of so many other Chinese women. "The fact that she was half European made her something of a trophy, to be cherished and put on display". This is why Adeline’s father prised his wife as a trophy instead of his children because she was seen as exotic he therefore sacrificed everything to keep her happy. His own selfishness and greed meant that he was unable to father his children therefore sacrificing their happiness. By marrying such a women he, too, shined in the admiration she received. The segregation and division of the two races became even more prominent when the family moved into the new home. Adeline, her brothers and sister and aunt Baba were delegated to live only on the second floor of the house and this was a sign of their second- citizenship compared with the rest of the family had the whole of the house to live in.
The stories of Chiyo-chan and Adeline are extremely sad ones. The physical and mental abuse which occurs is more prominent in Adeline’s story, as she is continually beaten by her older, insecure step- brother Edgar, "Edgar pushed me to the floor and kicked me again and again…" This painful experience makes the reader feel sad and extremely sympathetic towards Adeline as well as evoking resentment against Edgar. This is mainly due to its autobiographical nature. By telling the story through the first person narrative, it appears to be happening at this moment and so we also experience Adeline’s pain, just as she does in her memories and therefore we empathise with her. "I stared at my bruised and bloody face in the mirror." This empathy induces a great deal of emotion, as her childhood appears to be riddled with ill- treatment, antipathy, bitterness, and bullying. Chiyo-chan’s situation is also unfortunate; the loss of her mother marks the end of a childhood of amusement and pleasure as she is forced into a world of deceit and greed. Her father’s abandonment destroyed her normal life and, as the story is told in an autobiographical style, compassion is evoked by us the reader.
By entering the competitive world of the Geisha trade, Chiyo-chan became an enemy to the highest ranked Geisha girl Hatsumomo. This build up of envy and jealousy manifested into the mistreatment of Chiyo- chan. "I don’t think Hatsumomo could have said anything crueler than to say that to me." Hatsumomo relished in making the little girl suffer, it was an attempt to destroy what little pride she had. This cold, callous behaviour was, I believe because the arrival of Chiyo-chan, the little fisher girl from Yorido, challenged her position as a beautiful women. "Surely Hatsumomo doesn’t see me as a rival ma’am… not in the tea houses of Gion perhaps, but within your Okiyo" Hatsumomo realised that Chiyo-chan was a beautiful girl with astounding eyes and she also understood that competition would arise for her beauty and she herself would loose her status. Her mission therefore was to destroy her in every way possible ensuring that her own position would not be threatened.
Like Hatsumomo, Niang (Jeanne) Adeline’s stepmother carried out the most prominent form of abuse. This ironically meant that Adeline felt more at home outside her home with her friends. Niang’s manipulative behaviour is easily fuelled by her father’s own hate towards Adeline so it makes it easy for Niang to behave in the manner she does. Aunty Baba in many ways tries to stand up for Adeline, which only causes her to be punished by her stepmother further as proof of her power connoting that whoever defies Niang will be punished in intolerable ways. Through the exploitation of a woman’s body in "Memoirs…", Chiyo-chan is not only a devise for the men to play with, she is a weapon of destructions that finally makes Hatsumomo fall. Mahema uses the young Chiyo-chan for her own intentions. Her aim was to make Chiyo- chan so desired and so lusted over, men would pay extremely high prices to take her virginity, as in this time women were looked upon by men like meat and by the Okiyo in which they worked, as source of income. The rich men that bought the women’s virginity were not portrayed as sexual abusers or paedophiles, they were seen as good investments. However if viewed today these men would be acting against the law as Chiyo-chan was only 15 years old when she lost her virginity and also it was without her consent. "In the end Dr Crab agreed to pay 11, 500 yen for my mizuage." This way of life depicts that women in the Geisha world had no control over their own bodies.
Adeline’s suffering as a victim of violence, was because she was at the hands of her brother Edgar as well as her first husband Bryon, who turned out to be a liar and a cheat, beating her often and undermining her confidence. Her submissive behaviour in accepting this abuse was a result of her brother’s actions through continually kicking her and beating her just as Bryon did, so she learnt to accept such actions in hope of preventing further beatings. Her sister Lydia was another tyrant who vented out her anger and frustration on the little Adeline and in the future years. She too tried in many ways to destroy her just had she had done before. "Letter after letter was filled with lies and venom, inciting Niang to hate me…. Lydia was advising Niang to tread carefully in front of the despised Adeline." Adeline and Chiyo-chan were both victims of the destruction carried out by others, Adeline, however, appears to be more in control of her future because she strives to become an educated woman, eventually obtaining a degree in medicine.
This empowerment to become somebody eventually lead to Adeline moving away from home and away from the constraints of the family life. Her strong, bold, character is a reflection of several years of isolation when she was abandoned in a catholic nunnery. Leaving home was a means of escape from the cruel world she knew and she belied that her success would eventually make her father proud to love her again. Although several years do pass, where she lives a happy life in America with her own family, her caring, kind nature learnt from Aunt Baba leads her back to China where she has to relieve the nightmare she has been trying to escape from. This kindness is her downfall leading to the exploitation of herself by herself. By continually helping her sister Lydia, when times are hard, she places herself in a position where she is continually exploited. Lydia realise this and takes full advantage of her sister’s kindness and once again, Adeline falls into the twisted, unkind, trap that she was in when she was younger. Adeline devotes so much of her time and energy, as well as money into helping her family back, home in return she only hopes for love and respect but does not receive any. She acts in the ways she does not only out of kindness, but also out of self-pity. She pities herself as she wants to be loved and respected, but all she receives is more hurt and pain. "She played on Niang’s fears and paranoia by writing that I was going to abandon her and force her to live out her last years alone…" This leaves her humiliated, distraught and defeated because, the family that she so wants to belong to rejects her once again.
We only realise the extent of her family’s total lack of care and nurture from her, when she is exempted from her father’s will. The fact that she was no longer seen as a daughter was the ultimate defeat. The memories of her wrecked childhood came flooding back and the little connection between her and her family are at that point severed. "What does its say, … you get nothing". I believe that the caring nature of Adeline may well be viewed as weakness, but it also makes her a much stronger person than her abusers. Anyone who can rise above the inflictions she has suffered and forgive her family for these actions is strong and powerful. Adeline was seeking for something invaluable, something she had never received and that was the love of her family. Her endless seeking left her disgraced as she was a heart broken woman who fought so strongly to become somebody.
Chiyo chan’s future was due to a mistake, which was not supposed to happen to Geisha girls. Her life was always going to be in the hands of others and she had very little say. Falling in love with the chairman was her only weakness and Geisha girls were forbidden to do this especially if they person they loved did not own them. Her eventual marriage to her Dana ‘Nobu’ meant that all relationships with other men were to stop but her love was with another man and the affair continued in secret. Her pregnancy exposed the affair causing her to flee for her own safety "Mother had a power over me as long as I remained in Gion; but I broke my ties with her by leaving." Chiyo- chan never stood up for what she believed in, mainly because she learnt to be seen and not heard. The freedom that she was promised, she did not receive and the man she loved, she lost. This man was a kind and caring man who loved her not only for her beauty but, for her personality and the life she brought into the world. For the first time she felt truly alive, loved and cherished and by falling in love with him and participating in an affair with him she challenged the beliefs of society at that time. By fleeing, which, may appear to be an act of cowardice, she was able to free herself from the chains that held her bound so tightly in Gion. Her actions caused the Oyiko in which she worked to crumble, but the person whom she destroys completely is Hatsumomo. By striving for success, her position in the geisha world rose, inevitably leading to Hatsumomo’s downfall. There was only room for one person at the top and so Hatsumomo was finally left defeated and penniless. So in many ways she paid back those who abused her in her earlier years.
The history of the oppression of women in such cultures has been embedded in society for several years. The Japanese and Chinese cultures are very male-dominated and so the women appear invisible. This problem originates and perpetuates from the belief that women are submissive and unexpressive and it is therefore considered unfeminine for women to complain or speak their mind. From a young age these two cultures have taught women to be seen and not heard and so gender inequality in society has developed. The expectations of women are high but this is not in the political nor in the business field but in the domesticated one. Although today Japanese and Chinese women still work they are exploited for their labour and paid very low wages. They are also not encouraged to go further than men in education preventing them from becoming powerful and domineering. This sub-conscious message has been embedded in society for so long that it is seen as wrong for a woman to leave her home and her children and become empowered. Two of the female characters in ‘Memoirs of a geisha’ (Hatsumomo) and ‘Falling leaves’ (Niang) are powerful. Niang has power because she is from a mixed cultural background which is viewed as racially dominant and Hatsumomo because she is a beautiful seductress. Both women exercise their authority and take advantage of girls who have been taught to excel in silence and do as they are told. Ironically, these to characters appear to very much fall into the role of the dominating male species that controlled society at that time. However, both Niang and Hatsumomo, although authoritative, are still controlled by men, as their power is dependent on them.
It is an advantage of the authors that they have written their novels with the benefit of time. ‘Memoirs of a geisha was published in 1999 by an American male known as Author Golden who was quite removed from the situation in his novel by way of his gender, geography and culture and ‘Falling leaves’ was published in 1997 by a women whose childhood experience are relieved in this novel.
I feel that both authors have enhanced my understanding of exploitation, through the voices of the characters, which is so easily created and exists in society. This inequality magnifies power and status as well as class. Those who are at the bottom are abused by those who are at the top. The two stories opened up my eyes to the treatment of women in the years that Adeline and Chiyo-chan lived, and I now realise that this exploitation still exists today and what I find so enthralling is that those who carried out such abuse were the loved ones of Adeline and Chiyo-chan.
