Motif of Motherly Affections Towards Benjamin and Shinji

International Baccalaureate Languages

Hernandez 002320-061

World Literature Assignment #1

Comparative Study

Jorge Hernandez

Candidate #: 002320-296

May 2009

John A. Ferguson High School

Language A1

Higher Level

Word Count: 1,147

There comes a time in a person’s life when the immense pressure or work

becomes overwhelming to them, it is not surprising if they were to crack under the pressure. At this point, the parents of said person would intervene and try to re-build their child’s broken foundation. When it comes to females, the father would help, and if the person were to be male, the mother would help. This is because males have a deeper bond with their mothers and females have a deeper bond with their fathers. In the novels Fiela’s Child and The Sound of Waves, the motif of motherly affection towards Benjamin and Shinji contributes to the plot development.

The motif of motherly affection towards Benjamin in Fiela’s Child contributes to the plot development because of the hardships that Benjamin must face throughout his journey to find his true identity. In the novel, Benjamin is taken away from Fiela because he is a white boy and Fiela is black. However, before he was taken away, he had to speak with the magistrate, the “master” of the land. Before Benjamin met the magistrate, Fiela had packed all his belongings, and a “lucky” shirt and kept re-assuring him that he will come back, to not be afraid because everything is going to be all right. “Be brave. Please God…Don’t crumble it up.” (Matthee 64) shows that Benjamin was having his doubts on whether or not he will be going back to Fiela or be taken away, and Fiela, being motherly, was trying to comfort him. She prepared his luggage for the journey to see the magistrate, putting on his clothes and a new shirt. The new shirt was for luck, so he was to out it on before the meeting, and then take it off after. With this, Benjamin was seeing the love and care that Fiela was giving him, which is why he fought vigorously to stay with her. This pulls up the quest of what a mother really is, in which case a mother is the woman who took care of you and nurtured you throughout your life. Without Fiela’s affection, Benjamin would have never stayed with her; he would have ran away near the beginning of the novel. “Whose child is this? the tall one asked, aghast…We’re going back to Knysna tomorrow, we’ll inquire about the other child” (Matthee 21) shows how Fiela protected her right to keep Benjamin, especially because he did not want to let go of her. The two men who were trying to take Benjamin away were comparing him to a boy named Lukas, who, coincidentally, was a white boy who was lost in the forest nine years earlier, which is the same amount of years in which Fiela first found Benjamin. With the backup of Fiela, Benjamin fought against the fact that he was Lukas, even when he found himself to be with the Van Rooyen family, the ones who had the missing son.

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In the novel The Sound of Waves, the motherly affection provided by Shinji’s mother upon Shinji contributes to the plot development because she is the reason that the plot proceeded the way it did. At a point in the novel, Shinji’s mother had gone up to Terukichi’s home to allow Shinji and Hatsue to see each other. Not only is she defying Japanese tradition, she is basically demanding a much higher person to listen to her. “The stairs creaked softly as Hatsue…ever cross his damned threshold again!” (Mishima 128) shows the failed confrontation between Shinji’s mother and Terukichi. This, of course, just made the passion between Shinji and Hatsue increase by a great amount, since now Hatsue cannot even talk to Shinji’s mother. The secret meetings between Shinji and Hatsue became even more sacred. She is the foundation of Shinji’s power, his will. His mother could have easily banished him from even glancing at Hatsue, but she did not; she told Shinji of what had happened, which made Shinji want to quit out of Hatsue. While Shinji is in this denial, his crave for Hatsue’s love grew. Soon, she stopped writing him letters, which made his wanting of her grow even more, which is when he decided that he would do all that he can to be able to be with her, and marry her.“Shinji’s mother and brother had been awaiting his…alone as her earnings as a diving woman.” (Mishima 11) shows how Shinji’s mother did all the work, until Shinji himself could work. With this role model, Shinji learned what it is to be respectful and hard working, thus creating the plot of the novel, which ended at Shinji having been granted the marriage of Hatsue because of his characteristics. “Hatsue got to her feet in silence…her son had been in his choice of a bride.” (Mishima 146) shows how Shinji’s mother put her son’s feelings before hers, thus showing her motherly side. Because she knows how good Hatsue is, she accepts her apology, which she made for her father, without any doubts. Shinji’s mother then comments on the good choice of girls that her son had made, and by accepting the apology, she basically influenced Hatsue to keep going after Shinji. “As Shinji read the card aloud for his mother…the express delivery had been made in such good order.” (Mishima 84) shows that Shinji’s mother forces Shinji to pray for his brother. By being forced to pray, the reader can see that Shinji’s mother, from an early age, has been telling Shinji to pray everyday. With this, Shinji goes to Yashiro Shrine everyday to pray for the well-being of others, as well as his own. This, connected with their Japanese culture, is one of the reasons that Shinji made his decisions.

The motherly affections towards Benjamin and Shinji shows how much someone can be affected by another person’s action, especially a family member. The actions of Fiela towards Benjamin shows how she influenced the plot by giving Benjamin the strength to fight against those who want to place him into the Van Rooyen family, as Lukas Van Rooyen. The actions demonstrated by Shinji’s mother shows how a mother can alter one’s life so much. Seriously, she was able to allow Shinji and Hatsue to be together, while at the same time building his personality so he would be a respectful and dignified person. With these two mothers by their sides, Benjamin and Shinji were capable of realizing and fulfilling what they dreamed of, whether it was the dream of finding a job they wanted, being able to live with the wanted family, or being allowed to be wed with the girl of their dreams. The characters Fiela and Shinji’s mother were created to show the influence a caring mother can have on their children’s lives, and how they are willing to do virtually anything to keep their children safe and happy.