‘Rashomon’ and ‘In the Grove’ A Broken Society

Rashomon Instructor: Course: Date: ‘Rashomon’ and ‘In the Grove’ These are two stories that paint an image of the decay that is in the society. More importantly, these are stories that show the level desperation that humans are willing to bend to in an effort to achieve their own objectives. This is regardless of the people that get hurt in the process. The characters find it in themselves to drive their own agendas in an effort to make sure that they can survive. However, they are quite interesting stories with some element of similarities and differences in their approaches. Both ‘Rashomon’ and ‘In The Grove’, are images of a broken society where people are willing to sacrifice others for their own selfish needs and still feel the need to justify their actions. A Broken Society The level of a broken society that is shown in the story ‘Rashomon’ takes in an entirely subtle approach. This is a society that had been ravaged by all manner of natural disasters however this is not even the main concern as there are cases of thieves and robbers as well ravaging the society. ‘This gate was constructed in 789 when the then capital of Japan was transferred to Kyoto. With the decline of West Kyoto, the gate fell into bad repair, cracking and crumbling in many places, and became a hide-out for thieves and robbers and a place for abandoning unclaimed corpses.’ This goes to show the level of rot that is in the city, where even the thieves are hiding in place with rotting bodies. In the case of the story, ‘In the Grove’, there is also the element of the thieves that are terrorizing the citizens. These are characters that are ruthless and have in some of the incidences in the story been associated with murders. ‘Of all the robbers prowling around Kyoto, this Tajomaru has given the most grief to the women in town. Last autumn a wife who came to the mountain back of the Pindora of the Toribe Temple, presumably to pay a visit, was murdered, along with a girl.’ It is also suspected that they may have been the cause of death of the soldier. Specifically, Tajomaru has been the cause of some of the gruesome murders in the community and is suspected to have been the one behind the attack on the soldier leading him...