Essay Questions

What does the Lotus represent?

The lotus is a key image in the text, and is used to symbolize Otoko's love for Oki:

“Now that Otoko had heard about the night at Enoshima, that old love flared up ominously within her. Yet in those flames she could see a single white lotus blossom. Their love was a dreamlike flower that not even Keiko could stain.”

Her love is described as being a flower, which suggests a sense of delicacy and beauty. The lotus flower is also white, which represents the purity of her love, and her sexual purity when they first met. The flower is "dreamlike" as it cannot be a reality due to the terrible events that transpired between them. Finally, the narrator suggests that even Keiko cannot stain the flower, which tells us that her love for Oki is powerful and inviolable.

How have Oki's actions impacted the life of Otoko?

Oki is shown to have been very selfish in his affair with Otoko. She was only 15 when they first met and was still in school. She was therefore too immature to deal with the repercussions of their relationship properly. She later gave birth to a baby girl, who sadly died days after being born. This whole experience traumatized Otoko and made her vow to never be with another man. As such, Oki's actions have affected her life, and influenced her decision to be with Keiko.