- 1
Why does Akutagawa continue to mention the servant’s pimple? What could this pimple symbolize?
Akutagawa mentions the servant’s festering pimple several times throughout the story. This pimple symbolizes the dilapidated state of society of Kyoto itself, which lies in ruins due to poverty and natural disasters. The pimple also represents the turmoil within the servant’s own psyche—his dilemma whether to starve to death or become a thief.
- 2
In what way does poverty pit the servant against the old woman? Who else could be considered the servant’s antagonist?
The servant views the old woman as his antagonist, stealing her clothes at the end of the story in order to...
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