Japanese Modernization
The majority of “The Wild Gesse” stands as a metaphor for Japanese modernization during the late 1800's. A political and social progress which impacted every part of Japanese society during the era. As students, Okada and the narrator interact with it the most, but Otama and her father's interactions with the police officer show another side. Throughout the book, Western clothing appears again and again in passing as Japanese society slowly changes. The unresolved ending of the book leaves the story open just as Japanese society will be in the 20th century.
Japanese Gender Relations
The major point of the pseudo-love triangle between Suezo, Otama, and Okada is to show the cruelty of Japanese society on love. As Suezo's mistress, Otama is sealed into her role in society. As a moneylender, Suezo can not achieve a better position in society. As a student, Okada has little to offer Otama and cannot take the risk to Romance her. The dissatisfaction all feel with their love reflects Japanese society at the end of the 1800's. Otama's isolation ultimately reflects the position of women in Japanese society in that point. A more youthful side to Suezo's wife who despises her husband.
The Idea Of Romance
The ideal of romance Otama and Okada believe will eventually unite them. While their relationship begins unspoken in passing, Okada killing the snake suggests a parallel to fairy-tales. Otama desires Okada to be a knight that will rescue her from her misery. Okada proves this is just Fantasy though as he already has a life that takes him in the opposite direction of Otama. Neither the killing of the snake nor even the 'romance' written in the “Kimpeibai” can occur in reality. Their own lives prevent Otama and Okada from ever meeting to resolve their desires.
Roles In Society
From students, to actors, to moneylenders, “The Wild Geese” investigates the many roles in Japanese society near the end of the 1800's. Ogai Morai's interest in an author is to examine how outdated these roles had already become by this point. None of the characters are able to make changes beyond the social position assigned to them. All the characters in the novel are trapped/being pulled between two words. The world of lost traditional Japan and the future of modernized Japan.
Fantasy And Reality
The ultimate divide in “The Wild Gesse” is that real stories rarely have fulfilling stories. As explained in the book's intro and outro, the narrator was only able to compose the true story of Otama and Okada decades later. Okada and Otama never truly meet to begin a Romance, but the narrator is implied to have been involved with Otama years later. The only reason he is able to tell the true story is due to the fact he learned both sides of the tale. The story of “negative romance” is created by the subversion of Otama and Okada ever uniting. The book (unlike the “Kimpeibai”) does not end on an erotic note, but a rather sad one the narrator only barely resolves. The novel is neither a fairytale or Romance as it has no definitive ending.
