A+Pale+View+of+Hills

‘A Pale View of Hills’ by Kazuo Ishiguro

__Plot summary__ The book begins with the suicide of Keiko, the elder daughter of the protagonist, Etsuko, a middle-aged Japanese woman living in England. Her younger daughter, Niki, visits her and the conversation between the two informs us that Etsuko was remarried to a British man and she brought Keiko, daughter of her first marriage with Japanese husband Jiro, from Japan to Britain. Etsuko had her second daughter, Niki, with the British husband. Keiko and Niki are half-sisters. Keiko apparently did not fit well in the new family and became very antisocial. She always locked herself in the bedroom and only stepped out of her room to get some food. Keiko failed to adapt to the new culture and eventually committed suicide. It then leads to Etsuko’s reminiscence of her earlier years back in post-WWII Japan and her old acquaintances. That summer, Etsuko’s pregnant with Keiko and she meets a young woman called Sachiko. Sachiko used to live an upper class life. Yet, she lost her husband and experienced financial difficulties after the war. She has to earn a living and raises her 10-year-old daughter Mariko. Etsuko then introduces Sachiko to Mrs. Fujiwara, the owner of a noodle shop and helps Sachiko to get a job there. Mrs. Fujiwara was a very optimistic and forward looking person. Although she has lost all her family members in the war, she still has a positive attitude towards life. Since Sachiko has to work in the noodle shop, Mariko is left unattended for most of the time. Sachiko doesn’t send Mariko to school. The little girl has difficulty getting along with other children in the neighbourhood. Her only companions are the cats that she keeps. She often runs away on her own but her mother Sachiko doesn’t seem to care too much. Etsuko is usually the one who searches for Mariko. Apart from hours of work in the noodle shop, Sachiko is devoted to her relationship with an American soldier named Frank. Sachiko always hopes that Frank would bring her to the United States and she could start a new life there despite the fact that her daughter Mariko dislikes Frank. There are several horrible and vicious incidents in the story which reflect the trauma that disturbed so many Japanese emotionally and psychologically in the post-war period. Mariko saw a woman killed herself when she was 5/6. Since then, she constantly mentions that she sees a mysterious woman. Mariko witnesses a woman drowning her own baby in the river. One time, Sachiko is mad about her daughter and so Sachiko deliberately drowns Mariko’s favourite kittens. Mariko runs away and so Etsuko looks for her. When Etsuko finds Mariko, the little one looks terrified. Mariko keeps asking Etsuko why there is a rope around her feet. All these incidents foreshadow something horrible is going to happen (Maybe a death wish?) The confusion of personal pronoun use in the dialogue between Etsuko and Mariko is the climax. Some argue that it’s a slip and Etsuko is not a reliable narrator. Probably she projects her story with Keiko through Sachiko and Mariko. The subplot mentions the life of the protagonist’s first marriage. Ogata San, father of Etsuko’s husband Jiro, visits the couple that summer. Ogata San initiates conversation and wants to play chess with his son. However, Jiro is uninterested and he rather reads his paper but not talks to his father. Ogata San feels sorry for tiring his son. Ogata San is nice to his daughter-in-law Etsuko and the two get along well. Seeing how indifferent Jiro is to Ogata San, Etsuko feels so sorry for her father-in-law. Ogata San is a retired teacher. He deeply believes in patriotism and feels being offended and betrayed by his former student, Shigeo Matsuda, who published an article criticizing the brainwashing educational system of the nation which led people blindly follow the authority and eventually caused war and suffering. The story also involves gender roles. Jiro’s friend, Hanada, threatened to beat his wife with a club because she did not want to vote for the party that he supports. Women were given political rights (vote) but still they were under men’s control and influence. Similarly, Jiro always orders Etsuko to do this and that and Etsuko has to obey her husband. __Teaching this text__ I would teach this text in secondary 6 in Hong Kong(Grade12) because the themes touches on the topic of memory in psychology and WWII in history courses. Cross-curricular collaboration can be employed. __The main issues that I would emphasize__ (Topical, Textual perspective) Truthfulness of Memory– how reliable the narrator is   The author leaves room for readers’ interpretation and imagination. Readers are not informed whether or not the story of Sachiko and Mariko is indeed a projection of the one between Etsuko and Keiko. (Social Perspective) 1. Impact of War – mental and psychological trauma experienced by survivors who witnessed unpleasant incidents and lost their loved ones 2. Role of education. What do we want to achieve? How important is patriotism? Should it be 'taught'?

3. Family restructuring – relationship between step parent and step children /interracial marriage

4. Gender roles and equality in society (Cultural perspective) Identity in a foreign culture/adapting to a new culture(supporting network, intercultural communication -> useful and relevant for students who plan to study abroad) __Some possible challenges in teaching the text__ The depiction of violent scenes may cause discomfort to some students. Also, teachers need to be careful of and sensitive to the feelings of those who had experienced war/ domestic violence/from broken family. An __**activity/assignment**__ that I would suggest is **Think, Pair, Share and Write**. I will give some time for students to think about the discussion questions concerning the above topics. Then, they have to discuss with their partner. Afterwards, they need to report and share with the whole class about their thoughts about the discussion question. The activity gives students opportunities to express their view and listen to a variety of interpretations and opinion and the contribution of the class can help stimulate students’ thinking and develop more ideas for their written assignment. Finally, students have to submit an essay individually for assessment.