- Intergenerational Conflict
- Imperialism and Sovereignty
- Aging
- Grief
- Pedagogy
- Marriage
- Memory Is Unreliable
- Worthiness Is a Matter of Constantly Shifting Perception
- Intentions: Justification and Self-Delusion
- Loyalty: Political and Personal
THEMES IN AN ARTIST OF THE FLOATING WORLD
Intergenerational Conflict
Ishiguro introduces us to four generations of Ono's family, and between each generation, complicated differences and conflicts arise.
While such conflicts may be universal—suggested by the fact that they crop up in both calm and fraught historical moments—they are exacerbated here by the unusually sudden changes happening in mid-twentieth-century Japan.
Ono's own father cares deeply about traditional, material definitions of success, and he expects Ono to take over the family business.
He is so determined for this to happen that he cruelly tries to destroy his son's paintings and plans to be an artist.
Ono has political and cultural differences with his own children, and their, spouses, as well.
He feels defensive of Japan's earlier, nationalistic culture, and resents his children for embracing the American powers in Japan.
While Ono never explicitly contemplates suicide, he dwells on stories of other men his age taking their own lives, which reveals that the older, less-powerful generation feels like a burden to the younger generation.
In a more complex and paradoxical way, Ono both fears that he is a burden and wishes to be seen as one, since that would allow him to feel relevant and important in a changing world.
Towards the end of the novel, the aging Ono seems to realize that the younger generations are not as different as he once thought.
Previously upset by his grandson's enthusiasm for American entertainment, he starts to recognize his grandson's resemblance to other family members, and to perceive him as part of a broader family history.
In the novel's final scene, Ono realizes that the young people in town are similar to the friends he himself knew as a young man.
Imperialism and Sovereignty
Over the course of Ono's life, Japan goes through a great deal of political turmoil.
As a young man, Ono embraces Japanese military power and comes to believe that his country should be a worldwide imperial power.
It is somewhat unclear what motivates these political views.
He is upset by the injustice and poverty he sees in his city, and decides that Japan can improve the lot of its citizens through nationalistic militarization, though he never explains the relationship between these things.
It seems that he feels a need for action, and that military power is the most obvious route, if not the most helpful. Since Japan loses the war, it actually ends up on the receiving end of American imperialism.
Ono finds this humiliating, but it also drives a wedge between the older and younger generations, since the older ones are generally unhappy about this geopolitical situation and the younger ones are used to it or even enthusiastic about it. Ishiguro focuses less on the political results of imperialism and more on the personal factors that lead to it.
In this book, a desire for purpose and meaning, without a proper outlet, lead to war and violence, in a neverending cycle.
Aging
At the end of this novel, we learn that much of the story Ono has told us isn't quite true.
While Ono did once subscribe to nationalistic political views, in his old age he has begun to pretend that he was far more influential than he ever was in reality.
Therefore, while the generation gap between his own politics and his childrens' remains a reality, the reader has to acknowledge the possibility that Ono is simply afraid of aging and death.
He is, as a result, clinging to the idea that he made a difference during his life, even if that difference was a negative one.
Ishiguro implies that one of the reasons for Ono's seemingly irrational behavior is the loss he has suffered.
His son is dead, meaning that the symbolic future version of himself has been extinguished—he has nobody to carry on his legacy.
Indeed, even his country is now neutered and powerless in the face of post-war power shifts.
Eventually, Ono seems to recognize that his daughters and grandchildren are worthy and meaningful heirs to his legacy.
Still, the war robs him of a healthy aging process, at least for a long time, and as a result, he clings to an imagined past instead of a now-lost future.
Grief
There are essentially three types of grief in this novel, all of which Ono suffers at one point or another.
One type comes from the unexpected or premature loss of a loved one.
The loss of his wife and son during the war destabilize Ono, causing his narration to become unreliable.
He is so unable to cope with the senseless realities of their deaths that he exaggerates, avoids and fabricates in order to either justify these deaths or minimize the damage they have done to him.
A second kind of grief comes from the timely loss of a loved one.
Matsuda's death causes Ono to feel pensive, but he is able to deal with the loss in a healthy way, since he knows that Matsuda lived a long and satisfied life.
In fact, Matsuda's natural death allows him to contextualize the unjust deaths of Kenji and Michiko.
The final, and most complicated, form of loss comes not from death but from betrayal or conflict.
Ono parts with Moriyama, and even more painfully, with his favorite student Kuroda, on bad terms.
The grief caused by these events is particularly difficult because the loss is a continuing event.
Since Kuroda remains alive, Ono continues to hope that he might repair their relationship and regain Kuroda's friendship.
When he is rebuffed, he is forced to grieve all over again for this loss and to revisit the choices that led to it.
The only way that he is able to cope with this kind of grief is to, eventually, acknowledge Kuroda's right to distance himself and accept it begrudgingly.
Pedagogy
The teachers in “An Artist of the Floating World” have a passionate, paradoxical relationship to their most gifted students.
Ono himself acknowledges this paradoxical relationship, having been both a student and a teacher at different points in his career.
The paradox is this: teachers want their favorite students to become successful, but they also want these students to remain dependent on their mentors.
While he is working for Moriyama, Moriyama’s top student is mysteriously dismissed, presumably because he has violated the teacher’s strict aesthetic rules.
This allows Ono to become the top pupil, but this new status gives him the confidence to question his teacher—and as a result he, too, rebels and is sent away.
Yet, Ishiguro seems to imply, power and the micro-celebrity of being a beloved teacher can corrupt.
Years later, Ono himself betrays his best student after that student acts in ways that Ono deems unsuitable.
Though Ishiguro avoids moralizing, he does make a strong statement, through implication, about how difficult and yet important it is for authority figures to be flexible and open-minded.
Marriage
The central storyline of the novel, or at least of its more linear portions, revolves completely around an engagement.
Noriko’s arranged marriage becomes a site of tension for Ono.
While Noriko’s previous, broken-off engagement was a love match, this one is completely arranged in the traditional manner.
As a result, the young couple are far from the only people involved in the relationship.
Ono, isolated since the war, has no choice but to reengage with society and grapple with the possibility—in fact, the undeniable reality—that people are judging him.
The marriage negotiation is a perfect place for Ishiguro to expose his main character’s neuroses, since it involves an explicit judgment of his status.
At the same time, the somewhat depressed Ono is forced to present himself in public for his daughter’s sake.
Yet non-arranged marriages are just as fraught in this book.
Noriko’s love match was broken off, not by her fiancé, but by his parents. In this sense, no marriage in this novel can exist independently of social status, familial relationships, and politics.
Memory Is Unreliable
Masuji Ono believes that there is no artist who can accurately capture their own likeness in a self-portrait, and neither can a writer impartially recall the past.
The novel revolves around Ono's life, told by himself, but he retells his story imperfectly.
He repeatedly concedes that the conversations he recounts may have not gone exactly as he recalls.
There are even direct contradictions to his account of events. A pivotal moment in the novel is Setsuko's admonition to take precautions about his past.
This prompts Ono to visit Matsuda and Kuroda, yet later Setsuko claims she has no memory of saying that to her father.
Readers are left to wonder if Ono has misremembered events, seeking to mitigate the damage of his past out of his own anxiety or guilt, or if Setsuko doesn't remember or is being deceptive for some reason.
In either case the events of the novel are indefinite, involving many long-past conversations, characters, and places, all altered with the passage of time.
The author also uses the structure and diction of the novel to convey the theme of memory.
The nonlinear pattern of the plot—jumping around chronologically from Ono's present to youth to glory days to present again—is similar to stream-of-consciousness writing.
However, the author deliberately uses this nonchronological plot to mimic not only thought patterns but also an elderly mind.
Ono finds himself in rooms without knowing why he entered them and stares off into space, a habit his younger daughter interprets as laziness but is more likely a common symptom of old age.
As he enters the final stages of life, Ono's memories occupy his thoughts more and more, and they are colored by his need to justify his actions to himself.
The suggestion of self-delusion or self-deception appears early in the novel.
Ono admits that conversations he recalls may not have happened as he recalls them.
He thinks he said a particular thing but admits he may not have.
He also makes excuses for various people, trying to explain to the reader why Mori-san was so haughty while others were not, portraying Noriko as unjustifiably irritated and rude to him.
Perhaps the strongest evidence for self-deception, though, is what is not included in Ono's thoughts.
He says almost nothing about the deaths of his wife and son.
They are mentioned but without much emotion and almost no detail.
Ono seems to repress his most painful memories while allowing lesser traumas to resurface over the course of the novel.
Memory and nostalgia often go hand in hand, and the novel is suffused with wistful recollections of life in Japan before the war, of Ono's best years as an artist.
Nostalgia paints the past with a rosy hue and glosses over difficulties.
For example, Ono recalls giving Kenji his first taste of sake, Japanese rice wine, but not the moment he learned his only son had been killed in the war.
He remembers how his wife always laughed about their disagreements but can't recall the substance of their fights.
The most nostalgic memory that occupies Ono's thoughts is that of the pleasure district before the war.
He fondly recalls so many nights at the Migi-Hidari drinking with his students or at Mrs. Kawakami's in the lantern light.
This vanished world holds incredible nostalgia for the artist.
Worthiness Is a Matter of Constantly Shifting Perception
Worthiness based on ever-changing cultural standards and ethics is a social judgment in the novel.
The author explores the impact that shifting values have upon the life of one man.
Masuji Ono feels worthiest, most honorable, at two distinct moments in the novel, both when he is publicly judged as worthy of special treatment and acknowledgement.
The first is winning the contest for his home.
The Sugimura family investigates the characters and reputation of four candidates before selecting the person they find worthiest of the privilege of buying their late father's home.
It is something Ono feels very proud of, and the author begins the novel with this example of worthiness to introduce the theme.
The second instance of public recognition that makes Ono feel worthy is when he wins the Shigeta Foundation Award for his work.
It means the most to him, of all his other honors and awards, because it is the most prestigious.
Another example of social judgments of worthiness is the practice of arranged marriages. A neutral party investigates both families to determine if they are on the same footing in terms of education, reputation, characters, and class.
Presumably, the investigator also looks into anything in their pasts that might cause the other family embarrassment by way of association.
When Noriko's first engagement falls through, the family gives the politest reason for backing out: they have determined that their son is not worthy of Noriko.
Judgments of worth extend to Ono's paintings and his identity as an artist.
These two are based on fluctuating social values. Before the war Ono's paintings, including propaganda, earn accolades.
He earns a reputation as a famous artist. Dr. Saito says it is an honor to have Ono as a neighbor.
All of these perceptions of his art change after the war. Now Ono's work is judged harmful, partially responsible for the downfall of the nation.
He packs his art away, former students repudiate him, and even his own family is ashamed of his work.
Intentions: Justification and Self-Delusion
Masuji Ono places a great deal of weight on his intentions as he reflects on his past.
Whatever guilt he might feel about having some role in Japan's defeat, he mitigates with the comforting thought that he meant well at the time.
He was acting, he insists, on what his convictions at the time compelled him to do, telling Mori-san that it is his conscience that compels him to move beyond painting beautiful paintings and Japanese nightlife and use his art for the good of his country.
Later, he assures himself that "there is ... no great shame in mistakes made in the best of faith."
In this way intentions become part of self-delusion. Note that no other characters bring up Ono's intentions as considerations when speaking of his past.
In fact, Setsuko says the reason he shouldn't feel guilty about his past is that his work wasn't really widely known anyway.
She suggests no one was influenced one way or the other by it.
The author shows a progression in Ono's use of intentions over the course of the novel.
In the first part of the novel he uses his intentions to justify what he did. He goes from using his intentions as a shield from blame to a badge of honor.
At the miai, the first meeting between Ono's daughter and her potential husband, Ono is almost self-congratulatory in declaring that he is not too proud to admit his mistakes, especially ones so well-meant.
Toward the end of the novel Ono believes his intentions actually make him superior to others.
He had aspirations, ones he had the courage and conviction to act upon, where others did not.
Although he failed, he believes he is still better than those who never tried.
The author contrasts Ono's use of intentions as a defense with the view of other characters.
Matsuda seems to concede that intentions matter, but he is also willing to admit that they don't change outcomes.
He tells Ono that although they had grand aspirations and used their work for their country, they were just ordinary men who failed.
A further contrast, Suichi doesn't put any weight in intentions.
Quite the contrary, he believes the intentions of those who sent young men to war make them guilty for the deaths of the soldiers.
He bitterly claims that the ones who should have paid the price for the inclinations to war are still walking around free.
Loyalty: Political and Personal
The author plays with the theme of loyalty through nationalism and a parallel microcosm of mentors and protégés.
Loyalty to country is the emotional motivation behind the propaganda Masuji Ono creates.
His famous poster claims, "Japan must move forward." He helped establish the Migi-Hidari as a meeting place for nationalists, enlisting the support of artists and journalists, all "producers of work unflinchingly loyal to his Imperial Majesty the Emperor," encouraging "a finer, more manly spirit ... in Japan."
Ono fancies himself such an authority on proper national loyalty that he takes a position as adviser to the Committee of Unpatriotic Activities.
His suspicions lead to Kuroda's arrest and branding as a traitor.
Even after the war, Ono insists that "those who fought and worked loyally for [their] country ... cannot be called war criminals" despite what the younger generation like Suichi might think.
Enchi, of the same mind as Suichi, claims accusingly that, "we all know who the real traitors were."
On a smaller scale loyalty to a sensei or art mentor is equally fraught with conviction and emotion.
When Ono asks the Tortoise to leave the Takeda firm with him, the Tortoise is shocked.
He never considered being so disloyal.
When Sasaki dares to paint in a style that departs from Mori-san's, the other artists kick him out and refer to him as the traitor.
Ono too is labeled a traitor when he follows his convictions and creates a painting about the boys he saw in the slum.
Shintaro takes one look at the painting and tells Ono unequivocally, "You are a traitor." Rather than be bound by loyalty to follow another without thinking,
Ono suggests loyalty must be earned.
He tells the Tortoise, "Master Takeda doesn't deserve the loyalty of the likes of you and me."
He scoffs at those who follow without thinking for themselves in the name of loyalty.
Ono's loyalties are split by the war.
He betrays his own student Kuroda in the paranoia of nationalism leading up to the war.
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