About the Author: Arthur Golden
A member of the Ochs-Sulzberger family (owners of the New York Times), Golden was educated at the Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He attended Harvard College and received a degree in art history, specializing in Japanese art. In 1980, he earned an M.A. in Japanese history at Columbia University, and also learned Mandarin Chinese. After a summer at Beijing University, he worked in Tokyo. When he returned to the United States, he earned an M.A. in English at Boston University. He currently lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Author's Style
In the novel Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden uses first
person writing style from the perspective of the protagonist Sayru. The setting
of the novel is in Gion, Japan, pre WWII. Throughout the novel, the voice of
Sayru was very convincing and realistic. Golden accomplishes the voice of a
feminist character and also includes much factual information. Throughout the
novel, Golden includes realistic and accurate information about Japan and the
important accepts of being a Geisha. Previously Golden successfully claimed
that it was written by an actual Geisha, however the book is fiction.
Although is out of the ordinary for a man to write from the perspective of a woman, Arthur Golden was inspired. In collage, Golden studied Japanese language and culture and later went to work in Tokyo. There, he met a young man whose father was a famous businessman and whose mother was a geisha. Intrigued and fascinated by this subject, Golden returned to the US and started working on his novel, Memoirs of a Geisha.
Golden uses tone and voice to enhance the story. In the beginning of novel, when Chiyo and her sister are sold and torn apart, the mood is very dismal and dark, and it is always raining in this section. Throughout the novel, this very tone is used to reflect suffering and sadness, for example the section where Chiyo searches for her sister in the prostitute district, when Chiyo is beaten in the courtyard and when mother forbids Hatsumomo to see her boyfriend ever again. Also, the tone changes as Chiyo grows. When Chiyo is a child, the tone is of childish fear and confusion. However, as the novel evolves and Chiyo grows older, the tone becomes more knowing and detached in style. When Chiyo meets the chairman as a grown woman, the narrator’s voice becomes more hopeful and cheerful. I think that the narrator successfully uses a detached tone in the beginning of the novel to separate Chiyo’s inter feelings from her outer appearance and action; she does this not only to accept the actions she must take but also as a way to still have hope.
Golden also uses beautiful diction in Memoirs of a Geisha. Not only does Arthur Golden use exquisite diction, but he also includes realistic Japanese words. Golden brings the novel to life and puts the reader in the story and around the actual culture of the time period.
Through imagery, Golden conveys many themes. For example, the imagery of nature is used to symbolize the changing of seasons and the changes occurring in Chiyo’s life. “We all know that a winter scene, though it may be covered over one day, with even the trees dressed in shawls of snow, will be unrecognizable the following spring” (Golden 161). As Sayuri’s life changes and progresses, so do the seasons; symbolizing the theme of change. At the end of the novel, even her name changes; from Sakamoto Chiyo to Nitta Sayuri, although a beautiful Geisha she becomes almost a different person. Through imagery, Golden displays the outer and inner change Chiyo must go through to survive and become a Geisha.
Although is out of the ordinary for a man to write from the perspective of a woman, Arthur Golden was inspired. In collage, Golden studied Japanese language and culture and later went to work in Tokyo. There, he met a young man whose father was a famous businessman and whose mother was a geisha. Intrigued and fascinated by this subject, Golden returned to the US and started working on his novel, Memoirs of a Geisha.
Golden uses tone and voice to enhance the story. In the beginning of novel, when Chiyo and her sister are sold and torn apart, the mood is very dismal and dark, and it is always raining in this section. Throughout the novel, this very tone is used to reflect suffering and sadness, for example the section where Chiyo searches for her sister in the prostitute district, when Chiyo is beaten in the courtyard and when mother forbids Hatsumomo to see her boyfriend ever again. Also, the tone changes as Chiyo grows. When Chiyo is a child, the tone is of childish fear and confusion. However, as the novel evolves and Chiyo grows older, the tone becomes more knowing and detached in style. When Chiyo meets the chairman as a grown woman, the narrator’s voice becomes more hopeful and cheerful. I think that the narrator successfully uses a detached tone in the beginning of the novel to separate Chiyo’s inter feelings from her outer appearance and action; she does this not only to accept the actions she must take but also as a way to still have hope.
Golden also uses beautiful diction in Memoirs of a Geisha. Not only does Arthur Golden use exquisite diction, but he also includes realistic Japanese words. Golden brings the novel to life and puts the reader in the story and around the actual culture of the time period.
Through imagery, Golden conveys many themes. For example, the imagery of nature is used to symbolize the changing of seasons and the changes occurring in Chiyo’s life. “We all know that a winter scene, though it may be covered over one day, with even the trees dressed in shawls of snow, will be unrecognizable the following spring” (Golden 161). As Sayuri’s life changes and progresses, so do the seasons; symbolizing the theme of change. At the end of the novel, even her name changes; from Sakamoto Chiyo to Nitta Sayuri, although a beautiful Geisha she becomes almost a different person. Through imagery, Golden displays the outer and inner change Chiyo must go through to survive and become a Geisha.