Essay/Term paper: Rasomon

Essay, term paper, research paper:  English Papers

RASHOMON

The Horror



A horror more terrible then fires - wars - epidemics - or bandits, this overwhelming

horror is the weak character of man, the distrust and selfishness feeding each characters

continual suspicion of his fellow man, always expecting the worst of them. The priest describes

this horrific human trait and the world it creates with but a few lines;



"It"s horrible. If men do not tell the truth, do not trust one another,

then the earth becomes hell indeed."



This lack of honesty toward man is shown throughout each characters stories, each unable to talk

about themselves without embellishing, and constantly creating lies to make them feel that they

are better people then they really are. It even shows this need for flattering falsehood going

beyond the grave, as the dead samurai Takehiro holds onto his lies in a vain effort to maintain

what little honor he has left.



The horror of the human nature eventually dominates every character, from the bandit, the

common man, as well as the wood cutter who believes in doing the right thing, who then in turn

steals from the scene of a bloody murder and then is abashed by his guilt feeling of the action he

has committed, and then finally the horror touches upon the priest, who insists on believing in

the better nature of man but is consumed by this horror and becomes aware of his own lack of

charity and suspicion toward others.





The Child



Although the introduction of a baby is unprepared for and does not emerge out of the plot

rather it seems to be a shabby way of adding a new plot twist to the picture in hopes of

concluding the entire story and leaving the ending on a positive note. The baby is meant to be as

a test of each of the characters attitude after hearing and witnessing the dreadful horror of mans

dishonesty and distrust. The baby would act as both an object that would show hope for man, by

bringing out the kindness in the woodcutter and giving renewed faith to the priest, as well as

showing the continuing chaotic disorder of the world, as seen with the commoner stealing the

child"s possessions for his own self interest.



If for not the introduction of the baby then we would have been left with an ending that left the

woodcutter lost in a guilty stupor, the priest would have remained with a feeling of lost faith

while the commoner would have remained the same selfish being regardless of what has

transpired before him.