Pivotal Moment Essay

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The Pivotal Moment
Although heartbreak is ultimately unavoidable in life, suffering can be eluded. For suffering is choosing to not allow the heart to mend. Natsume Soseki’s Japanese novel, Kokoro, translates as the human heart.Soseki’s narrator, a university student in Tokyo, seeks wisdom from an elder who he calls Sensei. Sensei, an aged and philosophical misanthrope, promises to opens his heart to the narrator before taking his own life. Through a letter, Sensei reveals his past experiences and his time as a university student with his friend K. Sensei is haunted by his guilty conscience,after a series of imprudent actions leads to his friend committing suicide. In this passage taken from Sensei’s testament, Sensei awakes in the middle of the night to discover K’s lifeless corpse. This passage suggests the trauma of this night is a life altering experience for Sensei . Soseki …show more content…
As Sensei, anticipates the dawn of a new day, he recounts, “Sometimes, I almost believed that night had fallen forever”(231). In addition to building suspense, this statement is applicable to Sensei’s life. This never ending night foreshadows the moral darkness that continues to surrounds Sensei after K’s death. Throughout his life, Sensei has not been able to escape this darkness or achieve a fresh start. Which leaves death as Sensei’s only chance for escape. Furthermore, upon seeing his lifeless friend’s corpse sprawled across the floor, Sensei accounts,“What truly frightened me was my own destiny; it seemed to have been irrevocably shaped by this friend of mine, who now lay cold and lifeless”(231). Sensei and K’s fates are interwoven. This bond which existed while they were alive, is not broken after K’s death. Sensei remains shackled to his memories of his departed friend. This foreshadows, Sensei committing suicide, and reuniting with K once

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