An Analysis of Testimonials from Ryunosuke Akutagawa's "In A Bamboo Grove"

An analysis of

In a bamboo grove

Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s

University of the Philippines Diliman

An Analysis of Testimonials in Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s “In A Bamboo Grove”

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the course English 11: Literature and Society under Professor Kristine Reynaldo

Quezon City, Philippines

March 2014

AbstractThis paper intends to help readers analyze the testimonials from the characters of Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s “In A Bamboo Grove”. Since the story gives only each character’s account of the matter, it proves difficult to have an accurate and unanimous interpretation of the story when characters provide conflicting testimonies. Under this paper, each testimony is analyzed and compared to each other to see how well their statements hold up against and with each other.

IntroductionRyunosuke Akutagawa’s In a [Bamboo] Grove is not your typical noir case. At first, the author makes the reader look at the fine details of the scenes, in doing so misleads the reader into a “try-hard mode” at deciphering the given “clues” as to whom the killer is; this is all but a mental trap. One might at first believe the clues to be the truths leading to the culprit, but towards the end, we find out that how dismal the shards of “truth” really are.

the plotThe story goes directly with a variety of characters retelling their affidavits on a certain event which happens to be related with a dead young man found within a thicket of bamboo and cedar. The characters namely, the woodcutter, the priest, a police officer, an old woman, a thief, and a spiritual medium; one might also include the penitential confession of a young woman as a testimony since her story was related with the rest. The magistrate listens to each with the goal of learning the truth of the incident.The testimonies vary slightly in detail, save for the ones who are presumably directly related and/or first hand witnesses. The thief, the young woman, and the victim’s spirit all have greatly varied versions of what entails the event proper.

the woodcuttertestimony

‘s

The lumberjack tells us in his statement that he discovered a man soaked in blood that has dried on his clothes and where he lays. The woodcutter also notices that the dead man donned a blue silk kimono and Kyoto style hairdo. Moreover, he assumes the presence of a struggle that happened due to the fallen bamboo blades. Lastly, he mentions there was only a piece of rope and a comb on the grove the crime took place in; no horse, no blade.

the priesttestimony

‘s

The priest claimed he came across a couple riding a horse on the Yamishina Road around noon a day before he testified. Albeit he said nothing about the incident, spoke with much detail. He could give an estimate on the number of arrows in the man’s quiver; he noticed the robes, the veil on her face, and the woman’s height.

the policemantestimony

‘s

The policeman finds an alleged marauder with the name of Tajomaru thrown of his horse and wailing on his back on a stone bridge. The officer claimed to have noticed Tajomaru wearing a light blue silk kimono as well as having a sword, a bow, and a quiver of arrows. In an earlier date, Tajomaru was claimed to have been arrested by this guy, but the former escaped his clutches.

the old womantestimony

‘s

The next testimony was from an old woman who claimed to be the mother of a girl that the victim was with. She claimed these two were married, claimed that the victim was a samurai, gave them both names, and said they were on their way to a town called Wakasa. She even knows the name of the robber who is only suspected to have been the culprit.

tajomarutestimony

‘sTajomaru claimed to have been with the couple a little past noon. He states that indeed, the woman was veiled; that he had a sword and the guy had one as well along with a quiver of arrows that Tajomaru now seemed to have stolen. He claims that he baited the couple in a secluded grove with promises of early valuables. In the tale of this robber, he binds the man, defiles the woman (who even attempted to fight back with a dagger hidden underneath her clothes), and when he was about to leave them the woman asks him to kill one of the men present who had seen her shame. He chose to kill the man out of desire to have the woman for his own. He unties the man, they do battle, then he kills the man. He then noticed that the woman has fled the premises so he just takes the man’s sword, bow and quivers, and horse and leaves. He states he removed the sword from his possession within the day before he was arrested.

the murdered mantestimony

‘s

The medium (who presumably speaks for the victim) starts off with the rape of the wife. He tells us that he was bound and the robber asks the woman to be his, which the wife accepts. The robber then knocks the wife down then asks the tied samurai whether or not he should kill the woman. The woman flees the scene while the two were conversing, and after which the robber cuts the samurai’s bonds and flees as well. The medium states the samurai kills himself with a small dagger left behind. After he stabbed himself, a shadowy figure appears and pulls the dagger from his body, letting the blood flow.

(as told from a medium)

The Confession of a Woman Who Has Come to the Shimizu Temple

In her confession, a woman tells the story of how she was raped by a stranger with a blue silk kimono. After regaining consciousness, with the robber gone she talks to her husband and noticed a look and aura of scorn and contempt towards her. As a result of her shame, she was determined to kill herself and her husband. The man accepts death and was stabbed. The wife fails to kill herself in several attempts after.

comparing the testimoniesthe priest, the policeman, the old woman, the woodcutter

Description of TajomaruTajomaru was wearing a blue kimono and armed with a long plain sword, a quiver of 17 hawk-feathered arrows in a black lacquered quiver, and a bow with leather strips.

Description of masagoMasago was veiled, wearing a lilac-colored kimono, and 4’5” in height.

Description of the crime sceneCorpse with a single-stroke wound wearing a blue silk kimono

The verdict

As said, this story is not about deciphering the clues and testimonies; this is not about asking the people in the story what they know and what tell you to believe, but by asking yourself what you could believe and why.

If the victim was impaled with a sword, was there a hole on his back to confirm?

Has there even been an investigation in the alleged scene of the crime?

Did no one bother to use experts in investigating? Wasn’t there a psychologist to comprehend the behavioral patterns of the witnesses whilst they were attesting?

Has anyone actually seen the corpse of the man?

Who even thought it was a good idea to bring a spiritual medium in a case such as this?

Did anyone really bother with background checks to verify the identities of these people?

And most importantly, what is up with the goddamn comb?

If this were to be put in trial, it would not be a trial about facts, but of possibilities. Facts leave no room for reasonable doubt; it’s in its nature. But we are not dealing with facts here; we are dealing with the second hand statements of humans prone to a lot of pressure trying to recall from memory. We are dealing with possibilities.

Is it possible that the woodcutter did not really see a comb? Is it possible that he was an accomplice? Probably the priest too?

The verdict

Is it possible that none of the witnesses actually saw the corpse and were just assuming the identity of the victim?

Is it possible that the two men (robber & victim’s spirit) were lying in order to protect the woman from punishment?

Is it possible that the old woman was not really the mother or even barely related to the victims? Could she have just probably heard rumors?

Is it possible that the so-called medium was just a lunatic? Can he really speak for those in the nether regions? What if he too was an accomplice?

Is it possible that the old woman was really the wife in the story?

Is it possible that the priest who heard the confession of the woman in the temple was the same who claimed to be a witness? It is possible that he was lying about the time he saw them?

Is it possible that the man did not really die in the grove but was just left there to avoid detection?

Is it possible that due to shock and the spur of the moment, the wife became insane and just imagined her husband giving her consent?

We don’t know. The author did not want us to know. That was not his intention. These are not facts. The only fact here that we can be sure of is 1) that a man has died and 2) due to the dissimilarities and contradictions in the attestations, some if not all witnesses are lying.

(continued)