family ( Heart of a Samurai)

A family in “Heart of a Samurai”
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A family in “Heart of a Samurai”
In the novel “Heart of a Samurai”, a family is what you take and make of it. Mostly families are determined by blood and cultures to become part of to us with an obligation to observe them strictly. Manjiro finds himself in different hands of people after their boat sinks and they are saved by Captain Whitney’s boat. Family traits and their significance are portrayed from the two families in the novel that is the other family Manjiro meets in America and the one family in Japan. For Manjiro to learn new things that ultimately enables him to accomplish his quest of becoming Samurai our focus is to delve into the two families. Family significance and attributes to Manjiro’s life is discussed to authenticate; family economic provisions, culture and the nature of the two families he existed in the novel.
Every family has to satisfy their economic needs in an economic provision set up. From the novel the heart of a samurai, we encounter Manjiro just a fourteen-year-old boy goes out in the sea to ensure that his family gets their economic provision. Usually, in a common set up of a family, a childlike Manjiro shouldn’t risk their lives searching for the family but should wait to be provided for (Preus, 2010). Captain Whitley is serving the role of a parent and that’s why he goes out in the sea with others and leaves his wife and child at home. It’s because of this life that Manjiro was subjected to, that drives him into a predicament when their boat sinks and ultimately find themselves on the bird island.

Each family has distinctive traditions, morals, norms, customs, and culture. Manjiro and fellow fishermen even after being rescued they don’t feel to be at ease interacting and seeing the Americans on the ship (Preus, 2010). The Japanese consider their culture and social structure to be the one that is right and every human in the world should adopt the belief which had technically influenced the fishermen from Japan. Blatantly the Japan culture should be disallowed if in any case, wrong cultures are to be, most young boys could not achieve their dreams because they existed among the low class in the society.
The Japan social set up, customs and culture were not subjects of equality like it was observed in America during Manjiro’s time and stay (Preus, 2010). Furthermore, they were kind of a way uncivilized socially; even after they were saved with Captain Whitley’s ship, Goeman still call them Barbarians whom they perceived to be a people of evil and no good.
In nature, a family is permanent and temporary in the context of a family as an institution and an association. Family as an association is temporary, clearly, from the novel, Manjiro meets Captain’s family who was lovely and caring even more than his family back in Japan (Writt, 2010). Manjiro is adopted by the family in America and stays for a long time as one of them being amalgamated by their culture.
Flexibility in culture and customs enables Manjiro to learn a foreign language which ultimately assists him to exist with the Americas as one. He is educated and travels to several parts of the world of which he could not have witnessed if he was in Japan (Preus, 2010). Captain’s family in America is educative and shows more moral support to Manjiro than his family in Japan. From the heart of Sumeria, family as an institution is permanent since even after traveling across the world to America to stay with a different family, Manjiro ultimately returns to his family in Japan where he had originally aspired to be a Sumerian.
In conclusion, family as a societal setup and its significance is described in the novel of the Heart of a Sumeria to be a source of economic provision, a formative influence and to be permanent but sometimes temporary as observed in the story of Manjiro. Therefore a family should not always shun its obligation to responsibilities and should always support a child in the early stages as this lays a foundation to achieve their quests in life.
 
 

Reference
Preus, Margi (2010). “Heart of a Samurai”: Based on the True Story of Nakahama Manjiro. School Library Journal, 56(9), 162.
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