Bette's Dream
...alented that she was recognized by Mr. Kudora and the Mainichi Shimbun for her work. Ume Hanazono’s dedication and talent won her a first place prize! Instead of congratulating and being supportive of his wife, jealousy rears its ugly head again. Mr. Hayashi embarrassed and belittled his wife in front of Mr. Kudora. He thinks Mr. Kudora has a lot of audacity to enter into his home and show his wife such gratitude and fill her head with more nonsense. It had to stop, and his jealousy boiled over the top, like a pot of hot water on the stove. He reacted the only way he knew how. In an “act of cremation [that was] irrevocable” (318) Mr. Hayashi then axed, kerosened, and burned her first prize picture. After, he returns to his work as if nothing happened. Not concerned by his wife’s feelings, he is somehow relieved by this act. He expects this will end his wife’s wasteful venture with haikus. He has finally expressed and communicated his feelings by the ‘wreckage’ he created. Still, Mrs. Hayashi feels obligated to stand by the man who agreed to marry her and took her away from the family that despised her for becoming pregnant out of wed lock. She was grateful for the “man of simple mind”(319), and as long as she stayed simple as well, she believed the marriage will succeed. Furthermore, in Japanese culture it is customary never to divorce. Could the real etiology of his jealousy toward his wife ste...