Chapter 61 Section five

In fact, Ju Chi's father did not abandon the family.However, it is said that he had an uncle who ran away from home.Of course, we cannot easily conclude that the "father" is the uncle because of this. Nagai Tatsuo said: "There are some places about Kikuchi-kwan that make people feel that he doesn't seem to have much affection for his father." The statement is very roundabout and subtle.If we look at the account of the father at the beginning of "Semi-Autobiography", what will it be like? "I remember my father would say 'I've never seen a child who looks older and weirder than you', which made me very unhappy."

"I used to write something like a diary or practice composition." "After being discovered by my father, I actually used it as a backing paper for home calligraphy and painting letters." "My father was too lazy to buy textbooks for me, so he ordered me to copy the contents by hand." "I cried and begged my father to let me go on a teaching trip, and my father fell asleep impatiently. Even though he was asleep, I kept pleading, and finally my father suddenly sat up from the bed and said, 'Don't just hate me If you want to hate, you hate your brother! All the public debts of the family are spent on your brother!' and so on."

"I never knew what fatherly love is." "My father, who lost face, was furious. He caught me standing in the entrance and beat me badly." "When I came home, my father beat me with a pipe again. 'You dare to steal something! Brat! You How dare you steal from me!'” "I remember when I was in the second grade of middle school, my father ordered me to apply for a normal school. I refused, and I had a dispute with my father, and my father pushed me out of the veranda into the courtyard." That's enough. In this way, regardless of running away from home, does "father" really allude to the father himself who has never given him family warmth?

But here, if you reread "Qi Shi" carefully, you can see the shadow of another character.The uncle who ran away from home was regarded as dead in Kikuchi's house, and his photo was placed on the Buddhist altar. "It's a photo that has faded to tea-brown. The long-haired face is exactly the same as my second brother." And, "I wrote about my second brother in the novel "Flesh Kiss". If my second brother is bolder, maybe he will Like this uncle, he ended up running away from home." What a curious character. "Semi-Autobiography" also mentioned this second brother.The elder brother who was expelled from middle school for repeating grades repeatedly said to the younger brother who was promoted: "The first grade may be a mess, but will the second grade allow you to be so smooth?"

I feel a chill in my heart.So, how did Kikuchi write the short story "Flesh Parents"? "I'm a person who doesn't feel much affection from close relatives." In the works that begin with this sentence, it is described that the second brother has never had a formal job and has a timid personality.Kikuchi even directly wrote that he hates his second brother.In the eighth year of Taisho, Juchi received a telegram that his elder brother was critically ill. "Thinking of him being stuck in the poor elder brother's house all day long with nothing to do," "I think he died at the right time." He just sent the money back.

When he received the news of his death, Kikuchi "was playing a no trump poker game with visiting young friends. After glancing at the telegram, he continued to indulge in the game as if nothing had happened." Ju Chi said that this brother who loves to cause trouble (no, maybe because he is a troublemaker) is the most favored by his mother among all the brothers. The elder brother mentioned by the father who had run out of public debt did not seem to be this person.Probably the eldest brother who "was a little wandering when he was young" in "Flesh Relatives".Juchi doesn't seem to have any brotherhood for this elder brother.

Regarding his specific memories of his elder brother, the story mentioned in "Semi-Autobiography" is as follows.Kikuchi was recommended to study at a tuition-free higher normal school, but was expelled from the school because of his bad attitude.Although the father and elder brother "didn't say much, but for two or three days in a row, when the eldest brother and the second brother were playing shogi, if I pointed at the elder brother, he would angrily say, 'I was interrupted by you, I I can’t even play chess anymore’, and hit my hand hard.” Juchi never forgot about this.

It's really bleak to read, but Kikuchi said that "the relationship is not bad." "If you say that the relationship is close, it will be inexplicably ashamed or embarrassing, so unconsciously, it will gradually become estranged." But anyway, it's not just the father's problem.At the same time, it's not just a matter of father and brother.I thought of his mother who "loved me very much" in his mouth, and wondered if Kikuchi would mention it elsewhere.Fortunately, Japan has a tradition of private fiction.I search the catalog of short story collections.Rehabilitation Society's editions are divided into modern novels and historical novels.The former has about 80 articles in total, and I try to find works with related titles among them.

There is a short story called "Unfilial".Kikuchi said in the article, "For parents, I don't think there is anyone who is more ruthless than me." The "parents" here also include mothers.Knowing that his mother was critically ill, and even received news of his death, Ju Chi only sent money back, but did not return home. In this way, for Kikuchi, the one who ran away from home was actually "the whole family itself", right? Thinking about it this way, Kikuchi seems to have become one with the tearful Kenichiro.