Review: Botchan by Natsume Sōseki 

Botchan [1906/2012] – ★★★★

In this novel by Natsume Sōseki, one reckless and boisterous young man from Tokyo somehow manages to finish school and an institute and gets the position of a mathematics teacher in a small town on the island of Shikoku. The fun begins then and there because “Botchan” (this young man’s nickname) never actually stopped being his frivolous and naughty self and now, apparently, has to be a role model for others. Sōseki’s story is humorous and delightful. Through the first-person narrator, who is a cheeky, self-assured young man, we see the contrast between the small town and the city, Japan’s hierarchical structures clashing with attempts at modernisation, and daily formalities going head-to-head with hearts full of fire and childish honesty.

Botchan is an impulsive young man who is prone to reckless actions. He is the embodiment of the phrase: “a rolling stone gathers no moss”. Things happen to him and he is simply there for the ride. The brilliance of Sōseki is that he puts this carefree and easygoing boy into one of Japan’s most formal and hierarchical institutions – the middle school, and not just in any position, but in the position of a teacher who is supposed to have authority over others. Sōseki reaches the pinnacle of absurdity, and the situation is quite amusing.

Botchan first feels like an imposter, especially since, back home, the only person who really cares about him, his old maid Kiyo, also expects great things from him and believes he can become a man of distinction. Then, he starts lecturing at his new school, and immediately gives nicknames to other staff members: “The Principal is the Badger. The Assistant Principal is Redshirt. The English teacher is the Pale Squash, the other maths teacher is the Porcupine, and the art teacher is the Hanger-on” [Sōseki/Cohn, Kodansha, 1906/2007: 23]. These are all different men with radically different personalities, but beneath the veneer of respectability and order, there hides intrigues as one or maybe more of them tries to “ambush” others. Botchan is involuntarily drawn into this school drama, and he tries to find out which one of those men is his ally and which one is his foe. It is not an easy task because all of them display contradictory behaviours, showing their shifting intentions, especially when on the scene comes the so-called “Madonna”, the prettiest girl in town, who is adored by everyone. “This world is a very strange place” and “there was just no accounting for some of the people you find in this world” [Sōseki/Cohn, Kodansha, 1906/2007: 94], concludes Botchan.

The situation with his students is not much better, and Botchan becomes the centre of teasing and ridicule, for example, for…eating dumplings in a restaurant. Students track his every move, and then tease him for being seen in public places. Still, Botchan feels superior to any of them, saying at one point: “There may be nothing very classy about the way I talk or the way I look, but I think I can say that when it comes to heart the quality is there, which is a lot more than you could say for them” [Sōseki/Cohn, Kodansha, 1906/2007: 41].

In essence, the story is about the masks we wear in our daily life, and the roles we play. Botchan is our hero because, although highly opinionated and misbehaving, he is also free-thinking and would not sacrifice his own idiosyncratic personality and unique identity to please others or even to fit in. Botchan is pure-hearted and honest, always speaking his mind, even when circumstances at his school try to change him and mould him into a sneaky type. He is set to expose the hypocrisy and pretentiousness of others, and the only attachment he truly feels is for simple Kiyo, his maid in Tokyo, who loves him unconditionally and who has always believed in him.

Translated from the Japanese by J. Cohn, this novel is a light read and there is hardly anything deep in it, but it still uncovers the Japan of Natsume Sōseki and does so effortlessly and amusingly. It is no wonder that the book became one of Japan’s most beloved literary creations. There is something very endearing about it, especially when, like the later manga series Sazae-san, the story laughs at its own country’s apparent upstandingness and seriousness.

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