Final thoughts on coping with the naive..

            Having never ventured outside the familiar borders of the United States, I hardly consider myself a citizen of the floating world. However, this upcoming fall I am prepared to study abroad in London which will mark my first risk outside the secure perimeter of America. Analyzing a couple of characters from the collective society of the floating world it becomes apparent that these stories have something to offer to the tangible universe. Jasmine’s namesake character demonstrates an honorable approach to the challenges she faces in her unbalanced existence. Not only does she recognize the limited level of understanding offered by her comrades, but she respects them enough to repress her genuine reaction to assault their sheltered reality. Contrary to Jasmine’s composed perceptive attitude, the character Ono has less poise in response to his fluctuating environment. Taking from veteran voyagers of the floating world, I anticipate that I will exercise responsible behavior as I enter the floating world. 

            Jasmine is conscientious of her current surroundings and their relation to her past experiences. Recognizing that her comrades are less exposed to the world at large, Jasmine accepts their apparent flaws and close-minded attitudes. With the ability to distinguish the differing perceptions of her family in Elsa County with her own, our chameleon adapts her responses to her family’s remarks. Rather than letting her personal convictions fade or be dictated by others due to fatigue, Jasmine retains her ideals. Once Jasmine makes the comment, “For them, experience leads to knowledge, or else it is wasted. For me, experience must be forgotten, or else it will kill (Mukherjee 33).” Grasping desperately for any hint of culture, her new American family has no concept of how overwhelming a responsibility it can be to participate in the “floating world.” In order to cope, Jasmine resists the urge to reflect on past occurrences; however, she still is a product of those events and is therefore a representative of them.

            Censoring her responses to her naïve, American companions, Jasmine demonstrates her responsibility as a citizen of the floating world. Not fully comprehending the inferences and connotations of their comments, Jasmine’s new relations often make offensive utterances directed at the young Indian outsider and outsiders in general. Generalizing is the most offensive aspect of the language used; instead of directly insulting the individual, the community of Elsa County makes comments about the immigrant’s entire ancestry. One stranger commented, “You have nice hips… But she gave the “you” a generic sweep. You teeming millions with wide hips breeding like roaches on wide-hipped continents (Mukherjee 34).” Taking accountability for her own elevated consciousness, Jasmine reacts to this assault with remarkable restraint and grace. She offers the woman solace even in the face of her subtle attack on Jasmine and all foreign women in common. We should take with us this lesson of maturity and meticulous attention to diversity.

            Examining another author of “the floating world,” Kazuo Ishiguro’s main character, Ono, seems to have a rough transition in the drift from one cultural generation to another. Beginning his experience with a very certain and set state of understanding, Ono struggles to gain a hold on his changing environment as he matures physically. With his physical aging he must navigate through a profound mental growth and transformation. He initially resisted the social demand to conform and apologize for past actions. This reaction to blatant opposition is logical, yet has its consequences. Ono’s inability to adapt and meet the requirements of his present atmosphere of modern thought plagues his need for support. As part of the basic set of human needs, a general feeling of acceptance is essential to a fulfilling existence.

            Valuable guidance can be gained from The Artist of the Floating World’s narrator by learning from his difficult transition and exercising a more open, more adaptable reaction to change. Developing a strategy for revision of self is advantageous for piloting cross-cultural travel. This journey is one that every individual must endure, or rather benefit from, for everyone must grow old; moving from one generation to another is an involuntary version of belonging to multiple cultures. No two generations are the same; even the difference of a year can result in two entirely different concepts of awareness. So, we can learn from Ono’s experience that evolution of society is inevitable, even if someone were to live in the same small town in Middle-America for the duration of his/her life, they will still have moved through the medium of time. Ono is an irresponsible citizen; he seems to cling to his old ways rather than incorporating innovations of his children’s generation.

            Sensitivity to the different situatedness of those around us is not simply responsible, but essential to negotiating through the floating world. Observe and inquire about the other voyagers around you. Appreciating their experience will allow you to better recognize your own. Come to accept change, for it will never cease, and fighting it will only provoke the persecutor more. Unfastened, floating presence is the only way to travel without extreme opposition. Recognize, as I have begun to develop awareness, that we have an obligation, a duty to ourselves to and to others to coexist. It is not to our benefit that we forget our experiences or to dwell on them too intensely, but rather to take lessons from them and continue to drift, and sometimes propel, from beginning to end.