In the painter's eloquent gift, Hass has actually captured the complexity of the relationship between sexuality and illness, especially when body image is so drastically affected by mastectomy. The image of petals and bees is an ambiguous one, requiring in-depth analysis. The composer's selfish reaction to the woman's body can be reflected in the ominous mass of dead bees only thinly concealed by his superficial sexual attraction.
I found the story to be a warning: the deceptive appearance of health can temporarily cover the horror of what can go on with the body. Although, at the first glance, the Japanese woman appears healthy and attractive, the man's view of her deteriorates dramatically as he learns about her mastectomy, which leads me to believe that internal elements are far more important in the body.
I never really tried to find the meaning of the petals on top of the dead bees that the woman left for him, but now I'm thinking it stands for a sexual relationship that never happened between them. Bees can't pollinate dead flowers (or he can't be attracted to her because she is missing her breasts) is, maybe, what she was trying to tell him? Plus, since she's an artist, she could be trying to tell him that she sublimates her sexual energy by making things, and that sex with him would have been a waste of time? I'm probably reading way too far into this...
ReplyDeleteAn interesting thought, Reemi. Bees can't pollinate dead flowers. But, then dead bees can't pollinate anything. I also found it interesting that the Japanese woman swept the dead bees from the corners of her studio, like garbage. So, perhaps the symbolism of the bowl of dead bees covered by rose petals is her opinion of the composer. While he appears young and beautiful on the outside (rose petals), he is just impotent garbage on the inside (dead bees). Now, of course, if it had been me, I wouldn't have been so cryptic in communicating my opinion of our young antagonist. And, being from New Jersey, I wouldn't have waited until the next morning to share my low opinion of him :) But, then again, a verbal lashing wouldn't be as memorable as the "gift," sort of like the horse's head from the Godfather...Having written this, now I am a little creeped out by the Japanese woman!
ReplyDeleteMarcus and Reemi and Ruby -- good conversation! What techniques do you see Hass using? How does he communicate to us? What can we learn from him?
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