The Sheridan Baker Thesis Machine and Kenzaburo Oe's A Personal Matter

Name:

Course:

Lecturer:

Date:

The Sheridan Baker Thesis Machine and Kenzaburo Oe’s A Personal Matter

A Personal Matter is a story written by Kenzaburo who narrates the tale of a Japanese man named Bird. In the narrative, Bird believes that his dreams were shuttered at the point when his wife gives birth to a baby with a brain condition. Bird attempts to avoid responsibility as a father and abandons his family, replacing the relationship with an affair involving an old girlfriend. In addition, he forms a heavy drinking habit as a mechanism towards forgetting his problems. Bird is later located in a bookstore buying some African maps for traveling purposes, with his dream destination being Africa. As he looks for a place to call his wife’s mother for updates regarding the birth of his child, Bird reminisces how the new responsibility of being a father will destroy the travelling dream. Although Bird seems to have a sympathetic personality, he is actually very selfish as evidenced by his entrapment in his solitude, fears, despair and immaturity.

Bird’s character initially evidences selfishness when he decides to leave his family only to have a sexual affair with another woman. During this affair period, Bird’s wife experiences a difficult pregnancy and consequently gives birth to a child with an external brain lump. As a result, the baby’s head is actually bigger than the normal size and is wrapped in a bloody bandage after the operation. Egotism is quite prevalent with Bird acting insensitive towards his spouse by not offering the emotional support she needs. In addition, as his wife recovers from their home, Bird leaves and heads to a bookshop in order to purchase African maps. Bird’s selfish trait is also illustrated when he has difficulty deciding his child’s fate. After his wife’s survival in terms of the pregnancy and successful delivery, the doctor is excited to offer the news; this is received in a negative manner. Following this, Bird opts to retract any support to his wife with the view that the baby would naturally die so that he would be freed from the heavy responsibility.

Another indication is noted when the first surgeon delivers the baby; he informs the parents that the infant is in a critical condition and has a minute chance of surviving. The surgeon therefore suggests that it would be better for everyone if the baby were killed by starving it to death. Bird agrees hastily due to the relief he feels, an indication of cowardice because he opts for the easier approach. However, the second surgeon is more compassionate because he questions Bird about the decision and takes him through the consequences that the child has to undergo. The second surgeon coerces Bird into rethinking his decision and feelings of guilt start to torment him. This pushes him towards getting another escape route for the resulting situation. The story also depicts Bird character as an isolated person. Bird feels that he is unknown in the society and will only understand himself in a solitary location. This is the reason why Bird wishes to leave his urban life in order to find and understand the true meaning and reality of life by traveling to Africa. Isolation is evidenced when Bird wants to set himself apart from other individuals by taking a different aspect on all his responsibilities. This shows Bird’s selfishness as he focuses on his needs considering that his wife and child are facing critical challenges as contrasted with his.

Bird’s is an immature individual as noted by his cowardice. With his wife was going through the difficult experience, apart from having an affair, Bird indulges back to his habit of heavy drinking. Instead of supporting his wife by being present in the hospital, he only visits when drunk. In actuality, Bird resorts to alcoholism and lust whenever he is confronted with any situation involving his wife, the pregnancy or the child. From his decisions, Bird opts for escapism by avoiding problems instead of handling them; drinking and sex offer escapism routes that help him avoid thinking about the identified issues. In addition, Bird also creates abstract situations with his mind like imagining his baby’s death while at the same time thinking about divorcing his wife, paving a chance for him and his mistress to Africa. Bird acts as a coward and an immature person by opting to offer intangible solutions that only appear prudent and realistic in his abstract world.

The author also reveals Bird with a cold-hearted character. This is indicated in the scene where Bird’s wife has given birth. Bird converses with his mistress, Himiko who suggests that they take his child away from the mother and have him killed by a medical professional through abortion. Bird easily gives in to support her idea because of his desperation in avoiding his responsibility. In addition, Himiko wants to be the one involved in murdering the baby in order to get an opportunity to join Bird as he travels to Africa. However, Bird rejects the decision after being tormented by feelings of guilt and so he goes back to save his child. Although, this realization does not act as a source of redemption because Bird is only trying to protect his image so that it may not appear that he is running away from his duties, it is far better than the preceding decision. Bird’s lack of consciousness is evident because earlier when he decides to propose abortion, he does not think about the innocent life that he wants to take away but only how he would be freed from the responsibility. In addition, Bird’s heartlessness is revealed after the baby’s birth when he shows no empathy for his son.

His child’s survival is unexpected since the doctors do not think the baby stands any living chance. Bird is persistent in instructing the doctors to decrease the amount of nourishment when feeding the baby. This shows that Bird is not concerned about his child’s life like a normal parent would because instead of wanting the best for his child, he only opts for what is best for him. However, the baby survives the malnourishment and the death danger. Bird’s thoughts reflect the despair he has in his life. In Bird’s imagination of escaping to Africa with his mistress, he pictures how better his life would be when spending time with her as compared to his wife. He imagines being intimate with her and complains that his wife does not make him happy as his mistress does. Lust is evident because instead of focusing on important issues involving supporting his wife during the challenging experience that he has also contributed to as the father, he only thinks of how life would be better by fulfilling his explicit sexual desires.

Bird also depicts the trait of immaturity in the story. His actions have mental comparisons with a young teenager. For example, during the wife’s pregnancy, he trembles with disgust after looking at himself through a window reflection. In addition, the story describes how he goes to a punching machine and his weak punches are display his sense of weakness. Bird perceives his marriage and his fatherhood responsibility as a barrier that prevents him from living his life as he pleases. With his age reflecting him as capable of such responsibilities, Bird still avoids them. The nature of aggressiveness Bird exhibits is quite childish and only accords more trouble. In the scene where Bird walks in the streets and is harassed by bullies, in response he beats them up furiously and continuously beats the person in charge with a butt. He feels proud of himself for winning the battle. Immaturity is evidenced by the fact that instead of being concerned about the harm he might have inflicted on the bullies, he only thinks of how he has overcome the battle. In the incident when he is thinking about his child, Bird describes how he has troubled sleep because of being tormented by the fear of death. In addition, he explains how he feels nauseated at the thought of death.

Bird fears and immaturity leads to a dishonest character. This is reflected when he saves his child from being aborted by the mistress. Bird explains that he does not want to look like he is avoiding responsibilities, which is an insincere position with his actions displaying a lack of interest in his duties as a father and a husband. In fact, he is only pretending to be interested in order to please other people by displaying a good image of himself. Another example shows him agreeing blindly to Himiko’s idea of killing his baby even if when he is unsure of facing adverse consequences. This shows that he is focusing on pleasing his mistress instead of being reasonable with the situation. If he were genuine, he would ensure that his mistress is not involved in matters concerning his child.

Bird also possesses a remorseful character at the final chapter of the story. He finally realizes his mistakes and decides to take responsibility by correcting them. Bird overcomes his inhumane personality and is reconciled with his wife and child. Bird’s wife decides to forgive him and therefore start a new happy chapter in the family. However, the act of abandoning her mistress as he has abandoned his wife displays a characteristic of desperation. This is because he is not willing to spare his mistress the misery he caused his wife. The story shows how at one point he reacts as he leaves the girlfriend’s room. He is filled with feelings of embarrassment, desperation and fury that take control of him to the extent that he looses interest in Himiko.

From Kenzaburo’s story, different traits have been clearly demonstrated to illustrate Bird’s choice of action towards his responsibilities as a fearful, immature and egotistic individual. Bird’s accountability is not significant because he is trapped by his selfish ambitions. He tries to escape his duties when his wife is pregnant by having an affair and drinking heavily. However, the story ends with Bird’s sudden change of character when he decides to own up to his responsibilities as a father and husband. I believe Bird’s unexpected change at the end is a bit rash because it is not consistent with his selfish character, which has been displayed majorly in a major part of the story. However, the author values the readers because he ensures that the narrative is not predictable and captivating to the audience.