Year: 2011
Author: SHIGEMATSU Kiyoshi
"The Charm" is a short story by SHIGEMATSU Kiyoshi. It tells the story of a woman from Tokyo who feels the need to help the victims of 3.11. As a child, she only spent a brief period of time in a costal town near Fukushima. Nonetheless, she desires to sympathize with the people who were affected. She spends a long time thinking about whether or not she should go instead of just sending some supplies, but finally settles on driving north. While there, she views the devastation but cannot bring herself to help the people she encounters. She comes to terms with her emotions after learning that a charm she came up with as a child persisted at the school. However, she neglects to meet with one of her old classmates, which is what she set out to do in the first place.
Topics for Discussion
self-enclosed narrator
victims' desire for emotional connection
boundaries between people
External Links
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