Essay Database

Corruption of Culture In Yukio Mishima's "Swaddling Clothes" we see a great deal of symbolism portraying the corruption of the Japanese culture. The times are changing and with that change, culture is adapting to it. Some of the Japanese feel threatened and that the changes that are being made are corrupting their moral values. The story is told through Toshiko, a lonely and seemingly oppressed wife and mother. She shows how this corruption is leading …

…the modern westernized changes that are taking place. Through the moral changes, the violence of the western culture, and the pollution we have seen that Toshiko believes that her society is corrupt. There are many symbols showing these changes; through the baby, Toshiko's husband, and through the homeless. She continually contemplates the loss of their moral values and is saddened. Ultimately this story is trying to depict the corruption of Japanese culture by western modernization.