How Yasunari Kawabata's "The Grasshopper And The Bell Cricket" achieves so much more than you might expect, given its brevity?" Yasunari Kawabata's The Grasshopper And The Bell Cricket offers an initially modest but extremely compelling account of a magical insect hunt on a Japanese embankment. Kawabata's use of narration, symbols, serene imagery, and vivid language all work together harmoniously, giving the story a deeper meaning in contrast to what the reader might initially have expected from the events. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The rapid contrast and immersion in the movement and color of the magical scene on the embankment, introduced in the second paragraph of the story, confronts the reader with a remarkable and unexpected "play of light" (Kawabata 221) that marks a intense departure from the lonely and arguably uninteresting opening paragraph of the story. This dull aspect of the first paragraph can be characterized by its gloomy initial setting with its "tile-roofed wall" (219) as well as the "dusty clump of bushes" (219), where the narrator is solitary, walking at a slow pace with only the singing of insects to accompany it. Then, later in the paragraph, there is a noticeable shift in the feeling of the story where a sense of momentum builds, drawing the reader's curiosity towards what the narrator saw on the levee. It is clear that the narrator's haste, shown by his statement "I hurried forward in short steps" (219), exemplifies this momentum as his amazement at the scene, his eyes shining at the sight, fixes it here. At this juncture Kawabata introduces the reader to what he would not have expected after reading the first lines of the story, namely the sharply contrasting movement and color of the events introduced in paragraph two. The "swinging cluster of beautiful multicolored lanterns" (219), the children playing and the diction focused on color and movement, highlighted by the observation of an "insect hunt" (219) and the numerous colors present, further exemplify what skillfully achieved and unexpected contrast. Therefore the effect of this use of contrast quickly captures the reader, demonstrating that there is much more character and aesthetic beauty to the story than one might initially expect and all in the short space of a paragraph and a half. It's clear that at this point in the story the narrator has articulated something surprisingly visual. In the third paragraph the narrator introduces an aspect of the scene, focusing particularly on the children, that gives their actions a deeper meaning than might have been supposed, when the reader first meets them, as simple innocence and playfulness of childhood. It is clear that the image of the children on the embankment shown in paragraph two, while exceeding the reader's initial aesthetic expectations, does not lend itself to interpreting the event as anything more than how they are visually represented. It is clear that this event is peaceful, playful and focal, but nothing suggests beyond that. This can only be perceived by the narrator by describing what he sees, dwelling on the serenity of the images which he describes as an event "that one might see at a festival or in a remote village" (219). However, in the third paragraph, the narrator creates a backstory for the vibrantly lit gathering on the embankment, showing that the construction of the lanterns hints at something more than this. For example, the narrator's account of the slow development of the lantern-making ritual, inthis paragraph illustrates the specificity and skill that children demonstrate in making their lanterns. The lanterns are complex and represent, with their intricate cut-out shapes and "little windows" (219) each decorated with different colors, an artistic sense exhibited in the children's creations. Lanterns do not simply represent children's innocent play, as paraphernalia for insect hunting, but rather their heart and passion. They are more than readers initially expected of them as children at play, they are “wise child artists” (219). This rigorous nocturnal ritual involving various tools and techniques, old-fashioned patterns, and the children's individual names, "etched in square letters" (220) into their lanterns, adds to the notion of complexity that accompanies the making of the lantern which, once again, the reader does not expect to be confronted with the raw visuals of this scene for the first time in paragraph two. Thus, the storytellers instill in children a sense of artistry, versatility, and heart-filled passion that is the driving force behind something as arguably inconsequential as the making of a simple paper lantern, which could easily be understood as "simply an innocent children's game". Kawabata then uses the narrator's subjectivity and his poetic assumptions to demonstrate that children and their actions represent much more than what is on the surface, transforming this seemingly normal or mediocre event into an expression of something exceptional in children . . Through the narrator's subjective interpretation of the scene on the levee, Kawabata, using the symbols of light, grasshoppers, and bell crickets, is able to emphasize something more about the interaction than one might expect seemingly innocent between Fuijio and Kiyoko. , which transcends the event itself. The sense in which this interaction might initially be seen by the reader as a product of childhood innocence comes from how Fuijio sweetly ensures that his gift, of what he thinks is a grasshopper, i.e. the precious artifact of insect hunting, goes to the subject of his interest, Kiyoko. This interest can be characterized by him asking the group out loud three times, “does anyone want a grasshopper?”(220). His purpose here is to get the attention of Kiyoko, who hadn't heard from him either the first or second time, so that he can impress her and gain her interest. There is a sense in Fujiio's "technique" of capturing her attention as innocent and honest as he hands her the cricket with such grace and generosity, their hands meeting as "the insect was transferred between the thumb and index of the girl" (220 ). At this point the encounter is seen by the reader as significant but nothing more than a testimony to how children appreciate crickets more than grasshoppers, demonstrated by the repetition of "it's a cricket! It's a cricket!" (220) , and a sweet display of childlike love that puts Fuijio's previous actions into context. However, as the narrator later explains, the light of their lanterns inscribing their names on each other and the story's unexpected twist, when Fuijio, Kiyoko and the children gleefully discover that Fujiio's gift was more valuable than expected everyone expected, it represents a special moment of connection. This is demonstrated by the narrator viewing this connection as a “chance interaction” (221). It is clear that this is a moment missed by the children on the embankment and that the expectation of all of them towards the value of the cricket, as well as towards giving and receiving it, precludes their ability to fully appreciate the beautiful and rare. fairytale meeting between them..