Shoes

The story The American School by Kojima Nobuo uses the image of shoes
throughout his story to highlight the importance of accepting one's cultural
heritage. The use of shoes as a cultural representation of the western world and the
English language play an important role in shaping each character.
Yamada wishes to embrace the American culture. He shows this by wearing nice
leather shoes and speaking perfect English. He believes a demonstration will
highlight his passion for teaching the English language, while his colleagues could
care less. He becomes upset when Isa removes his shoes and walks to the school
barefoot. He is more concerned with the image of the group than he is for the
individuals who make up the group. He becomes super critical of how the American
teachers are teaching. I believe his reason for this is he has lost sight of why he is
truly there due to his yearning to show off what he himself can do.
Michiko seems to accept the American culture to a certain extent. She wears high
heel shoes, as the women do in America. Prior to the long walk to the school she
changes out her heels for a pair of sneakers, also big in American culture. Upon
arriving to their destination she contemplates putting them on; her initial intentions
of showing them off had been put to the wayside when she saw Isa coming out with
the schoolmistress. She seems to have a sense of pride about her and respect for
her culture. When she could have challenged Yamada she chose not to make a
scene. She embraces parts of the American culture, while at the same time wishes
to remain true to her Japanese heritage.
Isa in the initial scenes of the story is wearing a pair of borrowed leather shoes. He
did not own shoes for this sort of occasion. As he walks down the street his feet
begin to hurt from the shoes, eventually this slows his pace. He seems disgusted by
American culture, from shoes to the English language. He teaches English but finds
it embarrassing to speak in foreign tongue. He dreads the possibility of having to
speak in a public setting due to Yamada wishes to show their skills and highlight
Isas inability to properly speak the language. Isa treads barefoot until he is picked
up the American soldier, once he arrives at the school the schoolmistress provides
him with a pair of sneakers. To which he seems displeased with as well.
I feel as though the shoes represent the struggle of accepting the changes brought
upon their culture due to the war.
RESPONSE 1:
Arnoldo,
I agree with your post, not having read your post prior to posting, I would say if I
had I may have taken another side. However, I do not believe there is another side
to take. The shoes represent something different to all three of the main characters.

The decision to wear or not to wear shoes plays a significant role in each characters
belief system. Isa refuses to adopt foreign ways. He believes it makes him look
ridiculous. Additionally, he is rebellious against western culture. Michiko seems as
though she is on the fence. She wore heals in a feeble attempt to look modern, but
during the journey she chose to wear her sneakers. She was not as reluctant as Isa
to speak English; however, at times she did appear to be holding back. Yamada
seemed as though he embraced western culture. He wore leather shoes in order to
look modern and appear to accept a foreign culture; however, given the chance
though he was ready and more than willing to ridicule the American culture.
I believe the shoes played a significant role in the story. They depicted each
characters willingness to accept the changes they were facing.
RESPONSE 2:
Nicholas,
To start off I would like to answer your question concerning why the cooper was
punished. I believe, and this merely my interpretation, the cooper was not being
honest in the beginning of the story. While he utilized the old woman to catch the
woman his heart desired, she (Old Nanny) created lies to persuade Osen.
Additionally, the lies were so drastic her family even began to think the cooper was
a great catch. However, truth be told, the cooper was poor and had little to offer.
The very foundation for many of the Japanese literary works has been relationships.
In their works they depict marriage as a sacred vow, but they also marry for their
families, for wealth. The cooper had virtually nothing to offer.
I do think if this was his only fault, the punishment was rather harsh. Osen in my
opinion deserved what she got, happy or unhappily in marriage is irrelevant; she
broke her vow in order to get someone back. Revenge was what Osen sought. This
is something which occurs even today, a husband may accuse a devoted wife;
eventually she will tire of the accusations and do just as he suspects, to give him
something to actually complain about. Again, all of this is what I took from the story.