Yoshimi Seki Horror Collection - Vol. 1 Ch. 4 - The Red Flower of Despair
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A truly happy ending is a rarity in these and other horror stories. In this case, it is used to make a point about the power of family. Let us see why.
The story, like so many others in this series, takes as its themes self-interest, the place of money in society, and Japanese involvement in wars abroad. It also includes a family, as do many of the other stories in this collection. But unlike the ones that come before, this story actually has something to say about familial ties. The family in the story has problems. The brothers broke off from the father, a bunch of people are adulterers and poor caretakers and whatnot, and everyone's keeping secrets. But in the end, the cousin/brother would give his life for his cousin/sister. The brothers take care of each other, but also save their families (no, their collective family, singular). The familial bond has endured the harm which monetary battles, landmines, and adultery inflicted. And everyone makes it out alive and healing. Heck, the story even ends wondering if wars would end if everyone on earth treated everyone else like family!
So that's it then, the family surpasses all? Well, not exactly. Consider, for instance, that the grown-up brothers did decide to break off ties with their father. Their father! As close as a familial tie that was, it couldn't survive the fact that their father was an awful person who did awful things. And of course later the dead patriarch does some awful things to his own kin, but that comes long after the sundering of bonds. He had time there to let his hate fester, and also apparently to take on a little girl who (presumably) his own landmines injured.
What, actually, is the role of Remi anyway? She starts off as little more than a curiosity, a thing to gawk and wonder at. She is elevated to the level of savior when reaching her domain up high on the mountain becomes the condition for victory/survival. And she gains a bit of suspiciousness when she doesn't even flinch but acts pleased when the girl bangs her relative's head open with a rock. Sure, it's for the game, but it's also a brutal act of murder. If she was fine with and aware of that, she no doubt knew about the landmines. One wonders where her hand was in the writing of this will... Remi is a character who introduces a subtheme of coming to terms with the horrors of war that Japan has helped inflict on other nations. She is first a victim and then a master of the landmines, which she wields to harm those who helped harm her.
The story, like so many others in this series, takes as its themes self-interest, the place of money in society, and Japanese involvement in wars abroad. It also includes a family, as do many of the other stories in this collection. But unlike the ones that come before, this story actually has something to say about familial ties. The family in the story has problems. The brothers broke off from the father, a bunch of people are adulterers and poor caretakers and whatnot, and everyone's keeping secrets. But in the end, the cousin/brother would give his life for his cousin/sister. The brothers take care of each other, but also save their families (no, their collective family, singular). The familial bond has endured the harm which monetary battles, landmines, and adultery inflicted. And everyone makes it out alive and healing. Heck, the story even ends wondering if wars would end if everyone on earth treated everyone else like family!
So that's it then, the family surpasses all? Well, not exactly. Consider, for instance, that the grown-up brothers did decide to break off ties with their father. Their father! As close as a familial tie that was, it couldn't survive the fact that their father was an awful person who did awful things. And of course later the dead patriarch does some awful things to his own kin, but that comes long after the sundering of bonds. He had time there to let his hate fester, and also apparently to take on a little girl who (presumably) his own landmines injured.
What, actually, is the role of Remi anyway? She starts off as little more than a curiosity, a thing to gawk and wonder at. She is elevated to the level of savior when reaching her domain up high on the mountain becomes the condition for victory/survival. And she gains a bit of suspiciousness when she doesn't even flinch but acts pleased when the girl bangs her relative's head open with a rock. Sure, it's for the game, but it's also a brutal act of murder. If she was fine with and aware of that, she no doubt knew about the landmines. One wonders where her hand was in the writing of this will... Remi is a character who introduces a subtheme of coming to terms with the horrors of war that Japan has helped inflict on other nations. She is first a victim and then a master of the landmines, which she wields to harm those who helped harm her.
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