Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

We have all made bad choices in our lives. Whether those choices are small in magnitude or have a detrimental impact on society we must always be held accountable for our actions. Sometimes we make the best decision we can at that precise moment, but later find out it was dreadful choice. Of course people do not know it is a bad judgment call at the time, because no one has hindsight of their actions. In the novel An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro, Ono finds himself finally realizing that his involvement in supporting Japan in World War II was a crucial mistake on his behalf.

Ono does make bad decisions early on in his life. He does not of course believe he is making these mistakes at the time, but later on in his life when he visits a declining Matsuda, he starts to realize that his efforts were “ultimately harmful to our nation” (Ishiguro 123). Matsuda makes a huge impression on Ono early in his life. Ono realizes, with the persuasion of Matsuda, that his art is not helping or contributing to society. Ono then no longer wants to be an ‘artist of the floating world’, but rather create art that will up lift the Japanese people. Ono of course does this by creating so-called propaganda art. Like many people do, Ono came to realize that his previous actions were a mistake.

Ono knows he caused the “untold suffering of our own people” (Ishiguro 123), and he is finally man enough to realize what he had thought to be right, was actually wrong. Of course Ono did act ‘in good faith’ in his previous actions, but when is there a line drawn to that? When does someone have to be held responsible for one’s actions? Hitler was acting ‘in good faith’ when he wanted to rid the world of the weak. So should the world understand where Hitler was coming from and forgive him for the terrible things he did? Of course not. Hitler was a horrible person and will always be held responsible for his actions. Ono, on the other hand, does not come close to what Hitler did but either way Ono still should be held responsible.

Ono not only needs to be held accountable for his actions during the war, but also when he turns in Kuroda to the police. Ono possibly did not know his decisions were not the smartest at the time. He was young and naïve of the world around him and once Matsuda came along, he found something to follow in. Ono has a lot of pride in his work and in his country. In the case of Ono turning in Kuroda, Ono has to know that the police will follow up on his information given to the Cultural Committee of the Interior Department. Clearly, Ono made the wrong choice to even suggest his old pupil’s name to the Committee, but possibly he did do it ‘in good faith’ to protect Kuroda. It seems that Ono could have done this for either of two reasons; either to help protect Kuroda or to cover himself so the police would not go after him. Either way it is left up to the reader to decide. After Kuroda is arrested, Ono tries to visit him later at his home because he wants to talk to Kuroda about his past so that his daughter would be able to go through her current marriage agreement, but Kuroda wants nothing to do with Ono. So Ono did lose a friend and a pupil, but it seems Ono it not quite too bothered with it. So maybe Ono did turn him in on purpose. But why is Ono so worried about his daughter’s marriage agreement?

It seems that Ono only becomes aware of his wrongdoings because of Setsuko’s letter to Ono warning him to make sure that the marriage agreement goes through with his younger daughter Noriko. Ono then goes out and tracks down old friends from his past to tell them to say nothing but good things about him. Ono only then becomes conscious of his actions from Matsuda and is the only reason he went to visit Kuroda. If it were not for Setsuko’s letter, Ono would have never thought to realize that his engagements in the war were a bad decision. Ono does not have animosity towards his changed nation after the war. He goes on in fact to “wish these young people well” (Ishiguro 206).

No one is perfect. No matter who you are, you will make mistakes in your life. It is those who learn to cope with their errors and make the right choice next time in life that will succeed. People have to realize this in order to get past their shortcomings and move on. Just remember when acting ‘in good faith’, make sure it is really what to believe in and if it turns out a bad choice take responsibility for making it.