THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE CRICKET

Summary
Paragraphs 1–2
The narrator walks along a wall at the university at dusk, toward a school
playground. He can hear an insect in the bushes near the playground. He
moves toward it, slowing down, but then becomes excited by what he spies as
he turns the corner of the embankment. He sees lanterns, and though he is still
far away, he knows it is a group of children chasing insects. The lanterns,
mostly homemade by the children, are a variety of colors. One glows with five
colors. The narrator likens the scene set by the bobbing, colorful, flowing lamps,
as one from a fairy tale.

Paragraphs 3–4
The narrator tells how the insect chase came to be. One night a child heard an
insect sing and returned the next night to catch it in a red lantern he bought.
The next night a child, who could not buy a lantern, fashioned one from a
carton, a candle, and a string. Each night the number of children increased, first
to five, then to seven, and the lanterns they made became more ornate. The
first child who had bought his lantern abandoned it in favor of a handmade one.
Each day the children made more and more elaborate lanterns with shapes and
colors, and each night they hunted insects with them. Eventually, 20 children
participated in the chase.

The narrator is intrigued by watching the children, looking at their lanterns with
their names cut into them. On the paper windows of some lanterns are designs
that are brought out by the candlelight inside, illuminating the lanterns against
the shadows of the bushes. The narrator watches the eager children search
whenever they hear an insect.

Paragraphs 5–7
One boy announces that he has found a grasshopper and asks if anyone wants
it. Several children rush to him, looking into the bush where the boy says he
sees it, and declaring they would like the grasshopper. The boy guards the bush
and calls out again to ask if anyone wants it, and more children say they do.
Eventually, a girl comes to him and tells him, "I'd like to have it." The boy
retrieves the insect from the bush and transfers it from his fist to hers. The girl
exclaims, eyes shining, that it is not a grasshopper but a bell cricket. All the
other children are jealous. The girl places it in her lantern. The boy looks at it in
the lantern and then looks at the girl's face.

Paragraphs 8–13
The narrator feels jealous of the boy and "sheepish" that he didn't understand
the boy's actions until now. The narrator is surprised to see something on the
girl's shirt that no one else seems to have noticed: the boy's name, "Fujio," is
reflected in green from his lantern onto her breast. The narrator then realizes
that the girl's name, "Kiyoko," is reflected from her red lantern onto the boy's
white kimono. Neither child knows about this "interplay of red and green,"
revealing the reflection of their names on each other.

From afar and out of earshot, the narrator tells Fujio that even when he's a
young man, he should appreciate when a girl is delighted when, "told that it's a
grasshopper, she is given a bell cricket." Likewise, he should feel affectionate
when a girl realizes that what she thinks is a bell cricket is actually a
grasshopper. There are not many bell crickets in the world, the narrator advises,
but a man may find a girl "like a grasshopper" who seems like a bell cricket. To
a wounded heart, even a rare bell cricket will seem like a grasshopper. If the
day the boy feels that way comes, the narrator will pity the boy for not
remembering the "play of light" of his name reflected in green on the girl's shirt.

Analysis
Narrator
The narrator is an outside observer, and despite clues that the narrator is
almost certainly an adult male, his biographical details remain unknown. The
narrator is removed from the joy of childhood, which he delights in watching,
just as he is spatially removed from the action of the story. By giving the story a
first-person narrator who is not involved in the action, Kawabata is able to
emphasize observations of the children's delight. Though the narrator is an
observer for most of the story, he spends two paragraphs imagining the
children's process in creating the lanterns. Emphasizing their creativity and care
in the constant evolution of the lanterns to become more intricate, Kawabata
uses the narrator to develop the concept of imagination and originality in art.

The narrator's physical separation from the children appears to give him a
clearer vantage point on the events that occur. The narrator's direct address to
Fujio, "when you become a man," at the end of the story further suggests his
age, indicating he is old enough to offer wisdom that comes from life
experiences. He reflects on the innocence of the children, and their naivete
when it comes to matters of life and love. The narrator's realization that the
children will never know or understand what he does as he sees the children's
names reflected onto each other suggests that Kawabata is using the narrator's
physical distance to make a statement about human perception of life. The
narrator's distance from the children represents the idea that a person never
reaches a full understanding of their own life, at least not as clearly as an
observer can. The narrator's vantage point also helps Kawabata deliver a subtle
message about the search for love and the realization of the connection
between two people. The narrator sees the ties that unite the two children, the
intermingling of their names reflected on each other. While those involved in the
experience cannot completely understand it, the outsider can see things more
clearly.
The narrator highlights and develops the significance of the grasshopper and
bell cricket as symbols. Grasshoppers are ordinary insects found commonly,
while bell crickets are rarer, prized in Japanese culture as special. Kawabata's
choice of these particular insects, and the narrator's explanation of the
juxtaposition of the two in the story, help the author develop the idea that often
a person expects one thing from life, but gets another, often related to love. As
an offshoot of this idea, the narrator uses the insects as symbols to represent
trying to please others but failing, as occurs with the boy's offering of the
grasshopper that turns out to be a cricket. These choices in narration suggest
that Kawabata uses his narrator to emphasize isolation and a particular
sadness in connection with others.

Tone and Mood

The author creates a tone of playfulness at the beginning of the story,
describing the children's exploits, which transitions into a more thoughtful,
ponderous tone as the story progresses. Kawabata examines the complex and
fragile aspects of life through the narrator's observations. His elaborate
description of the paper lanterns creates a vibrant imagery of the patterns,
shapes, colors, and decorations involved in making them. It helps the reader
visualize the scene and provides support for the narrator's awe at the children's
activities.

The colors red and green, reflecting the children's names on each other, add to
the complexity the author weaves into the story. In ancient Samurai culture, the
color red was worn as a symbol of strength in battle. Representing the sun on
the Japanese flag, it also represents energy. Green, representing vitality and
youth, is the complementary color to red on the color wheel. The colors
reflecting each child's name on the other contribute to the solemn tone
Kawabata creates as he suggests the connection and complement between the
boy and girl.

The author further develops tone and mood as events in the text develop. When
Fujio finds the grasshopper in the bush and calls the children over, it seems the
boy is waiting for Kiyoko to be intrigued and come over. While grasshoppers are
ordinary and commonly found, bell crickets hold special meaning in Japanese
culture. Not only are they deemed to have nearly religious meaning, they also
connote a sadness, signaling the transition from autumn to winter.

Fujio may view Kiyoko as a "bell cricket" of sorts, unique and special. After he
gives the grasshopper to her and she realizes it is a bell cricket, she is
delighted. The narrator notes that he's "slightly jealous" and "sheepish" in an
apparent realization that the boy saved this special insect just for Kiyoko. While
the tone of innocence is continued, the author begins to create a mood of
reflection and wistfulness as he realizes he can see the children's names
reflected on each other, but they cannot.

Belonging and Isolation

The lights reflecting the children's names on each other may foreshadow their
future, marking them as belonging to each other. But Fujio is embarrassed not
only by the fact that he didn't realize the insect was a bell cricket but by his own
feelings. It seems he continued calling the children over to the grasshopper,
hoping the girl would join them, eager to impress her. In the discovery that the
insect is actually a bell cricket, the girl's delight results in embarrassment for
him. He is caught up in his own feelings, but the narrator is able to view the
scene with a more complete view. The children belong to each other yet their
unawareness isolates them from each other.

At the end of the story the narrator speaks directly to Fujio for the first time,
though the child cannot hear him. The narrator's outside perspective develops
ideas related to both belonging and isolation as he loiters near the children,
finding a nostalgic joy in their actions, but doesn't interact with them. Though the
boy and girl connect in the moment of exchanging the insect, the narrator is the
one who truly understands the impact of the moment shared. Neither Fujio or
Kiyoko notice the intermingling of their names, in red and green, on each other's
clothing as the narrator does. His understanding of the connection between the
two of them shows that they belong to each other, whether they understand this
at the time or not. It foreshadows the idea that one day they will once again find
each other, their names being both literally and figuratively written on each
other. But the narrator is isolated from not only the interaction between the
children, separated by physical distance, and also an emotional distance. The
narrator's description of himself as an observer promotes a feeling of
separation. His isolation seems to represent something, perhaps love, missing
in his own life.