Intro:

Sometimes life is unfair. Some of you can probably relate to the feeling, where you can't reach
something. So, it makes you feel desperate and willing to risk it all.

Arthur Golden's, Memoirs of a Geisha is one of the most captivating visual texts I've ever read
and also, I’ve ever watched. The forbidden romance, a strict household seeing character building
their way from the bottom to the top. It's also rich and personal, the text itself is also incredibly
detailed and makes you, feel immersed in the historical fiction story of Sayuri Nitta.

Well, for starters, what exactly is a Geisha?

The word geisha means “artists” in Japanese a Geisha is a well-respected traditional Japanese
artist that entertains an audience using her beauty, charm and dance. She wears beautiful pattern
robes and paints her skin white and her lips red.

Now, who are the characters in the Story?

1. Nitta Sayuri/ Sakamoto Chiyo

 Sayuri is the novel's protagonist.
 She was born under the name Chiyo Sakamoto, in the small fishing village of Yoroido,
Japan;
 Sayuri's unusual blue-gray eyes lead everyone to believe that she had too much water
within her;
 Driven by determination and desire.

2. Hatsumomo
 Full geisha at the Nitta okiya;
 Devastatingly beautiful, but equally cruel:
 She may have been as cruel as a spider, but she was more lovely chewing on her
fingernail than most geisha looked posing for a photograph (85).
 View Sayuri as a threat.

3. The Chairman (Iwamura Ken)

 He is the head of a prominent company in Japan, known as Iwamura Electric;
 Sayuri's love interest in the novel;
 His elegance and kindness inspire Sayuri to become a great geisha, for the honor of
spending time in the presence of such men.

4. Mameha
 One of the most famous Geisha in Japan.
 Mameha understands that while beauty may be an asset to the success of a geisha, a
geisha cannot maintain success without a firm foundation built on character and kindness.
 She volunteers to become Sayuri's "older sister".
 5. PUMPKIN
 Childhood friend of Sayuri but later becomes her enemy.

6. SATSU
 Sayuri's sister

7. MOTHER/ MRS. NITTA

 She runs the okiya where Sayuri, Hatsumomo, and Pumpkin live.

8. THE BARON
 Mameha's danna

9. PRESIDENT NOBU-SAN
 Partner of Iwamura Ken in business. He is the man who wants to be Sayuri's danna.

10. DR. CRAB

 He is the highest bidder for Sayuri's mizuame.

11. KOICHI
 Hatsumomo's lover.

Settting of the Story

Much of the novel is set in the popular geisha district of Gion in Kyoto, and contains references
to actual places frequented by geisha and their patrons, such as the Ichiriki Ochaya.

Nowadays, almost anyone can go to a Geisha performance but in early 20 th century Japan, where
the story takes place, it was usually a middle-aged businessman who would pay to see the
ethereal dancers as an escape from their daily lives.

Summary:

Memoirs of a Geisha begins with an impoverished little village girl named Chiyo, who was taken
away from her family and sold to a strict Geisha house in the city. Where she learns how to
become a successful geisha in order to survive. During her time there, she's treated like a slave
and looked down on by the other experienced geisha, however with beauty and cleverness to her
advantage she has to become one of the greatest Geisha by the name of Sayuri in all of Kyoto in
order to pay back her debt to the school, but to do this she was sacrifice her personal desires in
the name of Fame. The man she admired, the sister she yearned to find, all had to be pushed
aside for her success as an entertainer.
Overview:

When read from a fictional perspective Memoirs of a Geisha keeps you wanting more, because it
dulls into heavy concepts through beautiful presentation, like descriptions of the culture, escorted
by metaphors that create a clearer picture in your head. The book also carries very strong
characters who each have well-developed roles surrounding the main character, such as the strict
mother of the Geisha House who abuses Chiyo when she does something out of turn. This
buildup of the supporting character raises the reader along with Sayuri essentially allowing us to
justify her actions based on how she's treated from childhood to adulthood.

The book is written from Sayuri perspective. Fully allowing the reader to understand her
circumstances as a Japanese woman pre-world War two. And last seen Sayuri leaves the reader
with the quote “Our world is no more permanent than a wave rising on the ocean, whatever
our struggles and triumphs, however we may suffer them, all too soon they bleed into a
wash, it's like watery ink on paper.” to me this just means that everything is temporary and
nothing really lasts forever, as I mentioned before the author plays with comparisons to evoke
thought and reality within the readers. He connects the bigger meaning to his scene that anyone
can picture like a wave in the ocean. So, consequently if the author of this book translates the
text into beautiful moving images with your own imagination and experiences. I highly suggest
giving this book a chance, so you can explore historical Japan with Sayuri Nitta and find out how
she deals with thirst for love and freedom in a restricted society.