I will analyze the story of "mermaid" by Osamu Tezuka.
Setting
Time:1960's that it's made
Place: imerginary country
Conflict
・the boy vs the government
The country was prohibitted to daydream as they please so its government
tried to make the boy to remove his own memory of the mermaid.
・the boy vs himself
He was in a conflict with just himself gettting to forget the existence
of the mermaid.
Climax
maybe, the climax would be when the boy could'nt see the mermaid after
the remedy by the goverment because it was the most shocking scene as the
moment he had doubt on himself and the world he has owned ever.
Symbol
・the sea is a symbol of freedom (in the story, 'the freedom of imagination')
・the boy's waving hair is a symbol of the imagination in his heart.
・the background's color of red and yellow is a symbol of crisis.
・the meamaid is a symbol of the beauty and the subject of free imagination
Irony
the irony is that what he could see turned to be unvisible once.
Theme
"respect children's imagination!"
I wonder Mr.Tezuka wanted to try to suggest us the the way society should be
for children through his story. daydreaming boy and the goverment trying to remedy
him, the relationships of both can be connected with now a recent situation. at the end,
they drove him to die as a result. It is stem from the suppression by them
without a respect for himself, I think. so the message of Mr.Tezuka might be here.
