Yasunari Kawabata

            The allusive symbols crafted in The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket by Yasunari Kawabata highlight the theme of innocence, friendship and love. Kawabata artfully tickles your senses, through the harmonious placement of symbolism. Children with colorful, vibrant lanterns lead us into a world where grasshoppers and bell crickets, give us a bashful feeling of friendship and love. Through the narrator's eyes, the story begins with children and their bobbing lanterns. These children with their lanterns, gleefully, present the feeling of youth and innocence. "Each day, with cardboard, paper, brush, scissors, penknife, and glue, the children made new lanterns out of their hearts and minds. Look at my lantern! Be the most unusually beautiful!" (Kawabata 513) Using children in the story allows the reader to disregard the complexities of adulthood, and embrace the purity of youth. Through this method, the story is able to provide a simplistic view of the world. This approach is advantageous, in that it excludes biased impressions of friendship and love. Illustrating friendship, Kawabata creatively chosen the grasshopper as its symbol. "Does anyone want a grasshopper? A grasshopper!" (Kawabata 514) A boy openly invites the many children to accept his offer. "I do! I do!" (Kawabata 514) Immediately, you can picture the children's eagerness to the gift of friendship. "It seemed you could not catch a more precious insect than a grasshopper." (Kawabata 514) The joy and happiness that friendship brings sparkles in this story. Gradually, the many children came running up to the boy. Then, as if waiting for someone, the boy calls out his invitation a few times. A girl came up behind the boy and spoke, "Yes. I"d like to have it." The boy quickly stands up and thrust his fists to the girl, and slips the insect into the girl's hand. To surprise, the insect was not a grasshopper but was a bell cricket. " "Oh! It's not a grasshopper.