In the novel "The Wild Geese," Ogai Mori successfully shows to the reader the role of women in the late 1880s. He introduces Otama, who is the daughter of a candy dealer, and Okada, who is a medical student at Tokyo University. Otama and Okada become friends very fast because they see each other during Okada's daily evening walk. Otama's father had troubles finding a mate to marry his daughter, but one day he allows Otama to marry a police officer. So they marry but it turned out that the police officer have already a wife and a son. And even though it's not Otama's fault, it will affect her image and she will never receive a serious proposal ever. Mori also introduced to the reader a local man named Suezo. He is a man that lends money to the students and with each lone he gains some money. He ends to be a wealthy man, but not happy at all. As his financial status improves, Suezo becomes dissatisfied with his wife. Although she does a good job of caring for the children, Otsune is not the best looking and she is argumentative. And along the novel Ogai Mori successfully accomplish to show the role of women in that time.
Maybe the first and the most important example of women role in the 1800s in the novel is Otama. Her relationship with Suezo can be best described as she in the house making whatever is possible for making Suezo confortable. Her role as a woman is clearly shown when Otama was at the house and Suezo came, immediately she, self-consciously started to serve him. As shown in the following example from the book, "After that, she secretly began to watch what she said and did, and when Suezo came, she started to serve him self-consciously instead of accepting him frankly and sincerely as she previously done. She would be with him in her room, but her real self was detached. I'll be rescued! "(Ogai Mori, 1959, page 76 and 77). In the last passage from the book, the author is making the reader know that Otama doesn't really love Suezo but her role in the time was to serve to her man and this way the author provides us an image of the role of women in that time using Otama as the example.
