Memoirs of a Geisha

The book is about Chiyo, a girl from a poor fishing village, being sold alongside her sister to pay for their mother's medicine. They are sold to separate okiyas, Chiyo's being in Gion while her sister is sold to one in the pleasure district. Chiyo is to train to become a geisha so that she can pay off her debts but while living in the okiya she becomes hated by another geisha living there, Hatsumomo, who sees her as possible competition and tries anything she can to get Chiyo kicked out of the okiya. Chiyo goes to geisha school to begin learning the trade and one day meets a man, called the Chairman, and she falls for him due to his kindness. She decides that she will work hard so that she can one day meet him again. Eventually, though, Hatsumomo succeeds and Chiyo is taken out of geisha school due to her attempts to run away with her sister. Chiyo from there is made a slave to pay off her debt. A few years go on with her working as a slave to the okiya before a woman comes to the okiya to request that Mother, the okiya's owner, allow her to train Chiyo as a geisha. The woman is named Mameha, a famous geisha, and Chiyo is trained under her. Chiyo is given a new name, Sayuri, once her training is complete. She is now expected to sell her virginity in order to pay off her debt. She begins meeting several well-known men to let them know they can bid on it and during this time she ends up seeing the Chairman again. The issue becomes his best friend Nobu is very interesting in Sayuri and the Chairman would never bet against him. They lose touch again when World War II begins. They meet again when Sayuri is asked to entertain American generals for Nobu and the Chairman's sake. She ends up botching an attempt to pursuade Nobu out of his feelings for her. In the end, though, she meets witht the Chairman once again and he finally admits to having had feelings for her all along. He becomes her Danna, the man who pays for all her expenses as a geisha, and they have an illigitamate son together. She eventually moves to New York City since their son cannot inherit anything and she lived there until she passed away.

Chiyo is the main character of the story. She is considered to be a pretty girl, she has dark hair and unusual blue eyes. It starts with her as a young child being sold, along with her older sister, by her parents for medicine. She is sold off to an okiya, which is a geisha house, to work off her parents' debt. Her name is changed to Sayuri by the okiya owner and also Chiyo's mentor when she becomes a geisha. She is a determined person, the story shows how she works toward completing her goal, becoming a geisha so that she can meet the man she fell in love with. She goes through many obstacles as she grows, from petty women to war, and manages to make it through each one. Despite this, she is usually very soft spoken. In this time period women are seen as less important than men and the geisha are meant to be entertainment for the men so they must know when to speak and when not to. As she works her way through becoming a geisha and finding the man she fell for when she was young, Sayuri becomes one of the most well known geishas and even gets to star in special events.

Memoirs of a Geisha A Historical NovelBy Aurthur Golden

Chiyo / Sayuri

The main conflict is that of Chiyo/Sayuri falling in love with a man during her time training as a geisha and not being able to outright pursue him as it is not allowed. She must go through other smaller conflicts as well. She deals with being in direct competition with Hatsumomo, another geisha living in the same okiya, as well as Pumpkin, her childhood friend who trained as a geisha as well. She also goes through being taken out of geisha school for trying to run away and being made essentially a slave to pay off her debt. She is eventually allowed to train as a geisha again. She ends up beating out both Hatsumomo and Pumpkin for the spot in the okiya as the owner's 'daughter' who is adopted and inherits the okiya eventually. She also meets the man she fell in love with again and he becomes her danna and they have a son together.

Summary

Conflict/Resolution

The setting for the book starts out in a small fishing town called Yoroido. This is wehre Chiyo is originally from and she lives with her sister and parents in a small hut together. She and her sister are taken from there to Kyoto, Japan, and Chiyo is sold to an okiya in Gion, a the most prominent geisha district. The book is set and the years just before World War II and the war happens within the timespan of the book as well. Chiyo/Sayuri is sent off to the north to make kimonos during the war.

Setting

Essentially the theme of the book is that of achieving your goals no matter what you have to go through to do so. Chiyo/Sayuri is a woman who goes through a lot of hardships throughout her live and she still strives to be with the man she had fallen in love with. She overcomes the many obstacles that come with her role as a geisha to find true love.

Theme