Sensei, Shizu, and the narrator dine together to celebrate the completion of his university degree.Īfter graduating, the narrator is at a loss. He studies hard in a flurry of academic fervor, and he is proud to complete the work, though he notes that Sensei is not as proud or as congratulatory as the narrator had hoped he might be. The narrator returns home to care for his father and then returns to Tokyo to complete a thesis for his university course. The narrator receives a message from his mother, warning that his father has fallen sick. She hints that there is a dark secret in his past, which Sensei does not want to discuss. The relationship with Shizu means a great deal to the narrator, though he notes that Shizu seems equally confused by some of her husband’s behavior. He is young and inexperienced he admits to not knowing much about women. The narrator finds Sensei at the graveyard, but Sensei refuses to explain whose grave he visits so regularly, or why he refuses to bring his wife, Shizu, with him.ĭuring these months, the narrator gradually becomes friends with Shizu as well as Sensei.

He visits Sensei’s house, only to be told that he is at a nearby graveyard. After leaving the beach resort and returning to Tokyo, the narrator decides to visit his new friend. The wise, emotionally distant Sensei has an academic air to him, which intrigues the young student narrator. He meets Sensei while on vacation and begins to develop a deep friendship with the man, even though he cannot quite define Sensei’s character. He chooses to refer to his new friend by the title Sensei to preserve his anonymity. In Part 1, the unnamed narrator of Kokoro describes his first encounter with an older man. This guide uses an eBook version of the 2010 Penguin Books edition, translated into English by Meredith McKinney.Ĭontent Warning: This novel and guide contain frequent references to suicide.

Kokoro natsume soseki