ANALYZIS OF THE STORY

A. Plot Summary
The Story of the Aged Mother by Matsuo Basho is a story in which a son and

his mothers pain in their battle against the decree of putting aged people to death. The

story started at the foot of the mountain where a poor farmer lived with his aged mother.

Their place was governed by an absolute leader who sent the decree of killing aged

people in that place. That time, killing aged people was not common. When the poor

farmer heard the decree he felt sorrow in his heart, since then he prepared an escape. Just

as his work ended, he cooked food, wrapped it in a small piece of cloth and tied it in

his neck together with cool and sweet water. Then, he carried his mother on his back and

started walking towards the summit of Obatsuyuma, the mountain of the abandoning of

aged. On their way to the summit, the helpless mother noticed the dangerous path and

thought that her son doesn't know the paths and might pass through danger so she reached

for twigs, snapped them to pieces and quietly dropped them until they reached

the summit. The poor farmer released his mother and created a comfortable cushion and

said his farewell. Before he left her, she told him about the path she made, and then the

farmer realized that they need to face the decree together so he carried his mother again

on his back and stated walking back. When they arrived back, he told the emperor his

story and the emperor listened to his story and abolished the decree.

B. Characters
The first character is the farmer who is the protagonist. He was the ever loving

son of the aged mother in the story, he did not think of himself but instead, he thought of
 his mother who was in great danger of being killed innocently. He loved his mother very

much that he did not think that it will be a great danger if he will go back down.
The second character is the aged mother. She is one of the main characters in the

story. She was the one who made the emperor changed his mind and helped her own son

in returning without danger. She is the role model in the story who has the wisdom that

brings to save her own self and others life from the decree that was made.
The characters in the story are the emperor who is a despotic leader. He is around

character and may be the antagonist in the story. He declared the decree of killing the

aged people because he was a warrior he thought aged people were useless and cant be

helpful to those who are still strong as him but in the end, he realized that those aged

people are useful in their own ways and he also learned their importance to the kingdom.

C. Conflict
The conflict of the story was Man vs. Man because the only antagonist in the

story was the emperor of Shinano who proclaimed a law to immediately kill all the aged

people. The emperor was the one who wants the aged people to be killed because he

thinks that aged people are already helpless and cant contribute to their place.

D. Point Of View
The Point of View of the story was in the Third person Point of View because

the author is the one who narrates the story, and she is not included in the characters

of the story. It is written in the third person point of view because the author wrote freely.

E. Plot
The plot of this story is plot of structure, because the story is gradual and it has a happy

ending.

F. Setting
 Place : Shinano at the foot of mountain ( long ago there lived at the foot of the

mountain ) and Obatsuyama mountain (-Ever upward towards the high bare

summit of what is known as Obatsuyama, the mountain of the abandoning of the

aged)
Time : During the day ( Nothing in the story tell directly during the day but in

the story told just at sundown, it means the previous is definitely the day), At

night ( Just at sundown, when his day's work was ended, he took a quantity of

unwhitened rice which was the principal of food for the poor )

G. Theme
The story is about a mothers love, its something that no one can explain because

it is made with deep devotion, sacrifice, understanding and pain, the way that the aged

mother made a way so that she can have assurance that her son can go home safely. She

knew from the very start that she will be abandoned in the summit of the mountain but

she understood that it was for her own good.

H. Literary Techniques
The Literary Technique used in the story of the aged mother is realism because

the situation in the story was once happened in the history of Japan, not by putting to

death the aged people but abandoning them. It views the once history of a certain country

and the simplicity of life. The story also contains lesson and the language used was

simple and comprehensive. The story of the aged mother is a folktale from Japan. It tells

about how great the love of a mother for her child. It was shown on their situation when

the emperor proclaimed a decree ordering that all the aged people should be put to death.

The decree filled the heart of the poor farmer a great sorrow for he loves his mother that

much. Instead of putting his mother to death in the hand of the cruel law he decided to

give his mother a kind mode of death. He took his mother to the bare summit
of Obatsayuma and planned to abandon her there. On their way to the summit of the

mountain the heart of the loving mother grew concerned because she knew that her son

will be in danger on his way back because he was not familiar to the paths. The aged

mother broke the twigs and dropped it quietly on the road to serve as a guide on the way

back of her son. The story shows us two important virtue- love and wisdom. Mothers

love is nothing can be compared; it is pure and unselfish. Most of all serves as our

courage, weakness and strength that guided us to walk through our journey called life