Everything you need to understand or teach A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe.
This "coming of age" novel set in the early 1960's tells the story of Bird, a young Japanese man facing both the imminent birth of his first child and what he believes to be the imminent loss of his dreams. As the novel chronicles his struggles to avoid the responsibilities that come with the child's difficult birth, it also explores themes relating to the nature of parent/child relationships in general, and to the necessity of letting go of the past.
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As the novel begins, Bird is in a bookstore, having just purchased some maps of Africa, a place he has long dreamed of visiting. As he goes in search of a telephone (to call his mother-in-law to find out how the birth is going), he reflects on the possibility that being a father will put an end to those dreams, and on his history as an alcoholic. After finding... View more of the A Personal Matter Summary
A Personal Matter Lesson Plans contain 122 pages of teaching material, including:
Kenzaburo Oe
