Obsession

Through her first person narrator's distinct point of view, the author explores the all-consuming nature of obsession. Though the novel is written from Gondo-san, or the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan's first person lens, the majority of the narration is devoted to the narrator's descriptions of the Woman in the Purple Skirt. Indeed, the narrator has become so interested in the Woman in the Purple Skirt's enigmatic character, she devotes all of her time and energy, and thus her entire narrative, to following and watching the Woman. Unlike herself, the Woman in the Purple Skirt is not only agile and clever, but a local celebrity. "Unfortunately, no one knows or cares about the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan," the narrator says of herself in the novel's opening pages (4). When the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan goes out walking in the shopping district, nobody pays the slightest...