Final book blog

"What do you think is the defining moment or moments for the main
character and/or other major characters in the book?"

Takeo, who is a youth of 16 when the story begins, has two defining moments in this book. The first turning point occurs when Takeo is rescued by Lord Shiguru. This leads to him becoming an adopted Otori lord, and even more importantly, it leads to Takeo's discovery that his father was an assassin and that he has certain special skills that mark him as a member of the Tribe. The Tribe is a group of families with supernatural abilities, and Takeo has to learn to use and control the powers he has discovered. This marks the change of Takeo's lifestyle from living in a peaceful village to learning who he really is and starting along the path of his destiny.

Takeo's other defining moment occurs near the end of the book, when he is taken by the Tribe. For Takeo, this means that he can never go back to his old way of life or he will be killed. It is the second major step in his journey to self-discovery. Unfortunately, this step also has consequences: he cannot receive his inheritence, and he can't marry Kaede, his true love.

Kaede also has a defining moment in the book. This occurs when a guard is becoming too familiar with her, and she stabs him and is rescued by Lord Arai. The episode causes the lord who should be protecting her to actually move her into his court where she can be safe. It also starts a rumor about her that she kills men who try to sleep with her. She becomes an unwitting pawn in a political scheme to kill Lord Shiguru, which eventually leads to her meeting and falling in love with Takeo.

Book Blog 5.

"I lifted the sword, felt the dull ache in my wrist, and asked Shiguru's forgiveness. The snake sword leaped and bit, and in it's last act of service to it's owner, released him into the next world (Hearn 252)."

This is the last thing takeo gets to do before he has to follow through with his deal with the tribe. With this, he basically has nothing left. The only thing he cares about is kaede, who he can never have because he must go with the tribe. I think this is one of the hardest things to do, for takeo, because shiguru is his adopted father and the the only family he has. I imagine Takeo will be very sad about this in the future.

1. How will Takeo react to having killed shiguru
2. How will this affect his actions, inthe immediate and eventual future.