Page 8 A man capable of love, or should I saw rather a man who was by nature incapable of not loving; but

t a man who could not wholeheartedly accept the love of anothersuch a one was Sensei. Narrator 20 It is not you in particular that I distrust, but the whole of humanity. Sensei I dont even trust myself. And not trusting myself, I can hardly trust others. There is nothing that I can do, except curse my own soul. Sensei 21 The memory that you once sat at my feet will begin to haunt you and, in bitterness and shame, you will want to degrade me. I do not want your admiration now, because I do not want your insults in the future. I bear with my loneliness now, in order to avoid greater loneliness in the years ahead. You see, loneliness is the price we have to pay for being born in this modern age, so full of freedom, independence, and our own egotistical selves. Sensei 21 And if one were as naturally reflective, intelligent; and as removed from the world as Sensei, would one inevitably reach the same conclusions? Narrator 30 As a matter of fact, my feeling is that if I must be ill, then I should like to be mortally ill. Sensei 36 Well, perhaps it is because I have decided that no matter how many books I may read, I shall never be a very much better man than I am now. Sensei 63 There are advantages and disadvantages in having ones children educated. You take the trouble to give them an education and, when they are through with their studies, they go away and never come home. Why, you can almost say that education is a means of separating children from their parents. Narrators Father Potential theme: Estranged brothers coming together in the light of a tragedy. Potential theme: The guilt of not living life to fullest or fully being there for your loved ones. Reason why this may be such a classic is because we all can relate to feelings of feeling inadequate and unimportant in such an indifferent world. Senseis point of view seems to voice these feelings in such a way that many may feel that they could not articulate. In a sense, there is a little bit of Sensei in all of us.