Violence
In his work, “I Beg You Brother: Do Not Die”, Yosano Akiko vividly brings out the adverse mental and physical concepts of war through an imaginary persona who is perceived to be advising a little brother. The persona continuously beseeches the brother not to engage in warfare activities, as he might end up being killed in the same war.
Through the persona’s address to the brother, the poet manages to illustrate the paradoxical nature of violence, both sudden and slow mental effects on the persona, and the immediate people close to the brother. The brother’s death should he die in battle, as put across by the persona, will not only result in his physical loss but will also mentally affect other people who used to associate with him.
In the first stanza of the poem, there is evidence of sudden violence depicted in the form an assault or war. The persona is weeping for his brother and wonders whether, all that his brother knew was killing people with a sword.
More so, the persona wonders if during the brother’s entire lifetime, his parents gave him a blade and taught him how to kill, he says “Did our parents, put a blade in your hand, and teach you how to kill men?” (Stanza 1 line 5) these points out that the brother has been involved in activities of murder that involved bleeding and death. The persona’s brother, as it is revealed, left his parents for war at a tender age of twenty four years and since then, he has been involved in various forms of violence killing fellow men.
Here, the concept of sudden violence is brought out .At this point, the reader is meant to understand that the persona’s brother has been involved in various incidences of violence where he has ended up killing other people. Thus, the persona begs him to pull out of the battle field and avoid the impending death which could come out of a possible violent encounter.
In the second stanza of the poem, the persona is greatly troubled in mind as to why his brother should be employed to engage in violent activities. In this case, the brother has been employed by a certain Russian to fight and kill people in order to secure the Russian’s fortress to the persona.
The brother stands to gain nothing should the fortress stand or end up collapsing. In fact, the persona points out that the Russian himself known as “Imperial Majesty” (stanza 2 line 17), does not personally take the sword to fight and kill, neither can he allow such like murders perpetuated by the persona’s brother, “Enters not the field of battle…………..Does not wish you to spill your own blood or that of others” (stanza 2 line19).
Blood spillage may as well mean fighting using machetes and swords leading cuts and injuries which result in bleeding. Mental violence is illustrated here, where the persona ruffles up his mind to figure out the reasons for the brother’s acceptance to be employed in such involvements. It eats up his mind how the brother ended up working as a killer. The persona no longer being able to hold these thoughts and is finally propelled to make a verdict on the brother’s behavior and give relevant advice.
A further illustration of a sudden form of violence is in the third stanza. This stanza carries the main theme of the whole poem; war and violence. As they the saying goes, those who live by the sword shall die by the sword. The persona’s brother, due to his involvement in war and battles as illustrated in the first stanza, has killed many people and spilled a lot of blood. The persona knows the consequence of this is, in that the brother stands to die in a similar manner.
To try and pull the brother out of war, the persona tells him that it will be of no value to end up being killed like a wild beast and thinks of such a death as having died honorably, “To die the death of beasts, and imagine of such a death as glory!” (Stanza 3 line23 and 24). The mention of dying like a beast implies a sudden violent scenario where people hack others to death. Hence, since the persona’s brother mission is to kill, he equally stands a risk of retaliatory hit back.
Poverty has also been used to illustrate the slow nature of violence as a result of an assault on the mind. The persona, in the last stanza, talks of a young bride who is emotionally overpowered and is crying at the imagination of the impending danger awaiting her newly married husband.
The persona says that his brother and the girl had been in a marriage for a period of ten months after which, her lover left for war. The lady has been left alone after a very short period in marriage. “Imagine the heart of this sweet girl, not ten months were you together” (stanza 5 line 36) .She is weeping since she has nobody else to take care of her “who else has she in the whole world, to care for but you?” (Stanza 5 line38)
For this reason, the persona is advising the brother not to risk death. It is quite evident here that the poor state of the young lady continuously violates her mind when she imagines the fact that the person who could take care of her in the whole world has left her, when newly married, for war and might even die there. When these two thoughts become so violently unbearable in mind that she cannot withstand, she finally crouches down to weep. Having slowly been driven by emotions, she finally breaks down violently weeping.
Another form of slow violence as a result of assault to the mind has been identified in the fourth stanza of the poem. The persona begs for the brother to withdraw and avoid death for the sake of their mother. The persona urges the brother to do so as to avoid adding more grief to the mother. “I beg you: do not die in battle, to add to mother’s grief” (Stanza 4 line 26).
The mother, the persona narrates, is with much grief after losing her husband in the autumn and also as a result of the son who was taken away her last born son, thus leaving her with nobody to protect the house. The son in this case is the personas brother. This grief is further accelerated by the fact that the son risks death in his involvements. When others talk of peace in the land, she is constantly fighting with her head on the loss of husband and son and who should take care of her business venture: the old merchant house.
Her hair has grown white as a result of the condition she is in. Arising from the personas mother’s situation, it emanates that violence does not necessarily have to be sudden as in warfare but can manipulate in other slow modes, in this case affecting the mind. The persona is driven to address this issue with the brother due to the deteriorating condition of the mother.
In the second stanza, the persona is worried that should the brother go on in the battle and end up being killed I the same, there would be nobody to carry on the family name. ”it is you who is to carry on the name, to be the master of this proud old merchant house” (stanza 2 line 9) The brother being the last born, is charged with the social function of upholding and carrying on the family name as well as manage the family property; the old merchant house.
The persona battles with this in mind until he decides persuading the brother to give up the engagement so as he may take over. The issue of social responsibility explained in this chapter becomes violent in the persona’s mind each day with the brother’s continued undertakings in the battle. The violent issue slowly develops in his mind to an extent that the persona finally exposes it when the persona sets out to try and explain to the brother why it is lethal to give up on the war.
It is prudent to mention here that violence does not necessarily have to involve horrible scenes in wars and battles. Such, are only one form through which violence manifests itself; sudden. Violence can also be mental where an increased nagging, disturbance or deliberation within one’s conscience eventually turns out violent.
It slowly builds up and when it reaches levels where one can no longer hold up, he or she finally lets out in a violent manner. Hence violence can be either sudden as the case with wars or slow as depicted by various reactions exhibited by people.
Reference
Akiko, Y (2013). I Beg You, Brother: Do Not Die. New York: McGraw.