Thesis Statement: In “Rashōmon,” the author makes it clear that the servant would choose and advocate for mandatory vaccines because people’s health and lives would be more important for him than personal freedoms and morality.
To begin with, the author’s imagery reflects the character’s strong desire to survive that proves his support for mandatory vaccines. On the one hand, mandatory vaccination helps prevent the spread of infections and save people’s lives in the case of diseases’ severity. On the other hand, as any compulsory regulation, it violates personal freedoms, especially the freedom of choice, and may be even regarded as unethical and immoral. However, the author compares the servant with an animal to show his cautiousness in his desire to survive. First, he emphasizes this comparison by mentioning that in the Rashōmon, “foxes and other wild animals made their dens in the ruins of the gate, and thieves and robbers found a home there too” (Akutagawa 212). The servant is looking for a place there as well – however, he is not a thief. The author continues to describe the character’s animal-like behaviour to strengthen his fear of losing his life – when the servant notices that he is not alone in the Rashōmon, terrified by the unknown, he nevertheless approaches a stranger “crouching on all fours, and stretching his neck as far as possible” like a lizard (Akutagawa 214). Shown in this way, the servant may be regarded as a person who sees survival as the most important thing for him. Therefore, the man would support mandatory vaccination as for him, in difficult times, it is more important to care about life and well-being rather than paying attention to morality and freedoms.
Work Cited
Akutagawa, Ryūnosuke. Rashōmon. Teikoku Bungaku, 1915.