# Mōri Sensei explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke.

## What happens

The narrator recalls his middle school English teacher, Mōri Sensei, a man with a bald head, purple necktie, and a shrill voice, who was ridiculed by students for his earnest but ineffective teaching. Years later, the narrator encounters Mōri Sensei in a café, where he is voluntarily teaching English to waiters, still with the same passion and poverty. The narrator feels a mix of nostalgia and respect, but chooses not to reveal himself, reflecting on the passage of time and the enduring nature of Mōri Sensei's character.

## Themes in this chapter

### Transience and Mortality

The narrator reflects on the passage of time and how Mōri Sensei remains unchanged, while the narrator has grown and changed.

### Social Hypocrisy

The students' scorn for Mōri Sensei's poverty and earnestness, and the narrator's own past cruelty, highlight societal hypocrisy.

### Suffering and Compassion

Mōri Sensei's hardships, hinted at in his speech about life's hardships, evoke compassion from the narrator in the end.

## Character check-ins

### Mōri Sensei

The former English teacher, now seen in a café teaching waiters, unchanged in appearance and manner.

### Tamba Sensei

The physical education teacher who mocked Mōri Sensei's antique derby hat, leading to student ridicule.

### Akutagawa Ryūnosuke

The narrator, reflecting on his past scorn and present empathy for Mōri Sensei.

## Key lines

> Life is real, life is earnest!

Life is genuine and serious, not to be taken lightly.

_Mōri Sensei's repeated recitation of Longfellow's 'Psalm of Life' underscores his earnest but ineffective teaching._

> You don't understand life yet. Do you? Even if you want to, you can't. That itself doubtless makes you happy. When you get like me, you know life perfectly. You know it, but it's mostly hardships.

You are still ignorant of life's true nature, which is a blessing. When you reach my age, you will understand, but that understanding brings mostly suffering.

_Mōri Sensei's speech reveals his personal struggles and foreshadows the narrator's later empathy._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_59_se/chapters/m-ri-sensei
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_59_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_59_se/chapters