—Shawn Bendeck
“Bewitched,” by Ueda Akinari, respectfully may have been the most appealing and interesting text which had stood out to me. What had drawn my interest the most was the suspense and thrill throughout the story. We analyzed the supernatural in class and how this may classify as something out of the ordinary. Definitely while reading the text you read and analyze situations which may be eye popping and situations which don’t happen on an everyday occurrence. A popular scene which stood out was the lightning scene. As Toyo-o at his own will is brought back to the once flourishing house which once was initially. Toyo-o is trying to prove his case that he hasn’t stole the items and at this point is suspicious of the female himself for getting him into all this trouble. As they come across Manago she disappears as the lightning flashes. This is when I realized that she was not an ordinary female and this text wasn’t an ordinary one either. Not only was this text an exciting supernatural thriller which I felt had me interested amongst all the readings we read, but also stood out among the great works. I feel this text was a great work because of the message presented across. The message or bigger picture to say may make a text a great work. A great work I feel is a text where u can learn or take something from it as it may present a powerful message. There may be millions of texts but which ones are actually saying something. If you’re able to not only read and enjoy a text, but take something from it and incorporate it into your daily lives which actually matter and are significant. What I personally took from this text is everything is not what is seems. I feel Toyo-o just fell in love with lust and had completely been deceived. The girl who he had been instantly in love with the whole time had turned out to be the devil. You can’t just judge a book by his cover. As tempting as a beautiful woman may be there is definitely more to that. Toyo-o has taught me to not trust so easily. Trust is not something to be taken lightly. He trusted the female and she got him thrown into jail. The bigger mistake he had was putting his trust into her twice. What this text taught me was just not to be fooled so easily as a few texts we have dealt with involve main characters who seem to be in the story of a lesson. All these texts may have a lesson to go behind them at that is why they are considered to be great works.
