ABSTRACT
The author grew up in Tokyo and studied Chinese literature, then architecture, and finally turned to Western literature. His most respected work is Kokoro, which explores the sense of isolation of a man struggling to adapt as Japan modernizes and grappling with feelings of guilt for having betrayed a friend in his youth. Botchan, Soseki's most beloved novel, is a humorous account of a self-righteous yet humble young man from Tokyo trying to settle into his first teaching job in a school. The narrator, Botchan, has been reassessing his colleagues, to whom he has assigned various nicknames. He has alienated from Porcupine due to lies by Red Shirt, tried to pay it back, but Porcupine was insulted and refused to accept the money, so it lies untouched on Porcupine's desk. In this chapter, Botchan finds out that Squash is being forced to transfer and Red Shirt is essentially trying to bribe Botchan into becoming an ally.
