ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the experience of modern women Ota Yoko, with penetrating sincerity and honesty, but her philosophic profundity in understanding modern life, her intellectual capacity to view her experiences in a historical and social context, and her mastery of art of fiction render the traditional category of 'female-school literature' totally inadequate to characterize her works. It describes a kind of religious persistence toward the family, a mode of life which could not be changed. 'Residues of Squalor' in this chapter presents a powerful image of slugs swarming in a dilapidated temporary residence. The narrator sprinkles DDT thinking it will keep them away, but it melts them instantly, reminding her of the A-bomb victims and placing her by analogy in the position of an assailant. The view of the narrator as both the victim and the assailant as sharing responsibility for the tragedy, is striking, especially since it dates from the days when, less informed about their own war atrocities.
