Not The Good and The Bad, But The Grey

Can anyone among us be considered an entirely good person? A completely bad person? Is anything in life strictly black or white? Anyone can see that in everything there are shades of gray and multiple aspects. No one word can truly describe anything, perhaps name it, but not express it. So then perhaps the very actions of "gray people" cannot have a clear tag or classification as something good or bad, though they may angle strongly to one side. As is human nature we identify and classify all that we can see, to fit it in its place among its associates. But what if someone’s actions, the thought behind them, and their repercussions are swaying to opposing sides, how can one label those actions as good or bad?

In Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel, An Artist of the Floating World, the protagonist, Ono, has made decisions in his life that could be called good and bad. These choices have been made with good intentions but have also caused great pain and affected his friends negatively, but he still feels that things turned out fine for him. Can his paramount choices be classified or should they be thrown into the gray pile?

Many believe that he has made honorable choices, despite what may have caused for him and others. When he was an artist of the floating world, a painter of ukiyo-e, he was invited to take a walk through a "shanty district" (pg. 166-167) where the poor lived along open sewer-ditches in stalls. He was filled with emotion and the want to do something to help them and his acquaintance, Matsuda, whom had led him through the district showed him a way to help his fellow man. By producing pictures, which could be seen as propaganda, he could lead the people out of squalor and push his nation into a prosperous society. And though there was no way of knowing how much he and Matsuda accomplished, Matsuda was hopeful that they "may have done some real good" (pg. 199). When seeing Ono’s dream of making a better Japan and the possibilities of doing something meaningful for the people, it is easy to find his choice was a good one because he had enough courage to take action for his country.

But as the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. His choices could be seen as bad because of the pain that it caused others. Once Ono had become well known for his new art (propaganda) he became the advisor to the Committee of Unpatriotic Activities, but his favorite student, Kuroda, created some art that mocked the new patriotic views of society. Ono informed the committee that Kuroda should be talked to but that suggestion spiraled into turmoil when Ono found Kuroda had been taken to jail where he was beaten, his mother verbally and emotionally molested, and his paintings burned (pgs. 181-183). Because of Ono’s bad choice to mention Kuroda’s small offence to the committee, Kuroda went through a horrible life-changing event.

It is true that there is a gray area associated with the choices Ono has made, he is only human, but where his decisions more good than bad? Personally, I would have to say he made gray decisions, both good and bad. His decisions were made in the best of faith and to the best of his knowledge but he also caused his student pain because he did not think over the effect of his actions. Many would make similar decisions if in his shoes. People who chose to better their country are making a better choice than people who ignore the pain around them. But at the same time Ono made some choices he did not think through and ultimately caused his friend pain. Ono is a human, a "gray person," and he is solid gray, he makes his decisions in the hope that they are the best for him and those around him, sometimes they don’t work out and sometimes they do. Who among us can say that they make decisions that are best for everyone and in the end everyone is content?