At the end of Seventeen Syllables, Mrs. Hayashi implores her daughter to promise her that she will never get married. After suffering a great defeat at the hands of her husband who has destroyed her prized hiroshige, Mrs. Hayashi tells Rosie the truth behind her marriage- that it was simply “an alternative to suicide.” Yet, her marriage seems itself to be a kind of death for her as she is forced to be submissive to a man who is unequal to her in intellect and spirit. She wishes to spare her daughter this fate, although it is an unrealistic request probably made in vain.
Leslie Bowen
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