Taylor Kim Examines "Shadows of the Forest"

"Shadows of the Forest" by Asano Yano. One of the stories that were nominated for his writes 2023~2024, and received second place. Shadows of the Forrest is a story that takes the perspective of two characters who struggle through daily life. As the story goes we see the characters grow slowly and slowly with each other. We see that every character is trying to become better, just like our theme this year Kaizen (改善). Transmitting how characters clearly can adapt and find new solutions. So we will be looking at the character web, character desire, and moral arguments. So, let's dig into "Shadows of the Forest."

Character Web

A story is built with characters, a story must continue with more than one character. One character cannot build a story. The characters must improve together throughout the book together. During the story, we see how the character of Rena and her mother are established. Their relationship is very conflicting and sometimes far from establishing. On the other hand, Cora, our second protagonist, has a different conflict between her and her sister Mia. These two characters have different settings and conflicts yet the relationship between these characters grows. They may be strangers who met in the wrong place at the wrong time, but maybe it’s fate that brought them together, not a coincidence. 

Character Desire

Desire is what a character wants through the story, it’s the main goal and achievement the character has to achieve to grow and become better. In the story, we are introduced to two protagonists Cora and Rena. Both characters suffer from events that happen throughout their daily life. Rena suffers from loneliness, while Cora, on the other hand, suffers from bullying. Cora and Rena might seem like they undergo different scenarios, but one this they share is the desire to be accepted by society. It makes us wonder what it means to be accepted by society. Everyone might have a different answer to this question, but the answer is to be accepted by who we are no matter how different it makes us from others. Desire is what drives us and motivates us to grow, like kaizen (改善). It is what drives our character in the dark "Shadows of the Forest."

Moral Arguments

The Moral Argument is the difference between right and wrong. Everyone has a different view on the question of what is right and wrong. Through the story we see how Rena struggles to see it, she thinks that ending her life will be better for her. Rena’s mother, on the other hand, is an alcoholic woman who also struggles to see herself, separating the relationship between her and Rena. We see that Cora and her sister Mia are also having a conflict, their perspective between right and wrong is also different. Showing that moral argument is different for everyone. But, as the story advances and progresses characters try to improve and get better. So maybe there is always a choice, maybe the difference between right and wrong may be different for everyone. However, what matters is the choices and decisions we make.

What do you think? Do you agree with what Taylor says?

Now that you've read Taylor's analysis of Asana Yano's story, why not enjoy "Shadows of the Forest" yourself?