Bewitched Discussion

One of the strongest and perhaps oldest emotions of mankind is fear, and the most intriguing fear is the fear of the unknown. The idea of fear inspires classic and contemporary writers to explore the things that cannot be seen or fully comprehended by human understanding, from the element of fear of the unknown to the exploration of something metaphysical that motivates detachment from life. One of the common themes in relation to fear that is explored in â€Å"Bewitched† is the subject of supernatural.Classified under the supernatural genre, the Bewitched story by Ueda Akinari can be compared to the story of the â€Å"Beauty or the Beast† in contemporary literature where animals are used symbolically to imply something significant about the literature. However, the woman who turned out to be a snake in â€Å"Bewitched† is deeper and harder to explain than the man who became a beast in â€Å"Beauty and the Beast. † This is because the stories of the Japane se writer Akinari were made during 18th century where religion was highly discussed and debated.Human awareness regarding religion or divinity was very limited. In fact, the author’s religious conviction and orientation about paganism is reflected in his works. In a way, the story of â€Å"bewitched† is also like the story of the falling angel â€Å"Lucifer. † Bewitched is aesthetically unique and creative because Akinari initially and creatively delved into how to twist something wonderful into something unappealing yet stimulating.However, aside from this, there are presently limited stories that are similar to Akinari’s Bewitched story. Even in the early 20th century in the West, contemporary literature explored the topic of politics and societal concerns as a means of social movement for public awakening. Most of the contemporary literary pieces nowadays under the horror genre do not touch on the topic of supernatural kind; rather, most of them deal w ith the horrifying side of human nature.