Seeing, Choosing, Living

The Character of Rain

This flow develops the book's idea that life begins when attention selects one thing and excludes others.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

Eyes Without Sight Eyes Without Sight from "The Character of Rain". Eyes Without Sight Seeing as a capacity The narration begins by distinguishing eyes from the experience of sight.

Eyes Without Sight from "The Character of Rain". Eyes Without Sight Seeing as a capacity The narration begins by distinguishing eyes from the experience of sight.

Eyes Without Sight Seeing as a capacity The narration begins by distinguishing eyes from the experience of sight. A living eye does more than remain open; it apprehends something. Life requires attention Sight matters because it fixes awareness on one object rather than every object at once. Perception becomes an early measure of life’s engagement with the world.

The Unseeing Tube The Unseeing Tube from "The Character of Rain". The Unseeing Tube A gaze without selection The infant's eyes remain open, but the child appears to perceive nothing.

The Unseeing Tube from "The Character of Rain". The Unseeing Tube A gaze without selection The infant's eyes remain open, but the child appears to perceive nothing.

The Unseeing Tube A gaze without selection The infant's eyes remain open, but the child appears to perceive nothing. Nothing in the environment draws a visible choice or reaction. Life suspended The Narrator (God) is described as an unseeing Tube, existing without the acts of attention that distinguish a living subject. Stillness makes the boundary between life and nonlife uncertain.

The Fury of Refusal The Fury of Refusal from "The Character of Rain". The Fury of Refusal A first rejection When the child suddenly screams and kicks, the family witnesses unmistakable resistance.

The Fury of Refusal from "The Character of Rain". The Fury of Refusal A first rejection When the child suddenly screams and kicks, the family witnesses unmistakable resistance.

The Fury of Refusal A first rejection When the child suddenly screams and kicks, the family witnesses unmistakable resistance. The Narrator (God) is no longer passively receptive to every circumstance. Refusal as life The outburst suggests that life begins with the ability to object. Anger is difficult for the family but marks a decisive separation between self and surroundings.

Attention in the Garden Attention in the Garden from "The Character of Rain". Attention in the Garden Choosing a subject The child studies flowers, rainbows, and trees while treating the garden as a world organized around its gaze.

Attention in the Garden from "The Character of Rain". Attention in the Garden Choosing a subject The child studies flowers, rainbows, and trees while treating the garden as a world organized around its gaze.

Attention in the Garden Choosing a subject The child studies flowers, rainbows, and trees while treating the garden as a world organized around its gaze. Attention gives particular things a distinct presence. Power and limitation The child believes that flowers answer commands, but Kashima-san’s indifference cannot be overcome. Choosing what to see does not mean controlling how another person responds.

A Choice Beneath Water A Choice Beneath Water from "The Character of Rain". A Choice Beneath Water A narrowed field Underwater, the Narrator (God) chooses to look at bamboo and experiences the scene as beautiful and calm.

A Choice Beneath Water from "The Character of Rain". A Choice Beneath Water A narrowed field Underwater, the Narrator (God) chooses to look at bamboo and experiences the scene as beautiful and calm.

A Choice Beneath Water A narrowed field Underwater, the Narrator (God) chooses to look at bamboo and experiences the scene as beautiful and calm. The child’s attention excludes the fear that had shaped the earlier drowning. Choice tested by survival The apparent freedom to accept death is interrupted by Nishio-san’s rescue. The episode complicates the idea that choosing an experience is the same as being able to determine its outcome.

At the opening, before the Tube is named

During the Narrator (God)'s first two years

At age two

Spring 1970, after speech begins

August 1970, during the koi-pool crisis