"To Reach Japan"
"To Reach Japan" by Alice Munro is a short story about the transformative properties of transportation. At its simplest, the action involves a woman (Greta) and her daughter (Katy) taking the train to house-sit for a friend in Toronto, Canada. The train holds a variety of meanings to Greta throughout the story. The visualizations I created illustrate how the train is a setting and character that brings out Greta's inner conflict, with a clear, definite switch in the way she understands the train and her position on it during the story's climax.
"Train" as lover
At the beginning of "To Reach Japan," the train provides an opportunity for Greta to escape her role as a wife to her husband Peter. Obsessed with a man she met once at a writer's party, Greta sends her train information to him, hoping they will meet again during her time in Toronto. The train is a fantasy of romance, thrill, and youth. While on the train, Greta is swept up in the excitement of infidelity and she sleeps with an actor named Greg, described as a "young man" (10). In the first fourteen pages of the story, the train is a space for Greta to be who she wants to be, a way to distance herself from her husband, and a place where she has sexual agency and freedom. As a transitional space, it allows her to feel as if there are no consequences for her behavior. Her identity is no longer rooted in her home, but in motion. The train opens up opportunities for change, growth, and surprises. It gives Greta the chance to perceive herself as a young woman embarking on a romantic pilgrimage to a mysterious man. She is experiencing the train as a lover.
"Train" as mother
However, we must not forget that Greta's daughter, Katy, is accompanying her. Greta puts aside Katy's needs for her own, putting her to bed while she sleeps with Greg, and afterwards, Katy is nowhere to be found. When Greta flies into a panic and goes to look for her, the language around the train shifts. It is now a space of danger. Here the tension reaches its highest point in the text, as Greta sees the train for the energy afterlife it is. The train becomes an unfamiliar vehicle as Greta experiences it through the lens of a mother: "There you could feel the train's motion in a sudden and alarming way" (15). The realization of the physics behind the train's movement and the power it holds creates maternal fear, as it is a monstrous machine compared to a small child. Greta's romantic fantasy comes to a halt as she is forced to confront her responsibility over Katy. The train now provides the conflict of the story, showing Greta the consequences of her actions. If she is to be romantically and sexually fulfilled, her relationship with her daughter must be sacrificed to the train. This category could also be labeled "train" as punishment.
Visualizations
My graph demonstrates the shift in connotations around the word "train" between the first fourteen pages and the last four pages of the story, with the change happening when Katy gets lost on the train. Visualizing the data in a simple graph clarifies the abrupt turning point, and the graph can also be read as a map of Greta's increasing anxieties throughout "To Reach Japan," which illuminates how the word "train" is entwined with Greta's emotions. My word clouds depict the difference of importance in words such as "train," "Greta," and "Katy," before and after the turning point as well. As the word "train" becomes more prominent proportionally, so do other words that indicate the fear and tension Greta feels when her child is lost, such as "where," "stopped," "took," and "open." Words like "party" and "man," which are common in the first 14 pages, decrease drastically in usage. The word clouds present a fuller picture of the story that lends more context to the graph. Looking at "To Reach Japan" from these different angles allows for the reader to understand how the train itself is a vessel for Greta's transformation, instead of a mere setting for action. The energy afterlife that emboldens Greta to cheat on her husband is the same energy afterlife that makes her realize her duty as a mother. The agency of the train lies in how it carries Greta and Katy into the future, no matter how much Greta may want to escape from her daughter and herself.
Bibliography
Munro, Alice. "To Reach Japan." Dear Life: Stories. Knopf, 2012.