Throughout history, artists have used art as a means of reflecting the activities of the society around them. Often, novels serve as a primary source for the future for students to reflect on past history. Students can successfully use novels as a source of understanding of past events. Different feelings and points of view in the novels serve as information that one can use to think about these events. The novel Kokoro by Natsume Soseki successfully summarizes much of what was discussed in class, draws parallels to events occurring in Japan at the time of the novel, and serves as a social commentary to describe these events occurring in Japan at the time of the novel. period of the Mejeii restoration and beyond. . Therefore, Kokoro successfully serves as a primary source that students can use to enable them to understand institutions such as the contradictory views of whites by the Japanese, the role of women, and the popular analysis of the emperor. Kokoro opens with the Japanese portrayal of a white man. narrator. The narrator speaks of the Westerner as a non-threatening individual who swam with his Sensei. He described the Westerner as wearing Japanese clothes, following directions, and acting like Sensei does, swimming among other Japanese people. The narrator does not describe himself as being frightened or threatened, but he does feel overwhelmed by the feeling of thinking that this particular Westerner was "quite extraordinary." (Soseki 1957, p. 4). This stands in stark contrast to many of the early depictions of Westerners. For example, Duus describes the Japanese as referring to Westerners as "red-haired barbarians." This was also described in class discussions as we looked at paintings of Japanese individuals who demonized Westerners and caused them to end up in the middle of the paper......e Mejeii Restoration and beyond. Therefore, Kokoro successfully serves as a primary source that students can use to enable them to understand institutions such as the contradictory views of whites by the Japanese, the role of women, and the popular analysis of the emperor . As can be seen, a novel can serve as a primary source that students can use to dissect and examine real historical events, even if the novel is fiction. Kokoro successfully accomplishes this and helps students understand the Meiji Restoration and the times surrounding this era in Japan. Works Cited Duus, Peter. Modern Japan. Second edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998. Sievers, Sharon L. Flowers in Salt - The Beginnings of Feminist Consciousness in Modern Japan. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1983. Soseki, Natsume. Kokoro. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing Inc..., 1957.