defining your existence

      Every single choice is ours to make and I personally believe that it is the intention of the action that decide whether it is a good or bad choice. Throughout our life time, each of us will have to make life defining choices. “I exist as a human. In my existence, I define myself and the world around me (Jean Paul Sartre)”.  These choices will greatly define your existence, the surrounding people and even possible a whole nation. The dilemma with the choices is the intention and outcome of the choice. Consider situation where you have good intention and the outcome is bad and vice versa. This brings us to the “in good faith” of Ono of “An Artist of the Floating World” who truly believes his choices are all “in good faith”.

      Sartre presents to us that “In choosing oneself one does not choose to exist: existence is given and one has to exist in order to choose (Jean Paul Sartre).” My interpretation is our existence is base on our choices and our choice is base on our existence. Our choice will define our existence but you will have to exist first to make the choice. A famous quote that I use quite a lot is “you are what we eat” but for this scenario “you are what we do”. Ono, who define himself on the choices he made during his life and it is this choice that he may even consider himself a “hero”. Whereas the people around Ono would consider him a “traitor”.

      Ono decide to take the necessary choice “in good faith” to further improve his country. One of Ono’s “in good faith” decisions involves him tipping officer about Mr. Kuroda. After Ono have tipped the officer, he went to Kuroda’s apartment to see how he is doing. When he got there, he can smell the burning smoke that is “growing ever stronger in his nostrils”. This is probably a sign of regret from tipping the officer about Kuroda. While he is over there, he also defends Kuroda. Talking to the officer, he said “I had no idea something like this would happen. I merely suggested to the committee someone come round and give Mr. Kuroda a talking-to for his own good (Ishiguro).” Ono’s intention for tipping the officers is all “in good faith” but we understand that the outcome did not go the way Ono wanted because he lost one of his closest friend.

      Ono choice to contribute to Japan through his work of art and with his colleague, Matsuda, they both conduct the “New Japan Campaign”. These are choices that Ono made to define his existence in the world he is in. What would be of Ono if he had acted in “bad faith”. According to Sartre: “To act in bad faith is to turn away from the authentic choosing of oneself and to act in conformity with a stereotype or role”. If Ono have chosen the “bad faith” he would have deny himself and his existence. “In good faith”, Ono accept himself with the choices he had made “that” define his existence.

      Ono truly believes that his choices are all “in good faith”. I also believe that the choices he made are all “in good faith”. The outcome of his choices is what makes others see him as a traitor instead of a hero. What is truly amazing about Ono is that he does not let other people opinions sway him away from his choices because he knows he did it “in good faith”. His existence is base on his actions:

      “For indeed, a man who aspires to rise above the mediocre, to be something more than ordinary, surely deserves admiration, even if in the end he fails and loses a fortune on account of his ambitions…if one failed to only where others have not had the courage or will to try there is a consolation – indeed, a deep satisfaction – to be gained from this observation when looking back over one’s life.”

And at the end:

      “It was a profound sense of happiness deriving from the conviction that one’s efforts have been justified; that the hard work undertaken, the doubts overcome, have all been worthwhile; that one has achieved something of real value and distinction.”

     His greatest hours is when he realized that he at least tried to change his country “in good faith” with good intention. That is enough for anyone to resolve that their choice is indeed a good one.