This blog post compares ‘The Last Song’ and ‘Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship’, analyzing the distinct characteristics of coming-of-age novels and the differences in personal growth depicted through their respective social contexts.
Preface
Just as people have diverse tastes in music, each person has their own favorite novels and preferred genres. The thrill and emotion I felt when I first read Hisashi Nozawa’s ‘Last Song’ this year are difficult to convey with my limited writing skills. Nevertheless, the reason this book moved me more than others was that it wasn’t a conventional love story; rather, the dreams of young people, their wanderings while pursuing those dreams, and their process of growth resonated with my own dreams and evoked empathy. This book is a relatively unknown work of modern Japanese fiction with virtually no related research, and few people in Korea are even aware of its existence. Therefore, defining its genre through comparative analysis and studying its commonalities and differences holds considerable significance. This book depicts the growth of young people and can be defined as a coming-of-age novel for several reasons. Before proceeding, let us examine what constitutes a coming-of-age novel.
The coming-of-age novel is defined as follows: “A coming-of-age novel is a work that deals with the inner growth process of a young person. It unfolds the ideals and the process of their frustration during youth, a time when the passion for self-realization is stronger than ever and the potential for it is greatest, thereby expressing the author’s personal yet universal educational ideals.” Furthermore, regarding the coming-of-age novel, it adds: “Such coming-of-age novels contain two elements reflecting the author’s worldview. One is the protagonist’s personal growth story, and the other is the author’s critique and insight into the essential problems of the era that influence the protagonist’s education.”
‘Last Song’ possesses the characteristics of a coming-of-age novel mentioned above, as it depicts the personal growth stories of its young protagonists while reflecting the social conditions and issues of Japan at the time and offering critique and insight into them. The philosopher Wilhelm Dilthey, who systematically defined the history and concept of the Bildungsroman, stated that Goethe’s works show human maturation occurring through multiple stages, characters, and the flow of life, and that he wished to name novels of the same category as ‘Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship’ as Bildungsromane. He defined this novel as one depicting the process of maturing through diverse experiences in the struggle with reality, recognizing one’s mission in the world, and discovering the self. As Dilthey noted, ‘Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship’ is a quintessential example of the coming-of-age novel, making it an appropriate reference point for analyzing the characteristics of ‘The Last Song’ as a coming-of-age novel through comparison.
Therefore, this blog post aims to analyze, through comparison with ‘Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship’, the specific aspects in which this novel possesses coming-of-age characteristics and the points where it differs from other coming-of-age novels. Although it is a work not widely known to the public, since the analysis focuses on the work’s characteristics and provides a general introduction to its content, a detailed explanation of the novel’s plot is omitted.
Comparative Analysis with ‘Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship’
Comparative Analysis of the Works on the Level of Personal Growth
While coming-of-age novels are typically divided into three stages—wandering, maturation for internalization, and a worldly paradise—this blog post will use the term ‘achievement’ instead of ‘paradise’. This is because the word ‘paradise’ conveys the idea of reaching an ideal state, which fits ‘Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship’ but not ‘The Last Song’, where characters find their own paths through maturation.
In ‘Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship’, the protagonist Wilhelm grows through the three stages of wandering, maturation, and arrival. Enchanted by theater, Wilhelm falls in love with an actress named Marianne, but upon discovering she is an unfaithful woman, he is shocked and sets off on a journey. During this time, he encounters a theater troupe, reignites his passion for theater, and makes it his profession. Even afterward, recognizing the limitations of theater, he continues through a period of wandering and aimlessness. Wilhelm’s wandering is well revealed in his confession about the past: “I stayed too long. Looking back on the time I spent with them feels like gazing into an endless void. Nothing remains for me from that time.”
The protagonists of ‘Last Song’ also grow through the three stages of wandering, maturing, and arrival. Unlike ‘Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship’, their first stage of wandering is achieved through music rather than theater. The three protagonists—Shukichi, leader of a popular local house band; Rinko, an employee at a regional broadcasting station; and Kazuyo, who works as a national railway employee alongside his father—unite through music. They spend their wandering period touring between Tokyo and the provinces. Their wandering and conflicts reach a climax when Kazuyo goes missing just before a performance.
In ‘Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship’, the process of maturation occurs not only through theatrical experience but also by stepping out of the theatrical world and entering the Tower Society. Wilhelm’s inner maturation is achieved through the religious world and the nun’s diary pursuing absolute inner autonomy, as well as the education within the Tower Society. The worlds of religion and education revealed through this become catalysts for Wilhelm’s inner maturation and also serve as structural turning points in the work.
In ‘Last Song’, maturity is achieved through the series of events where Rinko finds and persuades the missing Kazuyo, leading to Kazuyo’s return and her taking the stage. The conflict among the trio, who had been creating discord ahead of their major performance before 13,000 people, reaches its peak when Kazuyo goes missing just before the show. Rinko tells Kazuyo, who fears change, to change and choose her own path. “You can’t choose together. With Kazuya’s legs, with my legs… it’s a path you choose alone.” Hearing this, Kazuya returns to the concert hall, and the trio part ways. This process effectively depicts the protagonists ceasing their wandering and drifting, and maturing.
In ‘Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship’, the process of attainment is symbolically revealed through marriage. Lee Bo-young, Jin Sang-beom, and Moon Seok-woo note that Wilhelm’s journey to his ideal is achieved through marriage to the classical woman Natalie, whose character harmonizes practical activity with sublime inner qualities. This symbolizes his ultimate goal: a return to the practical world of citizens and the completion of his education. Wilhelm’s youthful wanderings and aimlessness are overcome through inner maturation achieved via theater and education, and he ultimately reaches his final completion through marriage to Natalie.
In ‘Last Song’, the process of attainment is achieved through music, not marriage. Realizing they must part to move forward, the three protagonists, having undergone a process of inner maturation, bid farewell and begin new lives. Their parting and new beginnings are embodied through Kazuyo’s final song, ‘Last Song’. “I am alone now. Today I learned for the first time that being alone is this lonely, this frightening, this cold. I sing. This is the Last Song for that friend.“ Kazuyo’s final song signifies their arrival at the terminus of the path they walked together, while simultaneously symbolizing the start of their individual journeys anew. Listening to Kazuyo’s song, Rinko says, ”From now on, we’ll walk our own paths. Kazuyo’s Last Song is still playing.” I rose from my seat, turned my back on the stage, and began walking down the aisle. My journey begins now.” While the three protagonists do not reach a stable world like marriage, they complete their shared journey and arrive at a turning point in life—the start of new lives. The difference in the utopias reached in the two works clearly reflects the differing social landscapes and worldviews of the authors, which will be analyzed in more detail later.
On the level of personal growth, it is not unreasonable to say that both works possess the three common processes of wandering, maturation, and arrival, thus fulfilling the structure of a coming-of-age novel. However, unlike ‘Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship’, ‘Last Song’ concludes not with reaching an ideal paradise, but with each character embarking on a new path. While one might argue that ‘Last Song’ does not qualify as a coming-of-age novel if such novels are defined by the three stages of wandering, maturation, and paradise, considering the concept of the coming-of-age novel as a story depicting Wilhelm Dilthey’s process of discovering and maturing his self through diverse experiences amid struggles with reality, the final stage need not necessarily be the utopian paradise but could also be the arrival at a new turning point. What is crucial is that the process of maturing through diverse experiences within reality is revealed within the novel.
Furthermore, ‘Last Song’ differs from ‘Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship’ in that it depicts the three protagonists maturing together. This is because ‘Last Song’, utilizing music as its subject matter, needed to show mutual communion through it. The process where the dreams of these three protagonists and surrounding characters interlock and come to fruition is why it differs from the growth process in ‘Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship’.
Comparative Analysis of the Works at the Societal Level
‘Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship’ is a work by Goethe published in 1829, a monumental work that took over 50 years to complete. The historical backdrop included the French Revolution (1789) and the formation of Germany’s patriarchal principalities, which necessitated the emergence of a bourgeoisie. The French Revolution, the turbulent social changes within Germany, and the humanistic enlightenment ideology advocating the development of the natural essence inherent within humans gave birth to the coming-of-age novel in Germany, emphasizing the process of inner maturation. In his work, Goethe presents Wilhelm’s journey toward maturity through his education in the Tower Society and his marriage to the ideal woman, Natalie. Na Byung-chul argues that the Tower Society Wilhelm joined symbolizes the reform process of advancing society while endlessly resisting the rigid structures of capitalism internally. It proposes resolving the contradictions of a rapidly changing society through the completion of inner cultivation. This stems from the influence of the aforementioned German humanistic ideas of education on Goethe. In other words, Goethe’s ‘Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship’ reveals the rapidly changing social landscape of the bourgeois revolution and industrial revolution through the story of the wandering Wilhelm, and Goethe suggests that this can be overcome through cultivation and harmony.
The social landscape of Japan’s economic stagnation, known as the Lost Decade, is well reflected in the wandering of the three protagonists and the surrounding characters in ‘Last Song’, published in 1994. The band’s formation, challenges, and failures represent the plight of young Japanese people adrift in economic stagnation. Shukichi’s band, once united by the dream of music, repeatedly fails and drifts, seemingly painting the dreams and aimlessness of Japanese youth in this era. Through this portrayal, the author critiques the apathy of Japanese youth at the time, encouraging readers through the three young men’s resolve and self-discovery at the novel’s end. However, Hisashi does not propose reform through cultivation and harmony, as Goethe did. Through the three protagonists finding their own paths via parting at the novel’s end, the author urges young people to overcome frustration and live their own lives. This stems from Hisashi’s value system, which desires that external problems be resolved by standing up and confronting them directly through self-discovery, rather than through the completion of inner cultivation and refinement. Nevertheless, the differences between these two works stem not only from the authors’ worldviews but also from the contrasting social realities of their times: Germany, where humanistic thought was taking root amidst rapid structural revolution, versus Japan, where the primary issue was prolonged economic stagnation rather than nationwide structural reform.
Conclusion
Thus far, we have analyzed the structure and characteristics of ‘Last Song’ as a coming-of-age novel through comparison with ‘Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship’, and examined the differences between the two works stemming from the contrasting social contexts and authors’ worldviews. Both works exhibit the three-stage structural characteristics of the coming-of-age novel: wandering, maturation, and arrival, and share the commonality of revealing the author’s worldview through the protagonists’ inner growth.
However, on the personal growth dimension, differences emerged: the final stage reached in each work differs—an ideal paradise versus a new turning point; and the dreams and growth achieved in each work differ, being Wilhelm’s individual growth versus the growth of Shukichi, Rinko, and Kazuyo. On the social dimension, numerous differences were evident. Reflecting the historical contexts in which the works were written and the authors’ respective worldviews, the societal landscapes depicted and the solutions proposed by the authors differed significantly.
Whether it’s the pursuit of education and harmony or self-discovery through overcoming frustration, there may not be a single definitive solution. However, the fact that both authors sought to positively influence the world through their works and presented their own solutions elevates the value of these works and makes studying them meaningful. I analyzed ‘Last Song’, a novel relatively unfamiliar to us, and attempted to define its genre based on this analysis. I would like to add that this was done to gain a deeper understanding of the work and to hear the author’s voice, based on the commonalities and differences that can be identified by comparing this modern novel, accessible in our surroundings, with the classic ‘Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship’.
