We are rarely ever presented with situations that offer us a clear-cut or simple solution. Rather, in order to determine the truth behind any event, we must seek out all of the information and different versions of a story, which exist, putting together the “truth” based on our own opinions and the various versions, which are presented to us. The movie Rashomon is an excellent interpretation of how we must interpret the truth for ourselves, picking out of a variety of meanings and situations. In the movie, the viewer is presented with three distinct versions of a rape and murder, all told from various witnesses. The accounts are all noticeably different, and, although it would be wonderful to believe that all involved have told the truth, this is simply not the case, as the differences between the three stories would make it impossible for all three to be correct.
As three people relate the accounts at the Rashomon gate in Japan, the first view we are exposed to is the initial story of the woodcutter, who reports that he was coming through the woods and encountered a dead body, subsequently running away immediately and informing the authorities of what had happened. The next story is that of the Buddhist priest or monk, who simply reports having seen the samurai and his wife, as well as the bandit on the day that the murder and rape occurred. However, the plot of the movie begins to move into full swing as we are presented with the story of the bandit Tajomaru, who has raped the samurai’s wife and allegedly murdered her husband.
Tajomaru’s version of the story is one that emphasizes his own personal motivations and morals with regard to the murder. Tajomaru, in his account, tricks the samurai into going with him to a collection of ancient swords, he then overpowers the man and ties him to a tree, going then to get his wife and bring her to the location where he has tied up the man, claiming that he was bitten by a snake. After bringing his wife, Tajomaru rapes the woman, who allows it to happen within view of her husband. After the rape has occurred, the woman begs Tajomaru that both men cannot remain alive. In an honorable manner, Tajomaru sets the samurai free and they begin to fight. In his account, the two fight very skillfully, Tajomaru even mentioned that he “crossed his sword” twenty three times, a feat which no one has previously accomplished. However, in the end, Tajomaru is the victor, and he kills the samurai, after the battle, the woman runs away.
Following a brief interlude, which takes place at the Rashomon gate once again, the viewer, is then given the story of the samurai’s wife. However, while the wife does not go into the details of what happened before her rape, her version of the events, which occurred after, are dramatically different. In her version, Tajomaru leaves after the rape is committed, leaving the man tied up and the weeping on the forest floor. She begs her husband for forgiveness but is given nothing but a heartless stare. She reports that she fainted with the dagger in her hand, awakening later to find her husband dead with the dagger in his chest. In her view, this is an accident, which occurred when she fainted. She later attempts to drown herself but fails.
The next, and somewhat most compelling view comes from the samurai himself. Although dead, his story is communicated to the court through a medium. The samurai claims that after his wife was raped, she begged Tajomaru to take her with him. After he accepts, she asks that he kill her husband, so she will not have to deal with the dishonor of having been with two men. Tajomaru, however, is so shocked by the request that he knocks the woman to the ground and asks the samurai if he would like the woman to remain alive or if he should kill her. The samurai says nothing and his wife runs away while Tajomaru attempts to chase her. After having lost her some hours later, Tajomaru returns and sets the man free. However, the samurai then kills himself with her dagger, then saying that he felt someone “gently remove the dagger from his chest”.
The scene then shifts again back to the frame setting, where the woodcutter admits that his initial story of discovering the body was, in fact, a lie. He tells the other two with him that he witnessed the entire crime. In his version, Tajomaru begs the wife to come with him and marry him. However, the woman makes no response and sets her husband free. The samurai, though, says that he is unwilling to die for such a woman, and that he would rather have his horse back. Tajomaru begins to leave as the samurai scolds his wife for crying. Tajomaru says that the samurai should not treat women in such a way. The samurai’s wife is then filled with anger, saying that the two must fight, because a woman’s love is won only through battle and through the sword. In the woodcutter’s version, the two men fight like children, and engage in a clumsy and laughable fight, Tajomaru finally stabbing his sword into the samurai’s chest.
Of course, when looking at each of the stories that are told, we must not forget that a great deal of personal motivation plays into what the speaker is actually telling us. For example, even in the first story in the move, that of the woodcutter, when he states only that he came upon the body in the wilderness, he is wishing not to be involved with the entire thing, remaining outside of it and not wishing any trouble.
When looking at Tajomaru’s story, it becomes apparent that the bandit would like to make himself seem as honorable as possible throughout the entire version of events. He speaks on the excellence of the samurai as a swordsman, and how the two engaged in a battle that was both powerful and commanding a high level of skill. He also speaks to the nature of his honor as he untied the samurai and allowed him to fight instead of killing him while he remained tied to the tree. Tajomaru, when asked about the location of the woman’s dagger, says that he lost track of it in the scuffle, remarking that it was foolish thing to do. Tajomaru is perhaps acting strongly on the motivation to increase his own character and reputation, he wishes to continue the legends surrounding him, and would make himself the object of power in the story, with the woman asking him to take her, and not the other way around.
Of course, it can also be said that every storyteller who gives us a version in the movie also has his or her own unique motivations for what has happened to the samurai. The wife, for instance, in her version, implies the idea that the man is callous and cold. Her version speaks of how cruel he could be, rejecting the woman he now saw as being tainted. Throughout the movie, it becomes painfully obvious that although equal weight is given to each story presented, whoever is telling the story does so in a manner that removes all personal responsibility from themselves, always placing the blame on others and circumstances that are out of their control or influence. Thus, in the case of the wife, it becomes easy to see how she could somewhat skew the events so that her dead husband appears to be the most evil character in the entire thing.
By strict contrast, when we are presented with the Samurai’s version of events, we see that the woman is portrayed faithless and dishonest. In the samurai’s version, he is a completely innocent man, who is betrayed by his own wife when she asks Tajomaru to murder him and take her with him. However, the audience is also alerted to the idea that dead men cannot tell lies.
However, perhaps the most interesting ideas of motivation come from the woodcutter. As all of the other stories are being told, he adamantly stands by the idea that the samurai was killed by a sword stroke. However, if we put the evidence from what is told to us by the medium and the fact that the man has six children, and takes a seventh in the closing sequence of the movie, we can assume that he did indeed steal the dagger that was used to kill the samurai. The man emphasizes how evil all three of the main characters are in their own right, making out his own intentions to be the best and most honorable.
Despite all of the different versions that are told though, one of the most important questions to ask is whether or not those who are actually telling the stories can distinguish between what is fact and what is fiction. Although it would seem that each would systematically make up ideas and different parts of the story to fit their individual needs, this is most likely not the case. It does not specifically seem that each of the storyteller’s intend to lie or create false ideals about what actually happened that day. Rather, it is much more likely that in the minds of whoever is telling the tale, the events told are actually factual. In such an emotional case as this one, it is likely that the memories of each storyteller were indeed very powerful, and imprinted as the truth on their minds, whether or not the events which are played out in their own minds actually mirror the situation in real life. Often, when presented with a traumatic or meaningful situation, we tend to take our own personal ideas and beliefs from it, in fact creating our own versions of the events that we have just witnessed. It has been said many times that the format of life is a story, and when we attempt to put the events of our lives into story form, it is of no wonder that we each create our own individual stories, thus is the meaning of life, and it what makes our world a good place to live in.
Of course, each and every person who watches Rashomon will tend to form their own version of what happens, as it fits into their own personal ideals and opinions. In order to figure out the truth of the events, which happened that day, each story must be carefully analyzed, and the similarities from each story must be pulled and put together. Based on the idea that no one disputes the beginning of the story or the rape of the woman, that can be taken as fact. Personally, I have some trouble believing that Tajomaru would beg the woman to come with him, and based on her character, it seems far more likely that she would be the one who wished to go with him, or would encourage the two to fight. Also, we can assume that based on the testimony of the husband, he felt no love or even attraction to his wife after the incident, so it does not seem hard to believe that the woodcutter’s version is, to this point, the most accurate. However, based on how the woodcutter insists that the man was killed with a sword, attempting, perhaps to hide his own actions in all of this, we can also assume that the woodcutter did indeed take the dagger. Thus it seems that the man’s version was fairly accurate, it seems that his is what comes the closest to being the most believable, although it is told in what most would regard as an unbelievable and totally unreliable form. Thus, in my own personal views, I believe that the events followed very similar to the samurai’s version of events, it finally being the woodcutter who pulled the dagger from his chest.
Even when we do finally find our own version of the truth in Rashomon, however, we must still not label it immune from our own personal motivations and ideals. Personally, based on the character of the woodsman and the idea that he has now seven children to take care of and feed, it seems to be exceedingly harsh to consider his taking of the woman’s dagger to be wrong, even if it was pulled from the chest of a dead man. Of course, this is not a particularly respectable action, but it seems justified in that he would be taking from a woman who obviously has much to provide for his children. Even if we could possible consider his actions as evil, his adopting of the baby at the end of the story puts his actions into a completely new light, and seems to offer a sort of redemption for him at the conclusion of the stories events.
