The Japanese culture values the elderly. Appreciation for elders has been ingrained in families and their children. Many Japanese families have several generations living under one roof. This arrangement is believed to be one of the many reasons the elderly in Japan live longer than any other population. The population is comprised of more people over the age of 65 than any other group which is believed to be derived from the social standard of caring for authority and elders over caring for yourself.
The author addresses this standard early in the novel as the reason the narrator meets Sensei from vacationing to the beach with a friend who is telegraphed to return home for his mother is supposedly ill. Many Japanese students leave home for their studies but must quickly leave in the circumstance that an elder in their family requires care.
As the narrator begins to grow a closer bond with Sensei he is immediately torn between his relationship with his father and the fact that sensei has become somewhat of a father figure to him. This is apparent throughout the novel as the narrator's father grows ill in the height of Sensei and the narrator's relationship. The narrator struggles to keep his focus towards caring for his father as the unattainability of knowledge of sensei burdens him.
With the suicidal tone of the letter from Sensei, the narrator is torn between the fragility of his father and sensei. He must make make the decision to either stray from the social standards and abandon his father or remain true to his culture. In the end he strays from his culture.
