Temple of the Golden Pavilion Chapter 4

Tsurukawa is almost in tears when he asks Mizoguchi if he really could be so cruel as to step on a woman. I think Tsurukawa wants to believe that Mizoguchi is too kind, when in actuality he is an evil, disturbed individual. Mizoguchi is so conflicted by his actions because he is not sure whether he should admit that he did indeed cause the woman to have a miscarriage or not. When Mizoguchi lies to his friend Tsurukawa he says, "the pleasure of lying openly to my friend for the first time was quite sufficient to make my knees tremble." According to his statement it seems that Mizoguchi honestly seems to experience a feeling of evil pleasure for keeping a secret from his only friend. Mizoguchi's mind is opened to a new way of thinking when he meets Kashiwagi. Kashiwagi seems to accept himself the way that he is and he does not believe in sugar coating anything, he is very straight forward and tells things as they are. Mizoguchi thinks he can become friends with Kashiwagi because they are both social outcasts. In Kashiwagi's story he tells of how some things in life are not all that they are made up to be. For example, love to Kashiwagi was not a real thing. Although his mind set probably developed from his condition, Mizoguchi can relate and sees his thinking as sensible.