Just Passing Through

            I think the concept of normative time comes into play in the ending between Buzzworm and Emi. Yamashita’s novel, Tropic of Orange, completely debunks the idea of normative time. Because the tropic of cancer, something that is supposed to be permanent, can move, then how can one rely on time being completely linear? A person’s death seems to go along very well with the idea of normative time; however, Emi’s death does not follow suit. Since she dies on camera, her death can be replayed over and over again. This event makes time seem more cyclical than linear.

            After Emi is shot, Buzzwork takes her to the top of the NewsNow truck to die on live, breaking news. As she drifts slowly away, “Buzzworm wondered what could be live in this sense. Emi, on the other hand, lived for this. And it would repeat itself again and again to remind the world what the beginning of the end looked like. In this sense, she would never die” (250). The idea of “beginning of the end” emphasizes the lack of permanence in ending, or death. Emi’s death could forever live on tape, so her life could as well. Technology, such as TV, could immortalize a person’s life, which completely debunks the idea of normative time being linear.

I don’t know why I was so stuck by this ending, but I think it may be the nonchalant attitude towards her death. Emi’s death would enrage the media, but there was no thought to trying to reverse her death; it was imminent. Also, her death would not end what was going on; it would just further the current crisis. This seems to further emphasize the cyclical nature of time. There is no beginning or end, just repetition. As Emi acknowledges, “The Big Sleep. Just cuz you get to the end doesn’t mean you know what happened” (252). How does one know when they arrive at the end? Maybe you never “get” there, maybe death is somewhere you just pass through.