In a Grove

E181243

"In a Grove" is a seminal short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa that presents a murder through multiple conflicting eyewitness accounts, exploring the nature of truth and perception.

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In a Grove canonical 1

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Predicate Object
instanceOf literary work
short story
adaptedAs basis for Akira Kurosawa’s film Rashomon
author Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
centralTheme epistemological uncertainty
guilt and responsibility
subjectivity of perception
the relativity of truth
unreliable narration
containsCharacterType Buddhist priest
bandit
medium
samurai
samurai’s wife
woodcutter
countryOfOrigin Japan
criticalReception regarded as one of Akutagawa’s masterpieces
firstPublicationYear 1922
firstPublishedIn Shincho magazine
form frame narrative without a single authoritative version
genre crime fiction
modernist fiction
mystery fiction
psychological fiction
influencedWork Rashōmon
surface form: Rashomon (1950 film)
influenceOnCulture origin of the term "Rashomon effect"
literaryMovement Taishō period literature
mainCharacter Masago
Tajōmaru
Takehiro
modeOfTelling testimonies to a magistrate
narrativeStructure multiple first-person testimonies
narrativeTechnique testimony-style monologues
unreliable narrators
originalLanguage Japanese
plotDevice conflicting eyewitness accounts
plotElement investigation of a samurai’s death
questionExplored how personal motives distort memory and testimony
whether objective truth about an event can be known
setting a grove near Kyoto
studiedIn Japanese literature courses
world literature curricula
subject honor and shame
marital betrayal
murder investigation
timePeriodOfSetting Heian-era Japan (approximate/evoked historical period)

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Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa notableWork In a Grove