Memoirs of a Geisha; Chapters 26-30

When Sayuri was given Hatsumomo's bedroom, I was so happy. Hatsumomo is crazy. She gets what she deserves by being kicked out of the okiya. She attacked another geisha because the man she was entertaining wasn't paying enough attention to her. I sort of feel bad for her, though. She was crazy, but she didn't pick that lifestyle. She was sold when she was young just like Sayuri and Satsu were. Hatsumomo just didn't adjust to the lifestyle as well, or maybe she adjusted too well. She liked having everything her way and when Sayuri messed that up for her she just lost it. I suppose it was actually sort of smart to choose General Tottori as Sayuri's danna because when the war finally breaks out he keeps the okiya up and running for a couple years. He gets arrested though, and the okiya has to fend for itself. Soon the rations get the best of Gion and the entire district is shut down. All the geisha's run to their dannas to try and get help. General Tottori, though, says that he can't help Sayuri and that she'll have to fend for herself. That made me pretty angry because he is supposed to take care of her, thats basically his job. I never liked the General, though, so my opinion is rather biased. Most of the geisha's seem to have the same problem, though. Even Mameha's danna, the Baron, leaves Mameha to fend for herself. Many of the geisha in Gion are sent to work in factories and many die from bombings. That would be quite a shock to go from being a geisha to a factory worker in one days time. Luckily Nobu San comes out of nowhere to help Sayuri. He sends her to live with someone he has known for a long time until the city is safe for her to return to. While she lives with Nobu San's friends she works as a fabric dyer. I'm proud that Sayuri is a pretty good sport about the whole thing. She doesn't act stuck up like Hatsumomo would have. She is still a good worker. It would be awful to have to see a war. I know that the United States has been involved in quite a few wars, but I have never had bombs going off in my backyard. Sayuri had to witness American soldiers invading and other soldiers dying. She saw factories and whole towns destroyed. That would probably horribly depress me, but she just keeps working until Nobu San comes back to get her. He isn't very kind to her. All he can see is how she doesn't look very pretty and he's disappointed in her. I was glad that he came back to get her, but at the same time it's very sad. It would be hard to go back to a city completely changed. Also being a geisha would never be the same. The city was filled with American soldiers who were much more disrespectful than the men geisha were used to entertaining. Nobu San needed Sayuri's help, though. He is trying to win over the support and financial aid of a man in order to get their electrical company back up and running. The minister is reviewing their company and he needs to give his approval to have the company reopen. Sayuri doesn't really want to help Nobu San because he doesn't want him to be her danna, but she basically owes him her life. Sayuri is also excited to see the Chairman. Reading about her love for him sort of got annoying. She wanted to be with him so bad, but she couldn't really do that much about it. I still find it strange that she devoted everything she did in her life to him. He must have been really great..