Monster in a Ryokan - Analyzing and Connecting

1. It gives the impression that the monsters, in their homeland, can easily avoid causing problems but when thrust into an environment they have not been in before, they become clumsy and unaware, often doing things they should not.

2. Yes, her comparisons are fitting for the story. They work well to describe the huge differences between American and Japanese cultures and why an American would be so terribly out of place.

3. She presents herself as a bumbling clumsy, unaware oaf. A "monster" in the Japanese world. The descriptions of tripping and stumbling and inability to really communicate draw the reader in.

4. It allows us to see that everyone makes mistakes, especially in new places that even we might go so we can learn, grow, and understand.

Summary.

Mary Roach visits japan and stays in a traditional hotel known as a Ryokan. Upon her arrival she is dropped off in the wrong place by the cab and has to try to find her way to the hotel in the rain, trying to communicate with others to get her bearings. When she finally finds the hotel, she walks in and right off does things which Americans do not think anything about that upsets the hotel staff. Throughout her entire first days stay, she continues making such mistakes, until she makes what she thinks is the greatest travesty of all and realizes things can't get any worse before she goes to sleep.