The two characters Isamu and Roku, based on Ichiy Higuchi’s story “The Thirteenth Night,” have similarities and differences in terms of social class. Isamu and Roku are both uneducated. Isamu scored higher in terms of social and economic situations than Roku, who works as a rickshaw puller. They share the same disregard for their families and wives, whom they don’t much care for. Because he had been unable to support her for a long time, Roku’s wife decided to leave him. On the other hand, Isamu, a successful man, has excellent fortune, and his influence aids Oseki’s family in improving their situation. Oseki found it difficult to tell her parents that she intended to divorce Isamu cause of his mental abuse throughout the years. Isamu’s unhappy life is shown as a result of his dissatisfaction with his less educated wife. Isamu’s life is different from Roku’s since he belongs to a superior social group.
During her run with Roku, Oseki realizes that she must continue to stay with her husband in order to avoid becoming homeless like Roku. If Oseki and Roku had chosen each other when they were younger, they would have had a happier life, as opposed to now, because they were both from the same social class. According to Marxist Theory, Oseki’s husband is a wealthy man who mentally abuses her because she comes from a poor family and has a lower level of education then him.
