it could be that the subject of a painting has greater agency in how their image would turn out, one which is suppressed when the image is captured instead by camera of which is rigid in the way it produces images, with no room for deviation from the process. A mass reproduction and reproducibility of art requires sacrificing the flexibility and freedom that classical art possesses, both of which lends different kinds of creativity and dynamics between artists and subjects.

referring to stage presence as aura is an interesting choice when comparing films (especially silent films) and stage plays. I wlll agree that mechanically/mass reproduced art lose some of its connection to its audience in mediums such as acting and performance despite its arguable functionality and accessibility.

referring to stage presence as aura is an interesting choice when comparing films (especially silent films) and stage plays. I wlll agree that mechanically/mass reproduced art lose some of its connection to its audience in mediums such as acting and performance despite its arguable functionality and accessibility.

It's also quite interesting how non-Japanese nations and cultures are portrayed and engaged with within the text. The boyfriend, implied to be non-Japanese, is the most sinister element in the story. He seems to come from a wealth unknown to the author or the girl and brings with him "illegal" influences like marijuana. he is also racially ambiguous, with descriptions of him nearly never talking about physical appearance (save for the one about his beard and mustache growth). In relation to this, the author doesn't seem to be fazed at all by anything about him except his barn burning activities.

I think its alluded that the relationship of the girl and the author is the "barn" burnt. Her boyfriend says he targets barns "... all by itself beside the ocean, a barn in the middle of a rice paddy... Give me fifteen minutes and ill burn them clear to the ground. So it looks like there was never any barn to begin with". The girl herself is detached from others; the first thing we know about her is that she is apathetic to social constraints (like not hanging out alone with an older married man) and having "no real friends" as her boyfriend described. Whatever relationships she does have she engages minimally with, as seen with her using the inheritance from her late father to go on a holiday instead of saving it up with what little money she makes, showing she is also apathetic to her own life. However, her boyfriend also states that its "other people's barns' he burns. It could be to make him more suspicious and that this detail doesn't really matter, or that this contrast to the theme of detachment is key to understanding the mystery. Because even if those barns he burnt were all alone, they did belong to somebody. And burning them is still so taboo an act he had to watch out for police.

Anyways I think the author's wife got suspicious and hired someone to tail the girl and the author, then separate them, possibly through blackmail.