Silence Shusak Endo Analysis

1803 Words4 Pages

Is betrayal as black and white as one sees it to be or is there a time, at which, it becomes more a shade of grey? Like Jeff Keuss, the writer of “The Lenten Face of Christ”, I will approach Silence looking for a theme that not only shows up throughout the entirety of the book but also allows me to look at the theme and make a conclusion about the entirety of the story. In Silence, by Shusaku Endo, the reader sees a constant theme of betrayal come up. We see the Christians faced with becoming an apostate, as well as specifically the Jesuit Priest Rodrigues, being betrayed by Kichijiro, as well as having his mentor Father Christovao Ferreira “betray” his faith, as well as Rodriguez himself eventually recounting his faith. The entirety of this …show more content…

In the beginning Adam and Eve betrayed God, Kane killed Abel, Brutus betrayed Cesar, Judas betrayed Jesus, and so on and so forth. Major movies and books have their plot centered around betrayal. Betrayal is even prominent in human lives. Moreover it is something that humans have experienced and seen throughout their entire lives. Even when someone hears this word “Betrayal” we are left with a bad taste in his or her mouths. To Christians, more than likely, the betrayal of Jesus is the first and the worst one they can think of, the savior who came to save man, but was killed because a man’s, Judas, eventual betrayal. Throughout “Silence” we see the idea of betrayal come up time after time. On top of that theme we see the events of Judas and Jesus central to Rodrigues’ life. He had his mentor Ferreira leave the faith and become and apostate, as well as Rodrigues himself being betrayed by someone he thought to be his friend, and finally his own road to become and apostate so that he could live. In the beginning Rodrigues went from a man who thought that Jesus hated or disliked Judas because of his betrayal, which helped form, his theology towards his mentor as well as Kichijiro. This theology was not only questioned throughout the book and his real life, but is something that changed drastically. He thought he was like a Jesus figure in the lives of these betrayers but learned very quickly that this was nowhere near to the …show more content…

For Judas was in anguish as you are now “ In the End Rodrigues learns that he is Judas. The man he thought Jesus hated and disliked was he. He learned that the “betrayal” he once saw, as black and white, was not so straightforward after all. Because of his fear of betrayal of the church, “You refuse to do so. It's because you dread to betray the Church. You dread to be the dregs of the Church, like me.” Many people died. He learned that he was like Kichijiro in so many ways. He always said it was something that he could never do. In the end the relationship between Judas and Christ, that he thought he knew so well, he learned that he knew nothing about it. Christ did not hate the betrayal or the betrayal. Even though Judas had betrayed him he did not want him to suffer and live in misery. He simply wanted him to live at peace. Jesus came for the sinners like you and I. He truly wants the best for us even if we don’t see it in our current place. Christ does not go silent in the end and leave us in our misery. He came to Rodrigues and told him it’s okay to become and apostate. Something that Rodrigues could not understand because throughout the entire story he could not understand how this was okay in anyone’s eyes, much less Christ. In the end the question that comes to fruition is, was apostasy okay if it saved lives, in the end was it more Christian to denounce so that he could

Open Document