Yukio Mishima's The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea
In Yukio Mishima’s The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, only three main characters are present – Noboru, a misguided youth; his widowed mother, Fusako; and his mother’s lover, the sailor Ryuji. All other characters exist solely to complement these three key people and to further emphasize their qualities by acting as foils. With only three personalities to develop, Mishima is able to deeply explore the inner workings of the son, the mother, and the sailor. In doing this, Mishima weaves an emotional thread from the reader to each individual character. Because of this bond, no protagonist or antagonist can exist in the text. By creating this intrinsically linked trinity to exist, the novel becomes an emotionally wrought journey in which the reader is pulled in many directions. By only allowing for the development of Noboru, Fusako, and Ryuji, Mishima leads to reader to forge three contradictory bonds which allows for emotional investment and a semblance of association for the novel.
Noboru, arguably the primary main character, is not the most developed, but certainly the most explored. Because of his young age, his mind (and therefore his character) can not be brought to the level which Fusako and Ryuji eventually reach. In spite of this, his fundamental views are firm throughout the novel. Even when plotting his murder, Noboru was aware that he is committing a wrong-doing against Ryuji. “‘What’s wrong number three?’ Noboru was gasping for breath, his mouth utterly dry as if stuffed with straw: he couldn’t answer” (Mishima 165). His love for both Ryuji and Fusako remain unwavering despite his contradictory actions against them. As the leader plotted R...
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...ndures the obvious loss of her husband and, though we do not see the eventual results, loses Ryuji in what she believes to be abandonment. Without realizing it, she has also lost her son to brutality and violence. As each character is eventually affected by conflict and loss, the reader feels these disputes on all three levels. By exploring only the three primary characters of son Noboru, mother Fusako, and sailor Ryuji, Mishima allows for their fundamental link to stretch to the reader as well.
Works Cited
Mishima, Yukio. The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. Trans. John Nathan. New York: Wideview/Perigee, 1965.
Tai, Wilson. Casting female stereotypes in the Pacific Rim. 30 Nov. 2001. University of California - Santa Cruz. 29 Oct. 2003
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Tamura, Takeshi. Japanese Boys and Men: Are they different or same? Cultural considerations. 28 Oct. 2003 .
The author shows the reader the sea just as the sailor does as death, but more than death
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Ogawa, D. (1993) The Japanese of Los Angeles. Journal of Asian and African Studies, v19, pp.142-3.
Japanese society has many beliefs and rituals and women are always secluded from many aspects of ritual life. Women are also forbidden to enter in sacred places although these prohibitions are vanishing. The modern society has defined all social roles in terms of hierarchy such as domination of men over women it is common virtually in all setting that women be subordinated to male as household heads (Countries and their Culture 2014:14). Despite the legal changes on the principle of family structure regarding education and labor equity, there ...
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Boyle, Jenny. "Asian and Asian American Stereotype." 13 Oct. 2000. Online posting. Suite101.com. 6 Apr. 2001.
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In this book review I represent and analyze the three themes I found the most significant in the novel.
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Western Washington University (2011). US / Japan culture comparison. Retrieved February 9, 2014, from www.wwu.edu/auap/english/gettinginvolved/CultureComparison.shtml
Mishima, Yukio. The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. New York: Knopf, 1965. Print.