Benitez 1 Christopher Jan Benitez CL242 Ms.

Lily Rose Tope June 3, 2013 The Order of Discontent: The War against Banality in Yukio Mishimas The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea Introduction Considered as one of Japans most gifted writers, Yukio Mishima has be come popular with the darkness and depravity he conveys through his literature. In The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, Mishima weaves a blunt yet effective narrative about Ryuji, a man of the sea, who was drawn back to the land by Fusako to a life of convention, much to the dismay of people who admire, especially Noboru, Fusakos son. Despite the title already suggesting the defeat of the male protagonist, the story is not about the inevitable fall from grace. Rather, the story delves deep into the manner how Ryuji left a life of freedom only to be encaged by marriage and the responsibilities attached with it. In this tale of a mans downward spiral, this paper aims to relate certain events in the life of Mishima before and during the writing of The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea to the characters in the book as representation of Mishimas discontent with Japan. In particular, this paper will focus on the ideology espoused by Noboru and the gang as a counter-reaction to the uselessness of lives in the characters of the novel. Using these tropes, this paper will use the image of True Japan as discussed by Kano Tsutomu in relation with the ordinariness of Japanese life in the novel that reinforces what the identity of Japan really is.

Benitez 2 The True Mishima To see Mishima become the author of Japanese literary classics, one must look back to his formative years as a romantic, where his admiration to the decadence featured in Raymond Radiguet and Oscar Wildes works laid the foundation of things to come. The latters play Salom is one of Mishimas favorite due to the portrayal of death (the passing away of a handsome youth) and blood (St. John the Baptists decapitated head) as divine. Hints of this beautiful decay that fascinated Mishima in the written text are shown in his first published work Hanazakari no Mori in 1941 as installments in a literary magazine. The five-part series details the lives of ancestors of an aristocratic lineage in history. The beauty of the novel, as Zenmei Hasuda (a vehement nationalist and a schoolteacher friend of Shimizu) puts it, has something to do with the nostalgia of historical Japan as opposed to their current period. The language used in the work, brimming with memories that were absolved of the crudeness exhibited by current Japan, helped in getting his point across as a writer well above his contemporaries. More importantly, the maturity of the series can be seen through the pessimism of its characters (Stokes 89). After the last installment of Hanazakari no Mori, Japan was forced to go to war, as Mishima puts it (Stokes 90), when the American Fleet was attacked in Pearl Harbor by carrierborne aircraft, which sparked the Pacific War. It was a period of time that historian and Mishimas friend Bunzo Hashikawa believed explains why the author decided to commit suicide at his peak, again showing how Mishima views death as a beautiful thing. During this period, Mishima associated himself with a group of literary nationalists called the Bungei Bunka. The group was led by Zenmei Hasuda, a man 21 years the elder of Mishima whom the latter truly respected. Hasuda was responsible in getting Mishima on board with the

Benitez 3 group to not only connect with like-minded people in the literary field, but also fed with the belief that the war is holy. The elder also believe that, [O]ne should die young in this age. To die young, I am sure, is the culture of my country. ( Stokes 93) This statement was drawn from his study of Otsu-no-Miko, a Japanese classic of a tragic prince in the seventh century. This statement alone carries enough reason to believe that Mishima shares the same view with Hasuda about death and destruction, that which is a part of Japan that makes it beautiful. Mishimas involvement with the Bungei Bunka led to th e formation of the Nippon Roman-ha (Japanese Romanticists), which furthered their belief of the Sacred war. Led by Yojiro Yasuda and his rhetorical gift, the group took the belief of holy war too far even for Mishima. Said Jun Eto in one of his conversation with Henry Scott Stoker, author of The Life and Death of Yukio Mishima, They believed in the value of destruction and ultimately in self-destruction. They valued purity of sentiment, though they never defined this; and they called for preservation of the nation by purging selfish party politicians and zaibatsu [business] leaders. They believed that self-destruction would be followed by reincarnation, linked mysteriously with the benevolence of the Emperor. The Japanese, they considered, were superior to all other peoples. (Stokes 94) Nonetheless, Mishima was intrigued enough to collect Roman-ha works, in particular Shizuo Itos, for the group. The works produced by the Nippon Roman -ha which drew from the 19th century Romantic movement, Marxism, and kokugaku (nationalism derived from the thoughts of 18th century thinker Norinaga Motoori) had great influence during the war and was encouraged by the Japanese leaders.

Benitez 4 Yasuda continued to provide leadership for the group, whose ideas reaffirmed Mishima s beliefs as to why he joined the group in the first place. Yasuda held that historical reality was unimportant and that the emotion aroused by events was more interesting than the events themselves. He argued that it was irrelevant whether a hero was righteous or not. The enlightened man would not commit himself. For such a being, there could be neither decisive defeat nor complete victory; he would be both winner and loser in any game. (Stokes 95) Mishima used all the knowledge acquired from his affiliations with such people that shaped his thinking. Images of death and destruction have become staple parts of his work, especially seen in the Sea of Fertility tetralogy. In The Sailor, Mishima focused more on using these images to make way for life. The True Japan To fully understand the social commentary of Mishima in this novel, we need to delve deeper into what it means to be Japanese. In his essay In Search of an Identity, Kano Tsutomu discusses the disillusionment that postwar Japan experienced, which led to which stems from how Japan has adopted western practices into their culture to mixed results. Tsutomo mentioned United States, a country that Japan looks up to in terms of foreign relations and areas of defense, and their weakening influence going into the 70s that culminated in the Nixon shocks. Before that, America occupied Japanese soil after the war, leaving the Japanese people enraged as they yearned for independence. As part of their turning against the Americans, Japanese turned to indigenous values and culture as their source of nationalism and identity in these confusing times. The increased attention toward Yanagita Kunio and his folklore

Benitez 5 studies using indigenous concepts and tools is testament to Japans need to call something th eir own in these trying times. The transformation of Japan into a westernized country in an Asian continent (a stranger in a strange land of sorts) was made to look worse when compared to China, whose distinct Eastern values and integrity has remained intact throughout this period in time. These factors caused Japan to internalize and reevaluate what their real identity is. Chinas resistance to Western civilization appeared in the eyes of Japanese modernizers to be an act of stubborn backwardness. Later Japanese claims to leadership in Asia were indeed based on the assumption of that superiority. In other words, Japan rejected identification with backward Asia and sought the strength of westernization entitled it to lead Asia. Modern Japan has been neither fully Western nor fully Asian and yet it has aspired to be more than full membership in both. (Tsutomo 9) Tainted Japan This is evident in The Sailor by the time the narrator introduces Rex, Ltd., the luxury shop situated at the Yokohama district that was owned by Fusako, Ryujis object of affection. The description of the place does not necessarily center in on American influences, but more of how Fusako has forsaken the Japanese identity in place of multitude of design elements from different corners of the globe. The Moorish architecture of the small two-story building was distinctive; the Mosque window set into the thick white wall at the front of the shop always contained a tasteful display. Inside, an open mezzanine much like a veranda overlooked a patio of imported Spanish tile. A small fountain bubbled in the

Benitez 6 center of the patio. A bronze Bacchus, some Vivax neckties carelessly draped over its armsthese were priced so as to discourage any would -be buyer. (Mishima 24) Aside from the aesthetics of Rex, Ltd., the shop emphasized on fine quality for their products that consist of gloves, bag, leather, and sweaters imported from Italy and France. The affluent lifestyle that Fusako displayed in the novel is an example of post-WWII Japan and its attempt to indigenize concepts outside their culture and make it their own. Throughout the duration of the novel, the prominence of these western element s in Fusakos home and shop takes away the elusive Japanese identity that Tsutomo was referring to. To the Japanese romanticist the nation is not simply a collectivity of individuals; it is an entity that transcends the people both in time and space. The emperor is the symbol of that transcendence, that eternity, rather than of the people, no matter what the postwar Constitution says. This concept of the nation as a suprahistorical entity does not readily submit to logical analysis, but it is very real to Japanese, nevertheless. This concept should not be regarded as exclusively right-wing, but as something broadly Japanese. The True Japan has long been lost, perhaps even before the end of the Second World War. It still exists, however, somewhere in the depths of the Japanese mind, and every time the pendulum swings inward, this image is called back into active service. (Tsutomo 4) This True Japan, as mentioned by Mishima prior to his suicidal stage in life, happens to be the dormant identity that the Japanese has long keep to itself as they adapt to the changes in society. In this case, The True Japan within Fusako is well hidden and wont surface anytime

Benitez 7 soon. Even the company that she surrounds herself with in Yoriko displays the kind of ideals that Tsutomo points out in his quote above. A struggling actress and Fusakos loyal customer, Yoriko obsesses over wining an award for her thespian chops that she would offer her body to the jury if it would help her case. This kind of attitude and display in The Sailor is symbolic to turning their backs on everything Japanese by holding on to these attachments. True Japan, pure and unadulterated True Japan is embodied by Noborus group led by a thirteen year-old boy they refer to as chief and Ryuji, the main protagonist of the novel. Raised in good homes, performs well in school, and eats packed lunches, what brings the group together is their opinion of the uselessness of Mankind, the insignificance of Life. (40) It is easy to dismiss their concerns as petty, especially when a member of the groups complains about their mother not buying him an air rifle because it is dangerous, but the chief offers profound insight about the definition of danger, thus blurring the lines to a rather dry-cut problem. Real danger is nothing more than just living. Of course, living is merely the chaos of existence, but more than that its a crazy mixed -up business of dismantling existence instant by instant to the point where the original chaos is restored, and taking strength from the uncertainty and the fear that chaos brings to re-create existence instant by instant. You wont find another job as dan gerous as that. There isnt any fear in existence itself, or any uncertainty but living creates it. And society is basically meaningless, a Roman mixed bath. And school, school is

Benitez 8 society in miniature: thats why were always being ordered around. A bunch of blind men tell us what to do, tear our unlimited ability to shreds. (Mishima 51) From this quote by the chief, we can draw how the current status quo has upset the group and much of this disdain is caused by the use of fear as drive to control and suppr ess societys natural inclinations. For the chief, its not merely the fact that the parents didnt buy their son an air rifle, but the entire social structure promotes this kind of culture that casts fear on people to the uncertain. Despite the certainty of death, everybody wants to delay it by taking precaution and compromising to their situations for the sake longevity. This mindset espoused by society upsets the group very much as their view death as beautiful glory. One of the major points of discussion that stemmed from the ideology of a broken society is how Noboru looks up to Ryuji, the sailor and the main protagonist of the novel, as his hero. What made him become a seaman is his own disdain towards land. The unmoving landscapes forced him to ride the ship and experience the exotic places. Regardless, his feelings towards the sea changed as well. He grew indifferent to the lure of exotic lands. He found himself in the strange predicament all sailors share: he belonged neither to the land nor to the sea. Possibly a man who hates the land should dwell on shore forever. Alienation and the long voyages at sea will compel him once again to dream of it, torment him with the absurdity of longing for something that he loathes. Ryuji hated the immobility of the land, the eternally unchanging surfaces. But a ship was another kind of prison. (Mishima 18) The last sentence captures the essence of Ryuji as the reluctant hero, which plays a significant role later as the novel progresses. There is nothing that land and sea can offer him

Benitez 9 expect the boredom and sameness that both locations pose. At face value, he has a desirable occupation allowing them to navigate through different locations on his way to new experiences. However, the experience of being an actual sailor made him realize that he is trapped in a bigger unmoving landscape. We can see this more in the lines of his favorite popular music song I Cant Give Up the Sailors Life: The whistle wails and steamers tear, Our ship slips away from the pier. Now the seas my home, I decided that. But even I must shed a tear. As I wave, boys, as I wave so sad At the harbor town where my heart was glad. (Mishima 17-18) Readers will see that based from his favorite song, Ryuji is not completely sold into becoming a sailor because he still feels something towards the land. Throughout the entire novel, Ryuji is torn between his two desires as he interplays his romance with the sea and exchanges it with the fatalism of land. Symbolically, his original desire to leave the land can be seen as a way of escape from the post-WWII Japan that has glorified Western ideals and adopted them to their culture. But once he was exposed to the boredom and ennui that the sea offered him, he began his introspection on how the land and sea helped him find love through Fusako. It was the sea that made begin thinking secretly about love more than anything else; you know, a love worth dying for, or a love that consumes you. To a man locked up in a steel ship all the time, the sea is too much like a woman. Things

Benitez 10 like her lulls and storms, or her caprice, or the beauty of her breast reflecting the setting sun, are all obvious. More than that, youre in a ship that mounts the sea and rides her and yet is constantly denied her. Nature surrounds a sailor with all these elements so like a woman and yet he is kept as far as a man can be from her warm, living body. (Mishima 41) During the course of their relationship, Ryuji underwent a transformation that saw him being part of the sea for a greater purpose to just having the sea as conduit to his realization that there is no glory to be achieved in this vast freedom of raging waters. At first, he was hesitant to release himself from the freedom he held dear while he was with Noboru: What am I supposed to be doing here on a summer afternoon? Who am I, sitting in a daze next to the son of a woman I made last night? Until yesterday I had my song the seas my home, I decided that and the tears I cried for it, and two million yen in my bank account as guarantees of my reality what have I got now?(Mishima 69) Part of this process is Ryuji getting acquainted with the elements of the land the newfound relationship he has built with Fusako and the residual responsibility of becoming a paternal figure to Noboru were slowly but surely settling in his mind. All of these things are foreign to him since he hasnt had this kind of opportunity in life before, for the sea is all he ever known. But when the sea unraveled further empty thoughts and hopefulness despite the freedom it offers, Ryuji was led to idea of parting ways with the sea and everything it represents: Are you really going to give it up? The feeling of the sea, the dark, drunken feeling that unearthly rolling always brings? The thrill of saying goodbye? The sweet tears you weep for your song? Are you going to give up the life which has

Benitez 11 detached you from the world, kept you remote, impelled you toward the pinnacle of manliness? The secret yearning for death. The glory beyond and the death beyond. Everything was beyond, wrong or right, had always been beyond. Are you going to give that up? His heart in spasm because he was always in contact with the oceans dark swell and the lofty light from the edge of the clouds, twisting, withering until clogged and then swelling up again, and he unable to distinguish the exalted feelings from the meanest and that that not mattering really since he could hold the sea responsible are you going to give up that luminous freedom?(Mishima 110-111) The tug of war between his feelings towards the land and sea can be compared to how Japan adapted to foreign concepts to survive globalization at the expense of their identity. This is perhaps the True Japan that Mishima preached about and not the incorporation of foreign cultures to adapt to the changing landscape of society brought by the changing of guard in post-WWII. True Japan, therefore, is the idea of an uncompromised culture and the ability to subsist despite the isolation. The sea allows Ryuji to feel the emptiness and, at the same time, power of being able to overcome it once the ship sails away from land. However, as the story progresses, Ryuji is bound to leave the sea for land. This part explains the greatness that Noboru, Fusakos son, saw in Ryuji his ability for independence and sustainability without having to change himself. For Noboru, he sees greatness in the adventure of travelling from one place to another, the weathering of the rough tides, the burning of the skin under the glaze of the sun. In other words, it is the isolation from the insipidness of society to try and prolong their existence by living through the motions is makes Ryuji special in the eyes of Noboru and the gang. His admiration to Ryuji as a sailor is prevalent

Benitez 12 with their conversations about the Rayuko, Ryujis ship, and the main exports of different countries Ryuji visited. On the other hand, the hopelessness of everything, the lack of direction toward this greatness found in death that Ryuji is talking about, is a belief shared by Noboru in the first part of the book. At thirteen, Noboru was convinced of his own genius (each of the others in the gang felt the same way) and certain that life consisted of a few simple signals and decisions; that death took root at the moment of birth and mans only recourse thereafter was to water and tend it; that propagation was a fiction; consequently, society was a fiction too; that fathers and teachers, were guilty of a grievous sin. Therefore, his own fathers death, when he was eight, had been a happy incident, something to be proud of. (Mishima 8) Noboru and the gang made their belief towards all fathers more known later in the book: They stand in the way of our progress while they try to burden us with their inferiority complexes, and their unrealized aspirations, and their resentments, and their ideals, and the weaknesses theyve sweeter -than-honey dreams, and the maxims theyve never had the courage to live by theyd like to unload all that silly crap on us, all of it! Even the most neglectful fathers, like mine, are no different. (Mishima 137) Once Ryuji drifted away from the sea as he returned to land before New Year to not only celebrate the turn of the year with Fusako and Noboru, but also propose marriage to Fusako and not return to the ship for a long time, his transformation into fatherhood took place. This is evident by the way how Noboru updates the group about Ryuji the hero upon his return:

Benitez 13 Ryuji read the silly novels and art books Fusako recommended and he studied English conversation, a class each night on television and a text empty on nautical terms; he listened to Fusako lecture on problems of store management; he learned to wear the smart English clothes she lavishes to him; he has suits tailored, and vests, and overcoats; and thenhe began going in to the shop every day. (Mishima 135) Through these actions, Ryuji embraces everything we turned his back from not long ago. He is trying to integrate himself into society by doing all these things, all that alienated and drove him to the sea. As Ryuji devotes his time to Fusako, he is transformed to something that the gang detests just like Fusako. The western sensibilities that werent able to touch Ryujis face tanned by the sun and the simple turtleneck he wore are taking hold of him now that hes settling down. Charges against Ryuji according to Noboru Just as Ryuji was integrating himself to Fusakos household for the first time by deciding on unlocking Noborus door at night to give him freedom to exercise his better judgment, Noboru interprets it as something else, which also reveals more about the ideologies espoused in their group. His uneasiness at being in the unlocked room made him shiver even after he had buttoned his pajamas to the neck. They were beginning his education, a terrific, destructive education. Trying to force maturity on a thirteen-year-old boy. Maturity or, as the chief would call it, perversion. Noborus feverish brain was pursuing an impossibility: Is there no way that I can remain in the room and at the same time be out in the hall locking the door? (Mishima 143)

Benitez 14 In some ways, Noboru being locked in his room run parallel with how Ryuji is marooned at sea with his ship. There are able to escape how society dictates people to become. Despite being confined in their prisons, both experience the same kind of freedom as they embrace loneliness and rid themselves from the social structure in search of a greater glory. This marks as one of the charges out of five that Ryuji has committed against Noboru and the group. Earlier, he has already listed down two charges: CHARGES AGAINST RJUYI TSUKAZAKI One: smiling at me in a cowardly, ingratiateing way when I met him this noon. Two: wearing a dripping-wet shirt and explaining that he had taken a shower in the fountain at the park just like an old bum. Mishima (81) Regarding the first two charges, Ryujis action was triggered by his recollection as a child. Closing the mouth of the fountain with his thumb, he squirted a fan of water at the dahlias and white chrysanthemums languishing in the heat: leaves quivered, a small rainbow arched, flowers recoiled. Ryuji reversed the pressure of his thumb and doused his hair and face and throat. The water trickled from his throat to his chest and belly, spinning a soft, cooling screen an indescribable delight. (Mishima 46)

Benitez 15 This simple joy he experienced in the fountain shows that how Ryuji has attachments of his own in the land, much to the chagrin of Noboru: Why how did your shirt get sopped like that? What, this? The artificial smile spread over his face again. I took a little shower at the fountain up there in the park. (Mishima 47) The artificial smile was an ominous sign, as far as Noboru is concerned. While he admired Ryuji for what he represents as a sailor, there were hints with Ryujis character that was not consistent with the image that Noboru and his group created for him. There are two more charged added later after winter: Three: answering, when I asked when he would be sailing again: Im not sure yet. Four: coming back here again in the first place (Mishima 105) This comes into fruition after Noboru was caught by Fusako peeping at Ryuji from the hole in his room. Whereas most parents would be furious, disturbed, and even disgusted by what Noboru has being doing, Ryuji took the high road. He talked to Noboru like an understanding adult would talk to a teenager by explaining the curiosities involved in growing up, as well as the changes of having Ryuji around all of a sudden to marry Fusako. There was no high drama as Ryuji was able to diffuse the situation like a real adult. In other words, Ryuji is now a father. Now Ryuji was obliged to reach a fathers decision, the first decision about shore life had ever been forced to make. But his memory of the seass fury was tempering his critical notons (sic) of land and the landsman with inordinate mildness, and his instinctive approach to problems was therefore thwarted. To

Benitez 16 beat the boy would be easy enough, but a difficult future awaited himhe was expected in some vague, general way to comprehend the incomprehensible feelings of the mother and child and to become an infallible teacher, perceiving the causes of a situation even as unconscionable as this one: he was dealing here with no ocean squall but the gentle breeze that blows ceaselessly over the land. (Mishima 156) This was the final charge and the most devastating that Ryuji committed to Noboru and the gang. He is satisfied. Noboru felt nauseous. Tomorrow Ryujis slavish hands, the hands of a father puttering over carpentry of a Sunday afternoon, would close forever the narrow access to that unearthly brilliance which he himself had once revealed. (158) The glory of skinning a cat Due to Ryujis plans of getting married to Fusako and settling down as a father, the gang decided to do something drastic to save Ryuji from this meandering kind of life to achieve glory through death. They have practiced murder by first skinning a cat and gutting its innards. Barring the gruesome details ahead, it is more important to focus on the product of their carnage, as Noboru internalized after witnessing murder that is nonetheless a significant piece that brings their ideology into flesh. Now his half-dazed brain envisioned the warmth of the scattered viscera and the pools of blood in the gutted belly finding wholeness and perfection in the rapture of the dead kittens large languid soul. The liver, limp beside the corpse, became a soft peninsula, the squashed heart a little sun, the reeled-out bowels a white atoll,

Benitez 17 and the blood in the belly the tepid waters of a tropical sea. Death had transfigured the kitten into a perfect, autonomous world. (Mishima 61) The imagery of tropics further the notion of Ryujis vision to glory in the sea, but the bigger picture connotes that death is a way to salvation from a decaying world thats lost its identity into paradise. Moreover, the chief brought up the law that children less than 14 years of age are not punishable by law. This law justifies their intention of murdering Ryuji as a testament to their beliefs. If they let Ryuko pursue his plans of leaving the sea, then the gang will have failed. The chief offers inspired words to the gang as they expressed skepticism in killing Ryuji: If we dont act now we will never again be able to obey freedoms supreme command, to perform the deed essential to filling the emptiness of the world, unless we are prepared to sacrifice our lives. And you can see that its absurd for the executioners to risk their own lives. If we dont act now well never be able to steal again, or murder, or do any of the things that testify to mans freedom. Well end up puking flattery and gossip, trembling our days away in submission and compromise and fear, worrying about what the neighbors are doing, living like squealing mice. And someday well get married, and have kids, and finally well become fathers, the vilest things on earth! (167) This part in the novel is essential in showing how True Japan is represented by kids on the cusp of teenage life. By killing Ryuji, the gang is able to maintain the idea of glory that was once lived by Ryuji as a seaman. Most importantly, unlike adults, who will be persecuted by committing murder, the gang will be absolved for their actions. This is perfect opportunity for them to take part in the fight against the emptiness the world has turned into.

Benitez 18 As their plan takes flight by taking Ryuji to an abandoned U.S. Forces Installation, they forced some stories out of Ryuji about his adventures in the sea. As he recalled his experiences with the sea, Ryuji realizes the glory he sacrificed for the sake of being on land with Fusako: The dark passions of the tides, the shriek of a tidal wave, the avalanching break of surf upon a shoal,an unknown glory calling for him endlessly from the dark offing, glory merged in death and in a woman, glory to fashion of his destiny something special, something rare. At twenty he had been passionately certain: in the depths of the worlds darkness was a point of light which had been provided for him alone and would raw near someday to irradiate him and no other. (180181) The Japanese identity within Ryuji overcame his longing moments away from death just after he sipped the tea that the chief gave him, Still immersed in his dream, he drank down the tepid tea. It tasted bitter. Glory, as anyone knows, is bitter stuff. (181). Conclusion While the novel fails to reveal whether or not Ryuji was murdered and killed by the gang, it becomes immaterial in the grander scheme of things. Ryuji returns to the point where he was torn between having the life in the sea or land, it becomes apparent in the last few lines of the novel that he may have done a mistake by leaving life in the sea. Despite the dark images that depict the sea, Ryuji attaches fond memories with his experiences as a seaman. The isolation provided by the sea, marooned from mans feeble attempts to make their lives worth something, is the ultimate glorification of life that eventually leads to ones demise. This is what Ryuji forgot along the way when he met Fusako and decided settling on land and letting his heart dictate his actions the glory of death in this meaningless and meandering life.

Benitez 19 By way of art imitating life, it could be said that Mishima is pushing for a political agenda in writing this novel, given the fact that he is a staunch supporter of True Japan and what it means to be truly Japanese. Noboru and his gang represent the resistance to an unfulfilling life, even if their means and ideology may be viewed as extreme or nihilistic. There is reason to believe the way they did, especially considering the nature of what post-WWII has become. Instead of clinging on to the countrys identity, Japan sought help from outside influences to reinvent itself and subsist in a globalized society, much like how the father is seen in the novel as dampening the spirit of individualism out of people. The idea of a nihilistic existence as viewed by Noboru and his group is a tool to magnify the problem that Japan is undergoing. It is not that life in general is useless, but, rather, the ordinary life of a Japanese person as seen in the novel is useless. They have attachments on land, afraid of living life to the fullest, and are bound by the rules and guidance of those who think they know better. Fathers, in particular, are depicted as those who insist on a life that reflects their vision and that it is impossible to think otherwise. Theyre suspicious of anything creative, anxious to whittle the world down into something puny they can handle. A father is a reality-concealing machine, a machine for dishing up lies to kids, and that isnt even the worst of it: secretly he believes that he represents reality. (Mishima 136) What the ideology presented by Noboru and gang presupposes is that people fear the alternative. Whereas fathers and society in general provide a clear-cut path on how to live their lives, what if theres an alternative that debunks everything they believed in? What if, instead of living meaningful life to the fullest, there is ultimately nothing but glorious death?

Benitez 20 Mishima pushes simply for the banality of the ordinary life as represented by the father. Their care and compassion is seen as a hindrance in ones becoming. Because of their guidance, people started living in fear of the unknown and lived off to what people say on how one should their lives.

Benitez 21 Works Cited Napier, Susan Jolliffe. "The Bitter Taste of Glory: The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea." Escape from the Wasteland: Romanticism and Realism in the Fiction of Mishima Yukio and Oe Kenzaburo. Cambridge, MA: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1991. 118-25. Print. Nathan, John. Mishima: A Biography. Boston: Little, Brown, 1974. Print. Scott-Stokes, Henry. The Life and Death of Yukio Mishima. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1974. Print. Tsutomo, Kano. "Why the Search for Identity." Introduction. The Silent Power: Japan's Identity and World Role : 10 Incisive Essays by Leading Japanese Social Scientists Selected from the Japan Interpreter. Tokyo: Simul, 1976. N. pag. Print.

Benitez 1 Christopher Jan Benitez CL241 Ms. Lily Rose Tope June 3, 2013 The Order of Discontent: The War against Banality in Yukio Mishimas The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea Introduction Considered as one of Japans most gifted writers, Yukio Mishima has become popular with the darkness and depravity he conveys through his literature. In The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, Mishima weaves a blunt yet effective narrative about Ryuji, a man of the sea, who was drawn back to the land by Fusako to a life of convention, much to the dismay of people who admire, especially Noboru, Fusakos son. Despite the title already suggesting the defeat of the male protagonist, the story is not about the inevitable fall from grace. Rather, the story delves deep into the manner how Ryuji left a life of freedom only to be encaged by marriage and the responsibilities attached with it. In this tale of a mans downward spiral, this paper aims to relate cer tain events in the life of Mishima before and during the writing of The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea to the characters in the book as representation of Mishimas discontent with Japan. In particular, this paper will focus on the ideology espoused by Noboru and the gang as a counter-reaction to the uselessness of lives in the characters of the novel. Using these tropes, this paper will use the image of True Japan as discussed by Kano Tsutomu in relation with the ordinariness of Japanese life in the novel that reinforces what the identity of Japan really is.

Benitez 2 The True Mishima To see Mishima become the author of Japanese literary classics, one must look back to his formative years as a romantic, where his admiration to the decadence featured in Raymond Radiguet and Oscar Wildes works laid the foundation of things to come. The latters play Salom is one of Mishimas favorite due to the portrayal of death (the passing away of a handsome youth) and blood (St. John the Baptists decapitated head) as divine. Hints of this beautiful decay that fascinated Mishima in the written text are shown in his first published work Hanazakari no Mori in 1941 as installments in a literary magazine. The five-part series details the lives of ancestors of an aristocratic lineage in history. The beauty of the novel, as Zenmei Hasuda (a vehement nationalist and a schoolteacher friend of Shimizu) puts it, has something to do with the nostalgia of historical Japan as opposed to their current period. The language used in the work, brimming with memories that were absolved of the crudeness exhibited by current Japan, helped in getting his point across as a writer well above his contemporaries. More importantly, the maturity of the series can be seen through the pessimism of its characters (Stokes 89). After the last installment of Hanazakari no Mori, Japan was forced to go to war, as Mishima puts it (Stokes 90), when the American Fleet was attacked in Pearl Harbor by carrierborne aircraft, which sparked the Pacific War. It was a period of time that historian and Mishimas friend Bunzo Hashikawa believed explains why the author decided to commit suicide at his peak, again showing how Mishima views death as a beautiful thing. During this period, Mishima associated himself with a group of literary nationalists called the Bungei Bunka. The group was led by Zenmei Hasuda, a man 21 years the elder of Mishima whom the latter truly respected. Hasuda was responsible in getting Mishima on board with the

Benitez 3 group to not only connect with like-minded people in the literary field, but also fed with the belief that the war is holy. The elder also believe that, [O]ne should die young in this age. To die young, I am sure, is the culture of my country. ( Stokes 93) This statement was drawn from his study of Otsu-no-Miko, a Japanese classic of a tragic prince in the seventh century. This statement alone carries enough reason to believe that Mishima shares the same view with Hasuda about death and destruction, that which is a part of Japan that makes it beautiful. Mishimas involvement with the Bungei Bunka led to the formation of the Nippon Roman-ha (Japanese Romanticists), which furthered their belief of the Sacred war. Led by Yojiro Yasuda and his rhetorical gift, the group took the belief of holy war too far even for Mishima. Said Jun Eto in one of his conversation with Henry Scott Stoker, author of The Life and Death of Yukio Mishima, They believed in the value of destruction and ultimately in self-destruction. They valued purity of sentiment, though they never defined this; and they called for preservation of the nation by purging selfish party politicians and zaibatsu [business] leaders. They believed that self-destruction would be followed by reincarnation, linked mysteriously with the benevolence of the Emperor. The Japanese, they considered, were superior to all other peoples. (Stokes 94) Nonetheless, Mishima was intrigued enough to collect Roman-ha works, in particular Shizuo Itos, for the group. The works produced by the Nippon Roma n-ha which drew from the 19th century Romantic movement, Marxism, and kokugaku (nationalism derived from the thoughts of 18th century thinker Norinaga Motoori) had great influence during the war and was encouraged by the Japanese leaders.

Benitez 4 Yasuda continued to provide leadership for the group, whose ideas reaffirmed Mishimas beliefs as to why he joined the group in the first place. Yasuda held that historical reality was unimportant and that the emotion aroused by events was more interesting than the events themselves. He argued that it was irrelevant whether a hero was righteous or not. The enlightened man would not commit himself. For such a being, there could be neither decisive defeat nor complete victory; he would be both winner and loser in any game. (Stokes 95) Mishima used all the knowledge acquired from his affiliations with such people that shaped his thinking. Images of death and destruction have become staple parts of his work, especially seen in the Sea of Fertility tetralogy. In The Sailor, Mishima focused more on using these images to make way for life. The True Japan To fully understand the social commentary of Mishima in this novel, we need to delve deeper into what it means to be Japanese. In his essay In Search of an Identity, Kano Tsutomu discusses the disillusionment that postwar Japan experienced, which led to which stems from how Japan has adopted western practices into their culture to mixed results. Tsutomo mentioned United States, a country that Japan looks up to in terms of foreign relations and areas of defense, and their weakening influence going into the 70s that culminated in the Nixon shocks. Before that, America occupied Japanese soil after the war, leaving the Japanese people enraged as they yearned for independence. As part of their turning against the Americans, Japanese turned to indigenous values and culture as their source of nationalism and identity in these confusing times. The increased attention toward Yanagita Kunio and his folklore

Benitez 5 studies using indigenous concepts and tools is testament to Japans need to call something their own in these trying times. The transformation of Japan into a westernized country in an Asian continent (a stranger in a strange land of sorts) was made to look worse when compared to China, whose distinct Eastern values and integrity has remained intact throughout this period in time. These factors caused Japan to internalize and reevaluate what their real identity is. Chinas resistance to Western civilization appeared in the eyes of Japanese modernizers to be an act of stubborn backwardness. Later Japanese claims to leadership in Asia were indeed based on the assumption of that superiority. In other words, Japan rejected identification with backward Asia and sought the strength of westernization entitled it to lead Asia. Modern Japan has been neither fully Western nor fully Asian and yet it has aspired to be more than full membership in both. (Tsutomo 9) Tainted Japan This is evident in The Sailor by the time the narrator introduces Rex, Ltd., the luxury shop situated at the Yokohama district that was owned by Fusako, Ryujis object of affection. The description of the place does not necessarily center in on American influences, but more of how Fusako has forsaken the Japanese identity in place of multitude of design elements from different corners of the globe. The Moorish architecture of the small two-story building was distinctive; the Mosque window set into the thick white wall at the front of the shop always contained a tasteful display. Inside, an open mezzanine much like a veranda overlooked a patio of imported Spanish tile. A small fountain bubbled in the

Benitez 6 center of the patio. A bronze Bacchus, some Vivax neckties carelessly draped over its armsthese were priced so as to discourage any would-be buyer. (Mishima 24) Aside from the aesthetics of Rex, Ltd., the shop emphasized on fine quality for their products that consist of gloves, bag, leather, and sweaters imported from Italy and France. The affluent lifestyle that Fusako displayed in the novel is an example of post-WWII Japan and its attempt to indigenize concepts outside their culture and make it their own. Throughout the duration of the novel, the prominence of these western element s in Fusakos home and shop takes away the elusive Japanese identity that Tsutomo was referring to. To the Japanese romanticist the nation is not simply a collectivity of individuals; it is an entity that transcends the people both in time and space. The emperor is the symbol of that transcendence, that eternity, rather than of the people, no matter what the postwar Constitution says. This concept of the nation as a suprahistorical entity does not readily submit to logical analysis, but it is very real to Japanese, nevertheless. This concept should not be regarded as exclusively right-wing, but as something broadly Japanese. The True Japan has long been lost, perhaps even before the end of the Second World War. It still exists, however, somewhere in the depths of the Japanese mind, and every time the pendulum swings inward, this image is called back into active service. (Tsutomo 4) This True Japan, as mentioned by Mishima prior to his suicidal stage in life, happens to be the dormant identity that the Japanese has long keep to itself as they adapt to the changes in society. In this case, The True Japan within Fusako is well hidden and wont surface anytime

Benitez 7 soon. Even the company that she surrounds herself with in Yoriko displays the kind of ideals that Tsutomo points out in his quote above. A struggling actress and Fusakos loyal customer, Yoriko obsesses over wining an award for her thespian chops that she would offer her body to the jury if it would help her case. This kind of attitude and display in The Sailor is symbolic to turning their backs on everything Japanese by holding on to these attachments. True Japan, pure and unadulterated True Japan is embodied by Noborus group led by a thirteen year-old boy they refer to as chief and Ryuji, the main protagonist of the novel. Raised in good homes, performs well in school, and eats packed lunches, what brings the group together is their opinion of the uselessness of Mankind, the insignificance of Life. (40) It is easy to dismiss their concerns as petty, especially when a member of the groups complains about their mother not buying him an air rifle because it is dangerous, but the chief offers profound insight about the definition of danger, thus blurring the lines to a rather dry-cut problem. Real danger is nothing more than just living. Of course, living is merely the chaos of existence, but more than that its a crazy mixed -up business of dismantling existence instant by instant to the point where the original chaos is restored, and taking strength from the uncertainty and the fear that chaos brings to re-create existence instant by instant. You wont find another job as dangerous as that. There isnt any fear in existence itself, or any uncertainty but living creates it. And society is basically meaningless, a Roman mixed bath. And school, school is

Benitez 8 society in miniature: thats why were always being ordered around. A bunch of blind men tell us what to do, tear our unlimited ability to shreds. (Mishima 51) From this quote by the chief, we can draw how the current status quo has upset the group and much of this disdain is caused by the use of fear as drive to control and suppress societys natural inclinations. For the chief, its not merely the fact that the parents didnt buy their son an air rifle, but the entire social structure promotes this kind of culture that casts fear on people to the uncertain. Despite the certainty of death, everybody wants to delay it by taking precaution and compromising to their situations for the sake longevity. This mindset espoused by society upsets the group very much as their view death as beautiful glory. One of the major points of discussion that stemmed from the ideology of a broken society is how Noboru looks up to Ryuji, the sailor and the main protagonist of the novel, as his hero. What made him become a seaman is his own disdain towards land. The unmoving landscapes forced him to ride the ship and experience the exotic places. Regardless, his feelings towards the sea changed as well. He grew indifferent to the lure of exotic lands. He found himself in the strange predicament all sailors share: he belonged neither to the land nor to the sea. Possibly a man who hates the land should dwell on shore forever. Alienation and the long voyages at sea will compel him once again to dream of it, torment him with the absurdity of longing for something that he loathes. Ryuji hated the immobility of the land, the eternally unchanging surfaces. But a ship was another kind of prison. (Mishima 18) The last sentence captures the essence of Ryuji as the reluctant hero, which plays a significant role later as the novel progresses. There is nothing that land and sea can offer him

Benitez 9 expect the boredom and sameness that both locations pose. At face value, he has a desirable occupation allowing them to navigate through different locations on his way to new experiences. However, the experience of being an actual sailor made him realize that he is trapped in a bigger unmoving landscape. We can see this more in the lines of his favorite popular music song I Cant Give Up the Sailors Life: The whistle wails and steamers tear, Our ship slips away from the pier. Now the seas my home, I decided that. But even I must shed a tear. As I wave, boys, as I wave so sad At the harbor town where my heart was glad. (Mishima 17-18) Readers will see that based from his favorite song, Ryuji is not completely sold into becoming a sailor because he still feels something towards the land. Throughout the entire novel, Ryuji is torn between his two desires as he interplays his romance with the sea and exchanges it with the fatalism of land. Symbolically, his original desire to leave the land can be seen as a way of escape from the post-WWII Japan that has glorified Western ideals and adopted them to their culture. But once he was exposed to the boredom and ennui that the sea offered him, he began his introspection on how the land and sea helped him find love through Fusako. It was the sea that made begin thinking secretly about love more than anything else; you know, a love worth dying for, or a love that consumes you. To a man locked up in a steel ship all the time, the sea is too much like a woman. Things

Benitez 10 like her lulls and storms, or her caprice, or the beauty of her breast reflecting the setting sun, are all obvious. More than that, youre in a ship that mounts the sea and rides her and yet is constantly denied her. Nature surrounds a sailor with all these elements so like a woman and yet he is kept as far as a man can be from her warm, living body. (Mishima 41) During the course of their relationship, Ryuji underwent a transformation that saw him being part of the sea for a greater purpose to just having the sea as conduit to his realization that there is no glory to be achieved in this vast freedom of raging waters. At first, he was hesitant to release himself from the freedom he held dear while he was with Noboru: What am I supposed to be doing here on a summer afternoon? Who am I, sitting in a daze next to the son of a woman I made last night? Until yesterday I had my song the seas my home, I decided that and the tears I cried for it, and two million yen in my bank account as guarantees of my reality what have I got now?(Mishima 69) Part of this process is Ryuji getting acquainted with the elements of the land the newfound relationship he has built with Fusako and the residual responsibility of becoming a paternal figure to Noboru were slowly but surely settling in his mind. All of these things are foreign to him since he hasnt had this kind of oppor tunity in life before, for the sea is all he ever known. But when the sea unraveled further empty thoughts and hopefulness despite the freedom it offers, Ryuji was led to idea of parting ways with the sea and everything it represents: Are you really going to give it up? The feeling of the sea, the dark, drunken feeling that unearthly rolling always brings? The thrill of saying goodbye? The sweet tears you weep for your song? Are you going to give up the life which has

Benitez 11 detached you from the world, kept you remote, impelled you toward the pinnacle of manliness? The secret yearning for death. The glory beyond and the death beyond. Everything was beyond, wrong or right, had always been beyond. Are you going to give that up? His heart in spasm because he was always in contact with the oceans dark swell and the lofty light from the edge of the clouds, twisting, withering until clogged and then swelling up again, and he unable to distinguish the exalted feelings from the meanest and that that not mattering really since he could hold the sea responsible are you going to give up that luminous freedom?(Mishima 110-111) The tug of war between his feelings towards the land and sea can be compared to how Japan adapted to foreign concepts to survive globalization at the expense of their identity. This is perhaps the True Japan that Mishima preached about and not the incorporation of foreign cultures to adapt to the changing landscape of society brought by the changing of guard in post-WWII. True Japan, therefore, is the idea of an uncompromised culture and the ability to subsist despite the isolation. The sea allows Ryuji to feel the emptiness and, at the same time, power of being able to overcome it once the ship sails away from land. However, as the story progresses, Ryuji is bound to leave the sea for land. This part explains the greatness that Noboru, Fusakos son, saw in Ryuji his ability for independence and sustainability without having to change himself. For Noboru, he sees greatness in the adventure of travelling from one place to another, the weathering of the rough tides, the burning of the skin under the glaze of the sun. In other words, it is the isolation from the insipidness of society to try and prolong their existence by living through the motions is makes Ryuji special in the eyes of Noboru and the gang. His admiration to Ryuji as a sailor is prevalent

Benitez 12 with their conversations about the Rayuko, Ryujis ship, and the main exports of different countries Ryuji visited. On the other hand, the hopelessness of everything, the lack of direction toward this greatness found in death that Ryuji is talking about, is a belief shared by Noboru in the first part of the book. At thirteen, Noboru was convinced of his own genius (each of the others in the gang felt the same way) and certain that life consisted of a few simple signals and decisions; that death took root at the moment of birth and mans only recourse thereafter was to water and tend it; that propagation was a fiction; consequently, society was a fiction too; that fathers and teachers, were guilty of a grievous sin. Therefore, his own fathers death, when he was eight, had been a happy incident, something to be proud of. (Mishima 8) Noboru and the gang made their belief towards all fathers more known later in the book: They stand in the way of our progress while they try to burden us with their inferiority complexes, and their unrealized aspirations, and their resentments, and their ideals, and the weaknesses the yve sweeter-than-honey dreams, and the maxims theyve never had the courage to live by theyd like to unload all that silly crap on us, all of it! Even the most neglectful fathers, like mine, are no different. (Mishima 137) Once Ryuji drifted away from the sea as he returned to land before New Year to not only celebrate the turn of the year with Fusako and Noboru, but also propose marriage to Fusako and not return to the ship for a long time, his transformation into fatherhood took place. This is evident by the way how Noboru updates the group about Ryuji the hero upon his return:

Benitez 13 Ryuji read the silly novels and art books Fusako recommended and he studied English conversation, a class each night on television and a text empty on nautical terms; he listened to Fusako lecture on problems of store management; he learned to wear the smart English clothes she lavishes to him; he has suits tailored, and vests, and overcoats; and thenhe began going in to the shop every day. (Mishima 135) Through these actions, Ryuji embraces everything we turned his back from not long ago. He is trying to integrate himself into society by doing all these things, all that alienated and drove him to the sea. As Ryuji devotes his time to Fusako, he is transformed to something that the gang detests just like Fusako. The western sensibilities that werent able to touch Ryujis face tanned by the sun and the simple turtleneck he wore are taking hold of him now that hes settling down. Charges against Ryuji according to Noboru Just as Ryuji was integrating himself to Fusakos household for the first time by deciding on unlocking Noborus door at night to give him freedom to exercise his better judgment, Noboru interprets it as something else, which also reveals more about the ideologies espoused in their group. His uneasiness at being in the unlocked room made him shiver even after he had buttoned his pajamas to the neck. They were beginning his education, a terrific, destructive education. Trying to force maturity on a thirteen-year-old boy. Maturity or, as the chief would call it, perversion. Noborus feverish brain was pursuing an impossibility: Is there no way that I can remain in the room and at the same time be out in the hall locking the door? (Mishima 143)

Benitez 14 In some ways, Noboru being locked in his room run parallel with how Ryuji is marooned at sea with his ship. There are able to escape how society dictates people to become. Despite being confined in their prisons, both experience the same kind of freedom as they embrace loneliness and rid themselves from the social structure in search of a greater glory. This marks as one of the charges out of five that Ryuji has committed against Noboru and the group. Earlier, he has already listed down two charges: CHARGES AGAINST RJUYI TSUKAZAKI One: smiling at me in a cowardly, ingratiateing way when I met him this noon. Two: wearing a dripping-wet shirt and explaining that he had taken a shower in the fountain at the park just like an old bum. Mishima (81) Regarding the first two charges, Ryujis action was triggered by his recollection as a child. Closing the mouth of the fountain with his thumb, he squirted a fan of water at the dahlias and white chrysanthemums languishing in the heat: leaves quivered, a small rainbow arched, flowers recoiled. Ryuji reversed the pressure of his thumb and doused his hair and face and throat. The water trickled from his throat to his chest and belly, spinning a soft, cooling screen an indescribable delight. (Mishima 46)

Benitez 15 This simple joy he experienced in the fountain shows that how Ryuji has attachments of his own in the land, much to the chagrin of Noboru: Why how did your shirt get sopped like that? What, this? The artificial smile spread over his face again. I took a little shower at the fountain up there in the park. (Mishima 47) The artificial smile was an ominous sign, as far as Noboru is concerned. While he admired Ryuji for what he represents as a sailor, there were hints with Ryujis charac ter that was not consistent with the image that Noboru and his group created for him. There are two more charged added later after winter: Three: answering, when I asked when he would be sailing again: Im not sure yet. Four: coming back here again in the first place (Mishima 105) This comes into fruition after Noboru was caught by Fusako peeping at Ryuji from the hole in his room. Whereas most parents would be furious, disturbed, and even disgusted by what Noboru has being doing, Ryuji took the high road. He talked to Noboru like an understanding adult would talk to a teenager by explaining the curiosities involved in growing up, as well as the changes of having Ryuji around all of a sudden to marry Fusako. There was no high drama as Ryuji was able to diffuse the situation like a real adult. In other words, Ryuji is now a father. Now Ryuji was obliged to reach a fathers decision, the first decision about shore life had ever been forced to make. But his memory of the seass fury was tempering his critical notons (sic) of land and the landsman with inordinate mildness, and his instinctive approach to problems was therefore thwarted. To

Benitez 16 beat the boy would be easy enough, but a difficult future awaited himhe was expected in some vague, general way to comprehend the incomprehensible feelings of the mother and child and to become an infallible teacher, perceiving the causes of a situation even as unconscionable as this one: he was dealing here with no ocean squall but the gentle breeze that blows ceaselessly over the land. (Mishima 156) This was the final charge and the most devastating that Ryuji committed to Noboru and the gang. He is satisfied. Noboru felt nauseous. Tomorrow Ryujis slavish hands, the hands of a father puttering over carpentry of a Sunday afternoon, would close forever the narrow access to that unearthly brilliance which he himself had once revealed. (158) The glory of skinning a cat Due to Ryujis plans of getting married to Fusako and settling down as a father, the gang decided to do something drastic to save Ryuji from this meandering kind of life to achieve glory through death. They have practiced murder by first skinning a cat and gutting its innards. Barring the gruesome details ahead, it is more important to focus on the product of their carnage, as Noboru internalized after witnessing murder that is nonetheless a significant piece that brings their ideology into flesh. Now his half-dazed brain envisioned the warmth of the scattered viscera and the pools of blood in the gutted belly finding wholeness and perfection in the rapture of the dead kittens large languid soul. The liver, limp beside the corpse, became a soft peninsula, the squashed heart a little sun, the reeled-out bowels a white atoll,

Benitez 17 and the blood in the belly the tepid waters of a tropical sea. Death had transfigured the kitten into a perfect, autonomous world. (Mishima 61) The imagery of tropics further the notion of Ryujis vision to glory in the sea, but the bigger picture connotes that death is a way to salvation from a decaying world thats lost its identity into paradise. Moreover, the chief brought up the law that children less than 14 years of age are not punishable by law. This law justifies their intention of murdering Ryuji as a testament to their beliefs. If they let Ryuko pursue his plans of leaving the sea, then the gang will have failed. The chief offers inspired words to the gang as they expressed skepticism in killing Ryuji: If we dont act now we will never again be able to obey freedoms supreme command, to perform the deed essential to filling the emptiness of the world, unless we are prepared to sacrifice our lives. And you can see that its absurd for the executioners to risk their own lives. If we dont act now well never be able to steal again, or murder, or do any of the things that testify to mans freedom. Well end up puking flattery and gossip, trembling our days away in submission and compromise and fear, worrying about what the neighbors are doing, living like squealing mice. And someday well get married, and have kids, and finally well become fathers, the vilest things on earth! (167) This part in the novel is essential in showing how True Japan is represented by kids on the cusp of teenage life. By killing Ryuji, the gang is able to maintain the idea of glory that was once lived by Ryuji as a seaman. Most importantly, unlike adults, who will be persecuted by committing murder, the gang will be absolved for their actions. This is perfect opportunity for them to take part in the fight against the emptiness the world has turned into.

Benitez 18 As their plan takes flight by taking Ryuji to an abandoned U.S. Forces Installation, they forced some stories out of Ryuji about his adventures in the sea. As he recalled his experiences with the sea, Ryuji realizes the glory he sacrificed for the sake of being on land with Fusako: The dark passions of the tides, the shriek of a tidal wave, the avalanching break of surf upon a shoal,an unknown glory calling for him endlessly from the dark offing, glory merged in death and in a woman, glory to fashion of his destiny something special, something rare. At twenty he had been passionately certain: in the depths of the worlds darkness was a point of light which had been provided for him alone and would raw near someday to irradiate him and no other. (180181) The Japanese identity within Ryuji overcame his longing moments away from death just after he sipped the tea that the chief gave him, Still immersed in his dream, he drank down the tepid tea. It tasted bitter. Glory, as anyone knows, is bitter stuff. (181). Conclusion While the novel fails to reveal whether or not Ryuji was murdered and killed by the gang, it becomes immaterial in the grander scheme of things. Ryuji returns to the point where he was torn between having the life in the sea or land, it becomes apparent in the last few lines of the novel that he may have done a mistake by leaving life in the sea. Despite the dark images that depict the sea, Ryuji attaches fond memories with his experiences as a seaman. The isolation provided by the sea, marooned from mans feeble attempts to make their lives worth something, is the ultimate glorification of life that eventually leads to ones demise. This is what Ryuji forgot along the way when he met Fusako and decided settling on land and letting his heart dictate his actions the glory of death in this meaningless and meandering life.

Benitez 19 By way of art imitating life, it could be said that Mishima is pushing for a political agenda in writing this novel, given the fact that he is a staunch supporter of True Japan and what it means to be truly Japanese. Noboru and his gang represent the resistance to an unfulfilling life, even if their means and ideology may be viewed as extreme or nihilistic. There is reason to believe the way they did, especially considering the nature of what post-WWII has become. Instead of clinging on to the countrys identity, Japan sought help from outside influences to reinvent itself and subsist in a globalized society, much like how the father is seen in the novel as dampening the spirit of individualism out of people. The idea of a nihilistic existence as viewed by Noboru and his group is a tool to magnify the problem that Japan is undergoing. It is not that life in general is useless, but, rather, the ordinary life of a Japanese person as seen in the novel is useless. They have attachments on land, afraid of living life to the fullest, and are bound by the rules and guidance of those who think they know better. Fathers, in particular, are depicted as those who insist on a life that reflects their vision and that it is impossible to think otherwise. Theyre suspicious of anything creative, anxious to whittle the world down into something puny they can handle. A father is a reality-concealing machine, a machine for dishing up lies to kids, and that isnt even the worst of it: secretly he believes that he represents reality. (Mishima 136) What the ideology presented by Noboru and gang presupposes is that people fear the alternative. Whereas fathers and society in general provide a clear-cut path on how to live their lives, what if theres an alternative that debunks everything they believed in? What if, instead of living meaningful life to the fullest, there is ultimately nothing but glorious death?

Benitez 20 Mishima pushes simply for the banality of the ordinary life as represented by the father. Their care and compassion is seen as a hindrance in ones becoming. Because of their guidance, people started living in fear of the unknown and lived off to what people say on how one should their lives.

Benitez 21 Works Cited Napier, Susan Jolliffe. "The Bitter Taste of Glory: The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea." Escape from the Wasteland: Romanticism and Realism in the Fiction of Mishima Yukio and Oe Kenzaburo. Cambridge, MA: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1991. 118-25. Print. Nathan, John. Mishima: A Biography. Boston: Little, Brown, 1974. Print. Scott-Stokes, Henry. The Life and Death of Yukio Mishima. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1974. Print. Tsutomo, Kano. "Why the Search for Identity." Introduction. The Silent Power: Japan's Identity and World Role : 10 Incisive Essays by Leading Japanese Social Scientists Selected from the Japan Interpreter. Tokyo: Simul, 1976. N. pag. Print.