The Sailor Who Fell from Grace

390 Words2 Pages
How was your understanding of cultural and contextual considerations of the work developed through the interactive oral? The novel “The sailor who fell from grace with the sea” written by Yukio MIshima is really quite a compelling read despite its undoubted strangeness. The interactive oral really helped me to understand the cultural and contextual consideration of the piece in more depth. Before I read the book, I did admittedly inquire into the author after discovering the author had committed Japanese ritual suicide, a most disturbing ghastly death. It was made obvious that Mishima had strong views on Japanese culture and a clear dislike for Western society and influence. This was highlighted in the oral. It became evident that the main characters, Rjuji, Fusako, and Noburo (gang included) were allegories for Japan. He used Fusako to illustrate the result of Western culture, Rjuji to represent the old Japanese culture and Noburo to express his own aversion to Western society. He and his fellow gang members are disgusted with the way Japan is heading and its developing social mores. The oral thoroughly uncovered how Mishima followed similar beliefs to Noburo to a lesser extent and how the characters intertwined with his belief. Another aspect which was lightly touched in the oral was the meaning of the title. It seems to me as if the sailor, Rjuji, is a metaphor for Japans old ways as discussed before and the sea is a metaphor for Japan. Several times during the novel, a loud boat horn is sounded. It was only until later that I realised it was a warning to Rjuji. Rjuji has circumed to Western influence by marrying Fusako. Because of this it was inevitable that he should be killed. It was very clever of Mishima to use the sea as a metaphor for Japan as, culturally, it is of great importance which suggests why it played such a major role in the novel. Rjuji
Open Document