Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Silence, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Apostasy
Religious Arrogance
Faith
Western Religion vs. Eastern Culture
Persecution
Summary
Analysis
The narrative changes from Rodrigues’s first-person letters to a third-person narrator. Rodrigues (now referred to almost exclusively as “the priest”) is dragged down the road and through a village until he is deposited with a small group of Japanese Christians, shackled and sitting upon the ground. Rather than fear, the priest feels almost happy and a sense of well-being, now that his flight is over. Among them are a one-eyed man and a woman who introduces herself as Monica (her Christian name indicating that she was once baptized) who offers the priest a cucumber concealed in her shirt. Monica talks hopefully of heaven and the relief that it will be, and the priest finds himself suddenly angry at what he feels is a naïve concept of paradise, but he holds his tongue. He asks her if she knows of Ferreira, but Monica shakes her head nervously.
Rodrigues being referred to as “the priest,” rather than by name, reflects his position as representation of Christianity and the priesthood in opposition to the Japanese establishment. The priest’s relief at being imprisoned, rather than wandering through the wilderness alone, suggests that this present situation meets his expectations (since he hopes to suffer and be martyred) much better than aimlessly walking through the forest. Additionally, his sudden irritation at the Japanese peasants’ idea of heaven reveals both a sense of his own superiority as well as an increasingly petulant nature.
Themes
The same old samurai who took Mokichi, Kichijiro, and Ichizo from Tomogi arrives, commenting casually on the weather to his prisoners. In the afternoon light, Rodrigues realizes how the samurai’s plump old face reminds him of the Buddha statues he’d seen. The heat and the soft buzzing of flies make the priest feel sedate, rather than anxious or threatened as he expected such an event to feel like. The samurai explains that this seems like an unnecessary bother, and that it is certainly not out of hate that they have arrested the Christians, especially since the peasants are hard-working tax-payers. The samurai bids the other prisoners to move on with the guards, but with a flash of “hatred and rancor” in his eyes, commands the priest to stay.
The samurai, who embodies Buddhist persecution of Christianity—as signified by his Buddha-like appearance—stands in opposition to the priest, who embodies Christianity. And yet he is oddly friendly, even chatty. This, along with the priest’s sedate feeling, defies expectations of what such persecution ought to be like, since it is neither glorious nor intense, neither filled with violence nor passion. However, the flash of hatred in the man’s eyes suggests at least some level of animosity towards foreign priests, if not local Christians.
Themes
As the other prisoners leave, Rodrigues prays that God will not add to their suffering. The samurai tells him that peasants are foolish and easily swayed, but priests are another matter. If Rodrigues will not apostatize, the samurai will make the peasants suffer. They close Rodrigues in a small hut and leave him for a long while, where he wonders after the other Christians and prays the rosary on his fingers. After some time, an interpreter enters, speaking an oddly-accented but proficient Portuguese.
Yet again, the Japanese officials show a general—and surprising—disregard for Christianity itself, but direct their ire towards the foreign priests, suggesting that their religious persecution is not motivated by animosity toward another religion, but perhaps toward the influx of foreign leaders or some other more pragmatic objection.
Themes
The interpreter is scornful of Christians, even though he himself was once baptized and studied in seminary, and goes to great length to emphasize the fact that he himself is not one. The interpreter converses with Rodrigues, logically but ferociously attacking Christianity from all angles and trying to goad the priest into a full religious debate. But the priest calmly desists as often as he can, knowing that such a debate is futile, meant to crush an opponent rather than exchange ideas. Outside, a cock crows, and the interpreter, frustrated that the priest will not meet his rage, declares that if the priest does not apostatize, the peasants will be hung upside-down in the pit.
Unlike the samurai, the interpreter harbors a personal animosity towards Christianity. His attitude demonstrates that although much of the persecution is motivated by political or pragmatic goals, there are certainly still individuals who harbor a religious animosity, likely for personal reasons. Faced with such vindictiveness, the priest’s decision not to engage seems wise.
Themes
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The interpreter tells Rodrigues that he will meet Inoue before long, and lists all the priests who apostatized after Inoue cross-examined them, one of whom is Father Ferreira. The priest tries to pretend he does not know Ferreira, but the interpreter sees the pain in his face and tells him that Ferreira now lives in Nagasaki as a Japanese man with a Japanese wife, and is respected by the Buddhist government. After the interpreter leaves, the priest is shaken, wondering how he can possibly hold fast if even so great a man as Ferreira was broken. The priest prays to God for strength, but also begs God to break his silence.
Rodrigues is forced to recognize not only the truth of Ferreira’s apostasy, but also that he has renounced his status as a Portuguese man to become a citizen of Japan. Ferreira’s loss, even betrayal, of his former identity thus seems complete—he is neither Christian nor Portuguese any longer, meaning that he has turned his back upon everything that once connected him to Rodrigues.
Themes
Later in the day, a guard fetches Rodrigues from the hut to bring him down to the village wharf. As they walk, the priest considers escape, but is dissuaded by the kind manner of the guard and the knowledge that others will be punished if he flees. The guards take him through the village, whose people look downward with sadness, and to the beach, where he is put aboard a boat. As the boat leaves the shore, the priest hears a single voice yelling and a lone, scraggly figure trying to run after the boat: Kichijiro. But the traitor cannot reach the boat in time, and the priest feels only resentment towards him.
The downcast eyes of the villagers suggest that it is indeed a Christian village. This is tragic, since had Rodrigues entered the village he may have found shelter instead of being betrayed by Kichijiro. On the other hand, this village has been spared suffering on his account. Yet again, the kindness of the guard suggests that the Japanese officials generally lack personal animosity towards Christians, even though they persecute them.
Themes
As the boat moves through the sea, Rodrigues again wonders at how differently his capture has been from what he envisioned the capture of a saint to be. He wonders again if this means his faith is failing. One of the boatmen tells him they are going to what was once a Christian village, though nothing now remains of it; it was burnt to the ground. Again, the priest prays for strength and asks God why He’s abandoned His people. “So he prayed. But the sea remained cold, and the darkness maintained its stubborn silence.” After an afternoon and night of rowing, they reach their destination, met by a crowd of spectators—many of whom are silent and fearful, even ashamed—and a samurai at the next wharf. Rodrigues is unloaded from the boat, set on a horse, and led through throngs of jeering spectators up the road towards Nagasaki.
The priest’s visions of a noble struggle and glorious martyrdom yet again go unfulfilled, suggesting that suffering and death, even for faith, are not noble enterprises as the priest supposed, but arduous and banal. The condition of the sea yet again symbolizes the priest’s perception of God; as the sea remains cold, distant, and unspeaking, so Rodrigues feels that God is silent and unhelpful as well, prompting a further crisis of faith. The jeering crowds that Rodrigues must endure pointedly parallel the crowds that mocked Christ as he was led to his death.
Themes
As Rodrigues is carried down the road, he sees a hobbling man leaning on a stick and slowly following after him, realizing quickly that it is Kichijiro once again. The priest cannot fathom why the man pursues him still. They reach a small town and the priests’ captors dine with the local samurai while he is tied to a tree like a dog. While he is sitting, head hanging, a beggar places a few grains of rice in a bowl before him. The priest looks up, meets the beggar’s eyes, and realizes that he is Kichijiro. In his mind, the priest recites Christ’s words to Judas: “What thou dost, do quickly.” When he is placed astride a horse again and carried through more mocking crowds and past the town, Kichijiro follows behind at a distance.
Although Kichijiro is a Judas figure, betraying Rodrigues multiple times over and apostatizing whenever he is asked to, he is also the priest’s only friend and displays a confusing level of faithfulness to him. Kichijiro’s relationship to the priest thus parallels the priest’s eventual relationship to God, whom he will betray in a moment of weakness, feeling as if he is trapped. Yet the priest will remain loyal to God and seek his forgiveness for the rest of his life. However, in this moment, the priest does not yet recognize the similarity between Kichijiro and himself.
Themes
