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46. Autumn: September 16, 1938
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Samurai’s Garden, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Time, Nature, and Continuity
External Beauty vs. Internal Strength
Shame, Honor and Survival
Political vs. Personal Allegiance
Loneliness, Loss, and Memory
Summary
Analysis
It rains for a week. Towards the end of this rainy time, Matsu and Stephen go to Yamaguchi to celebrate the autumn equinox (Shubun No-Hi). By the time the duo arrives at Sachi’s house, they are soaked. While Sachi helps Stephen dry off, Matsu examines the roof for leaks. For the first time, Stephen understands that this house, which Matsu built his own two hands, is “just as much his” as it is Sachi’s; their relationship seems to strike “a perfect balance.”
Just as many individual passages in the novel contrast growth and death, the “perfect balance” between Sachi and Matsu provides a welcome counterpart to the romantic ending Stephen himself has just suffered. It is also worth noting the narrative’s emphasis on various holidays, another way that—like the dates on the diary entries—readers are asked to contextualize the story’s characters in natural, cyclical time.
Active
Themes
