The Sound of Waves

In this passage, Yasuo Kawamoto, one of Hatsue’s suitors, has heard the quickly-spreading but false rumor about Shinji and Hatsue sleeping together out of wedlock—and he has decided to take his revenge by raping Hatsue while she gathers water in the middle of the night. As Yasuo lies in wait for Hatsue, his flashy and “phosphorescent” watch—a physical representation of his wealth, self-centeredness, and pride—attracts the curiosity of a swarm of hornets, which, unbeknownst to Yasuo, will begin attacking him as he advances on the vulnerable Hatsue. This passage—and the scene after it, in which hornets sting Yasuo—reveal his disconnection from nature (and his pig-headed failure to learn its lessons while focusing instead on aesthetics and modernity). This passage also touches on the destructive forces of wealth, gossip, and impure or false “devotion.” Yasuo wants Hatsue not because he loves her, but because he believes that he is entitled to her as one of the island’s wealthiest young men. Whereas Shinji, Hatsue’s true love, doesn’t need to wear a watch because he is deeply attuned to nature’s rhythms, Yasuo is so disconnected from nature that he attempts to force an unnatural act on Hatsue—and, as this passage foreshadows, is punished for doing so.

After Yasuo’s unsuccessful attempt to rape Hatsue, Hatsue says she won’t tell her father about what Yasuo has tried to do to her if he carries home the buckets of water she came down to the stream to fill. As Hatsue warily follows Yasuo back toward her home, Mishima highlights the ways in which the forces of class, wealth, gossip, and rumor have effectively trapped Hatsue within a social and ideological prison. Hatsue must make nice with the man who just minutes ago attempted to violate her physically and emotionally, because she knows that if she were to rebuke Yasuo or make a scene, she’d be upsetting the social order of the island and inciting a firestorm of gossip. Hatsue longs to be with Shinji, who is pure and good and loving—but the barriers of class and social status stand between them, leaving Hatsue to struggle on her own against the cruel, thoughtless men that society deems acceptable for her to court. Mishima is clearly indicting the rigid and violent class system that defines so much of society, as well as the destructive ways in which the need to avoid gossip and rumor can impinge upon a person’s life and safety.

Here, Shinji and his fellow fisherman Ryuji have just finished disparaging the cruel Yasuo, who has been spreading the terrible gossip about Shinji and Hatsue and who, rumor has it, is now the frontrunner to marry Hatsue after all. Suddenly their wise yet quiet master Jukichi, an experienced fisherman, interjects to calm the young men down. As Jukichi explains that “patience is […] what it takes to catch a fish,” Mishima engages with several of the novel’s major themes. First, Mishima shows that the wise Jukichi has learned to apply the lessons nature has taught him to real-life situations. Just as one must be patient while fishing, so too must one be patient when it comes to matters of love, devotion, and social tension. Jukichi has faith that things will work out all right for Shinji—as long as Shinji continues to heed the lessons of nature and exert calmness, care, and patience in all matters.

In this passage, Shinji is working as a crew member on the Utajima-maru, a freighter owned by the powerful Terukichi Miyata. Unbeknownst to Shinji, Terukichi has recruited both Shinji and Yasuo for the purposes of determining which young man is braver, more honorable, and most deserving of Hatsue’s hand in marriage. As the ship’s captain calls upon his crew to volunteer to leap into a dangerous typhoon and secure a lifeline from the ship to a nearby buoy, Yasuo cowers in fear while Shinji bravely offers himself up. This passage is significant because it shows that Shinji—who bursts into a genuine smile as he offers his service—is truly good, selfless, and confident in his relationship to the powerful forces of nature. Yasuo, on the other hand, proves himself here to be cowardly, self-centered, and painfully disconnected from nature, lacking the relationship to nature that would be needed to undertake such a feat. This passage underscores that although Shinji is not rich or well-connected socially like Yasuo is, he has the values that truly matter in life.

In this passage, Yasuo Kawamoto, one of Hatsue’s suitors, has heard the quickly-spreading but false rumor about Shinji and Hatsue sleeping together out of wedlock—and he has decided to take his revenge by raping Hatsue while she gathers water in the middle of the night. As Yasuo lies in wait for Hatsue, his flashy and “phosphorescent” watch—a physical representation of his wealth, self-centeredness, and pride—attracts the curiosity of a swarm of hornets, which, unbeknownst to Yasuo, will begin attacking him as he advances on the vulnerable Hatsue. This passage—and the scene after it, in which hornets sting Yasuo—reveal his disconnection from nature (and his pig-headed failure to learn its lessons while focusing instead on aesthetics and modernity). This passage also touches on the destructive forces of wealth, gossip, and impure or false “devotion.” Yasuo wants Hatsue not because he loves her, but because he believes that he is entitled to her as one of the island’s wealthiest young men. Whereas Shinji, Hatsue’s true love, doesn’t need to wear a watch because he is deeply attuned to nature’s rhythms, Yasuo is so disconnected from nature that he attempts to force an unnatural act on Hatsue—and, as this passage foreshadows, is punished for doing so.

After Yasuo’s unsuccessful attempt to rape Hatsue, Hatsue says she won’t tell her father about what Yasuo has tried to do to her if he carries home the buckets of water she came down to the stream to fill. As Hatsue warily follows Yasuo back toward her home, Mishima highlights the ways in which the forces of class, wealth, gossip, and rumor have effectively trapped Hatsue within a social and ideological prison. Hatsue must make nice with the man who just minutes ago attempted to violate her physically and emotionally, because she knows that if she were to rebuke Yasuo or make a scene, she’d be upsetting the social order of the island and inciting a firestorm of gossip. Hatsue longs to be with Shinji, who is pure and good and loving—but the barriers of class and social status stand between them, leaving Hatsue to struggle on her own against the cruel, thoughtless men that society deems acceptable for her to court. Mishima is clearly indicting the rigid and violent class system that defines so much of society, as well as the destructive ways in which the need to avoid gossip and rumor can impinge upon a person’s life and safety.

Here, Shinji and his fellow fisherman Ryuji have just finished disparaging the cruel Yasuo, who has been spreading the terrible gossip about Shinji and Hatsue and who, rumor has it, is now the frontrunner to marry Hatsue after all. Suddenly their wise yet quiet master Jukichi, an experienced fisherman, interjects to calm the young men down. As Jukichi explains that “patience is […] what it takes to catch a fish,” Mishima engages with several of the novel’s major themes. First, Mishima shows that the wise Jukichi has learned to apply the lessons nature has taught him to real-life situations. Just as one must be patient while fishing, so too must one be patient when it comes to matters of love, devotion, and social tension. Jukichi has faith that things will work out all right for Shinji—as long as Shinji continues to heed the lessons of nature and exert calmness, care, and patience in all matters.

In this passage, Shinji is working as a crew member on the Utajima-maru, a freighter owned by the powerful Terukichi Miyata. Unbeknownst to Shinji, Terukichi has recruited both Shinji and Yasuo for the purposes of determining which young man is braver, more honorable, and most deserving of Hatsue’s hand in marriage. As the ship’s captain calls upon his crew to volunteer to leap into a dangerous typhoon and secure a lifeline from the ship to a nearby buoy, Yasuo cowers in fear while Shinji bravely offers himself up. This passage is significant because it shows that Shinji—who bursts into a genuine smile as he offers his service—is truly good, selfless, and confident in his relationship to the powerful forces of nature. Yasuo, on the other hand, proves himself here to be cowardly, self-centered, and painfully disconnected from nature, lacking the relationship to nature that would be needed to undertake such a feat. This passage underscores that although Shinji is not rich or well-connected socially like Yasuo is, he has the values that truly matter in life.