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Shusaku Endo Silence Analysis

1247 Words5 Pages

Silence by Shusaku Endo is a tale of religious conflicts amongst Christians and Buddhists in Japan during the 1600’s. It documents the story of Sebastion Rodrigues, a young Jesuit priest in Portugal, who in 1637, sets out for Japan alongside two priest companions for missionary work, and to find out the truth about their teacher, Christovao Ferreira: a highly respected missionary and theologian in Japan who was recently shamed because of his apostasy. In Japan, Christians lived under heavy persecution and were often tortured into apostasy.
One of the biggest themes explored in this story is the symbol of God/functions of God, as well as God’s lack of intervention and imminent silence in light of tragedies that Gods people face(d), and whether or not Gods silence has a meaning to it. This will be related to the suffering of the Black-American community (as we have studied in class).

Being a part of organized religion gives the follower a sense of belief in a higher power: someone to ask for help, signs, and even someone to confide in; whether one is Christian, Muslim, Jewish, we are aware of a higher power and are told to look to him/her for help. The Symbol of God is a way that we portray God and the way that we speak about God- the way we speak of God makes a difference in this world and how people …show more content…

Ferreira, a priest and highly respected teacher, opens the story by talking about how being forced into apostasy “was not simply the failure of one individual but a humiliating defeat for the faith itself and for the whole of Europe” (Endo 6). It is thought that the tougher one holds up against an opposing force, true to his/her beliefs, that they will be rewarded for their bravery and courage. The book does a good job of exploring inner dilemmas- using emotions like guilt, fear and anger to explore and amplify these

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