Yukio Mishima's The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea

Sinking into Corruption: An Analysis of Ryuji and Japan's Progressive Westernization as Reflected Through the Imagery of the Setting

The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by the Japanese author Yukio Mishima explores notions of deceptive innocence of children through a thirteen-year-old boy, Noboru, as well as the intricately intertwined/woven (?) relationship between traditional Japan and the West, embodied by Ryuji and Fusako respectively. Written after World War II by an extremely patriotic author, Mishima’s personal distaste in a westernizing Japan is apparent in his work. There is also an abundance of imagery that can be seen in the setting throughout the whole novel. As such, the progression of Ryuji and Japan’s corruption from

Soon, as the reunited couple stay outside to watch the first sunrise of the year, an abundance of warning signs in the form of the color red are distributed around the setting as Ryuji becomes closer to Fusako. The first indication can be seen as the two are snuggled together in the cold while there are “red lamps blinking on distant masts” and there are “the beacon’s red and green blades of light” (109) that are knifing through the darkness. Flashing red lights can be interpreted as a blinking warning for Japan and Ryuji as they closely associate with the West and Fusako. The light being illustrated as a dangerous blade that is slicing through presents even more negative connotations to the setting. Ryuji then stares directly at “a red bulb blooming above an emergency exit” (110). Such a blunt sign of danger with even an emergency exit are placed before Ryuji to warn him of the dangers to come in staying with Fusako as well as the fact that there is still time for him to escape to his glory and away from her. Afterwards, “an angry red began to smolder along the edges of the sky” and the sun becomes “a globe of pure red” described to look like a “blood-red moon” (112). Once again, these red warning lights are placed abundantly throughout the scenery. The number of these negative signs increase just as Ryuji is about to propose to Fusako as if the alarms are becoming more desperate and frantic to save Ryuji and Japan from westernizing. Finally, after the two promise their futures to each other, the harbour and even the sea itself are hazed with red on the surface (113), showing the poisoning of the sea and thus glory itself for Ryuji and Japan in staying with Fusako and the West. Halfway through Winter and after the couple is engaged, the sea is then referred to as a “gloomy scene” as a “foreign ship was apparently at anchor” (131). This