Silence Shusak Endo Analysis

Father Sebastian Rodrigues behaves as a good priest throughout the majority of the novel. He always remains humble and recognizes that he is an imperfect human being, claiming, “I did not come here to condemn you. I am not here as your judge” . He recognizes that God is the only judge and although he seems like “the voice crying in the wilderness”, Rodriguez ministers to all Japanese Christians by educating, performing the sacraments, and protecting his parishioners, giving them “a human warmth they never previously knew”. Even when he gives advice against God, like telling the prisoners to trample the fumie, he immediately realizes

“Silence is violence” is a common phrase used by people nowadays which references people who lack initiative when it comes to speaking out against oppression. The same phrase could be applied to the ideas within Shusaku Endo’s novel, Silence. Endo was clever to name his novel Silence, because the word is a very prominent symbol within the story. In fact, it plays a crucial role to the development of the main character. Although some readers may argue that the role of silence in the book is neutral, I claim that silence plays a negative role for the characters because it is what causes protagonist Rodrigues to renounce his faith. In the story, it represents the silence of God, which induces Rodrigues to question his religion through the torture of innocent Japanese Christians.

making him suffer. Job had always been true to the Lord's word and had never

The novel, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, written by Frederick Douglass himself, contains his views on his life. He escaped slavery to become a free man in the North, where Douglass became a well known abolitionist who wrote speeches for the anti-slavery campaign. His arguments are persuasive to readers as well as potent. Douglass uses the events in his life and a variety of strategies to build an effective argument against slavery. The strategies for his arguments are to influence readers with emotions, convince readers using logic and to prove that he is a credible, moral person. When writing these strategies into his Narrative, he

Reality and fiction, though easy to decipher, often share a baseline of truth. This truth lies in a stories theme and in histories testimony of occurrences and reasons for these occurrences in the past. Look simply at the words and one can see that every history has a “story”; a story with a theme and message. In the life o f Guy Montag, Farenheit 451, the main goal is simply survival in a dystopian world where all that he knows and trusts is put to the test of doubt and change. Frederick Douglass was an American Slave, hoping only to one day be freed of his chains, both literal and figurative.

"What am I doing? And out of the semi-intoxicated trance came the answer: destroying myself…why wrong? again there was no answer, but a stroke of hot stubbornness inside his chest resisted his own annihilation”. (15.10-15.15)

Throughout the Novel Silence, Shusako Endo depicts the cultural clash between Christianity and Japan. We feel the frustrations that this brings, and are provoked to ask questions such as, why is God silent in the midst of his people’s suffering? But the greater question it begs is what cultural implications have we placed on Christ? Do we expect him to act as a hero in our culture would? He transcends time and culture, but do our expectations and experiences cast a shadow on our impression of God? The theme of the silence of God, suggested by the title is brought to light throughout the novel, and perhaps the reader can see this as one cultural expectation placed on Christ by a particular group of people based on their perceptions or experiences. Their experiences in life cast a shadow on their impression of God, and Jesus is to be a cultural hero in their frame.

And Elie thinks to himself, "Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank him for?" (33). People are easily manipulated when they witness horrors that go against or disprove what they believe in. And when they realize this, it deeply lowers their morale and will to live.

Without Hesitation, it was factually evident, through the letters and diaries of soldiers, that “religious belief helped many soldiers overcome the fear of death” . Some were content with the fact that they

The author demonstrates that an adverse atmosphere can cause a person to relinquish their faith. The author establishes the purpose through the sufferings of Moishe the Beadle, Wiesel’s torment and plight of other prisoners in the concentration camp.

"To be overcome by one's weakness is only human."(304) Other than by looking at the fight as something bigger than his individual story, he is able to undo his sense of being human, and is therefore able to contain his own craving for protection and well-being.

    In order to convince, one must fist charm the inner feelings of the audience. In Frederick Douglass's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, he appeals to the interest of the reader through his first hand accounts of slavery, his use of irony in these descriptions, and his balance between evasiveness and frankness.

     Job is a man very limited by God. As illustrated, he has only a negligible amount of agency to begin with. By the time God and Satan finish with him, he has virtually no control over his own life. The fragment of agency he does cling to is his ability to choose whether or not to curse God. No one, except himself, could prevent Job from cursing God. Yet, he refuses to curse God, even though He is responsible for his suffering.

The war between a person and themselves is already known as one of the most complex battles a person will experience. This warfare deals with the conflict between one 's thoughts versus one’s action. For example; when

““There are some who say we are not truly human until we have suffered” 1 as said by Katharine Dell. There is also a though throughout the bible that God makes us suffer for our wrongdoings and past offenses. If this is so, then the protagonist of the Book of Job put both of these thoughts to the test while remaining faithful to God. Similarly to Job in “John” chapter nine, Jesus’ disciples question him in regards to human suffering and punishment from God. The idea of punishing a child for their parents sins is an over arching idea in the bible that acts as an explanation to why human suffer. Throughout the Biblical book of Job, despite Job’s friends’ belief of his wrongdoing, Job remains faithful while searching for a reason for his