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Yukio Mishima Isolation

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The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea by Yukio Mishima is a novel that deals primarily with the lives and interactions of its three main characters, and how they interact and develop. All of these characters are incredibly solitary and lonely people, and that shapes each of their stories differently. Therefore, it is shown that the manner in which Ryuji, Fusako and Noboru react to and address their isolation is the primary force driving character development. Ryuji’s reentrance to society, and attempt to connect to other people, is ultimately what kills him. His isolation is a voluntary one, he watches the suffering of the sailors with attachments on land, and with a certain apathy, decides not to open himself to be hurt like them. …show more content…

However, we see that his loneliness wears on him, and page 41 is where we see it. He describes the sea as a woman, something he very much wants, but refuses himself. He’s so desperate to achieve glory, that he denies everyone, so the sea becomes his only companion. His relationship with the sea draws some interesting parallels: “Nature surrounds a sailor with all these elements, so like a woman and yet he is kept as far as a man can be from her warm, living body. That’s where the problem begins I’m sure.” This is some clear foreshadowing, as when he returns to the Kurodas is when he has his lifestyle upturned, then is murdered. It also shows that at this point, he believes the sea to be a more fulfilling relationship that that which he has with Fusako, “She can’t penetrate to the feelings deep down in a song like this; or see through the murk of my manhood, to the longing that sometimes makes me weep; fair enough: then as far as I’m concerned, she’s just another body” (page 42.) Again on the same page, we see he …show more content…

On page 3, the first thing we see her do is she locks Noboru in his room. She feels immense guilt, but not about the isolation, she feels that part is his own fault, he brought this upon himself. That is the most destructive part of what she does is, in her eyes, his fault. She's not only isolating herself from her son, but from her decisions. This is a good illustration of herself imposed isolation, further described by the introduction of Yoriko. Fusako hates Yoriko, presumably because of her loneliness, and very likely out of frustration at her own loneliness. She's very much like Yoriko, both are independent, lonely career women, who are trying to take care of their families. The difference is Yoriko still has a sort of innocence to her, something Fusako does not have and resents. On page 73 Fusako says to Ryuji that “I’ve sunk pretty low thanks to you,” clearly demonstrating that she sees reliance as weakness, she firmly believes that her isolation makes her strong. This could be part of why she resents Yoriko so much. Yoriko is in a similar situation, but is reliant on directors, awards, her agent.This makes her reaction to Ryuji’s proposal such an interesting change then from her earlier statement, for her reaction suggests she's relieved to have someone to rely on. This passage also describes her as the “worldly lady,” which fleshes out her intelligence and

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