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Part 1, Chapter 5
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Glory, Heroism, and Death
Japanese Nationalism and Identity
Masculinity, Love, and Family
Reality, Perception, and Identity
Summary
Analysis
Now, when Noboru runs into Ryuji by the park, he worries that bloodstains or the smell of death will incriminate him. He also fears that Ryuji will tell his mother that he wasn’t out swimming. The other boys disperse, leaving Noboru and Ryuji alone. Noboru thinks that the chief definitely won’t believe that Ryuji is a hero now: Ryuji’s wet shirt, fake smile, and absurd story about showering in the fountain make him look like an idiot. Clearly, he wants Noboru to like him.
So far, the novel has narrated almost everything through the three main characters’ memories. In contrast, this chapter is primarily set in the present tense, and it is the first time the novel presents multiple characters’ perspectives side-by-side. (However, it’s still primarily told from Noboru’s perspective.) Noboru continues to worry that his mother will find out about his actions, which shows that even if he felt like killing the kitten made him more of a man, he’s still very much a child. Meanwhile, Ryuji’s attempts to seem likable ironically turn Noboru off to him. Instead, Noboru looks for the same traits in Ryuji as his mother does: authenticity, heroism, and above all, masculinity.
Themes
Noboru and Ryuji walk toward the house together. “There’s something funny about both of us today,” comments Ryuji, who agrees not to tell Fusako that Noboru was in the park. Noboru runs over to a pile of sand and covers his legs and feet in it, so that it looks like he was at the beach. Then, he invites Ryuji over to his house.
During his monologue in the park, Ryuji lamented that he fails to say what he really means. Accordingly, the reader can only guess what he’s really trying to say with his comment to Noboru. Most likely, he’s pointing out that both of them are lying (him about the fountain and Noboru about the sand). Thus, the novel again highlights how appearances deceive.
Themes
At home, the housekeeper orders Noboru to wash the sand off his feet, and then Ryuji and Noboru lay down in the air-conditioned living room to cool off from the heat. After Ryuji and the housekeeper comment on Noboru’s day of swimming, the frustrated housekeeper leaves the room. Noboru tells Ryuji that he knows all about ships, but when Ryuji jokes that Noboru probably knows even more than “an old pro like me,” Noboru angrily responds that he doesn’t appreciate flattery.
When Ryuji and Noboru escape the heat through the air conditioning, the novel once again uses the complementary forces of hot and cold to comment on people’s need for balance and dependence on their physical environment. Here, it associates cold with Noboru and Fusako’s house, which foreshadows the link between cold and domestic life in the second half of the novel ( which is titled “Winter”). And Ryuji’s flattery again shows how he and Noboru misunderstand each other’s expectations. Thus, Noboru faces a common adolescent problem: he wants to be treated like the adult he feels like inside, not the child he appears to be on the outside. In other words, he wants Ryuji to recognize him as a dignified equal rather than talking down to him like a subordinate.
Themes
Noboru is also full of questions. He excitedly asks Ryuji about his night watch, how much a boat lists (or tilts) in a storm, and where the Rakuyo sails. He asks about different countries’ main exports and what the trees are like in Haiti. These questions remind Ryuji of images like a beautiful grove of palm trees and the sunset over the Persian Gulf. He remembers how much power the sea has to shape his moods.
Noboru’s eager questions suggest that he still very much is a child, and they remind Ryuji how interesting and adventurous his life as a sailor once was. Even though Ryuji associates sailing with the quest for power and glory, he also feels powerless in the face of the sea. Of course, the sea has always represented this very quest to Ryuji. Thus, this passage points to the deeper tension between autonomy and fate in the novel.
Themes
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Noboru closes his eyes and daydreams about the places that Ryuji has described. Meanwhile, Ryuji looks around at the expensive living room decorations and realizes that they are only meaningful to him because of his relationship with Fusako—which still feels unreal. He wonders what he is doing spending a summer afternoon in a mysterious woman’s house, after spending practically his whole life at sea. In Noboru’s mind, images of Fusako with Ryuji, the dead kitten, heroism, and happiness all swirl together until he falls asleep. Ryuji leaves for his date. On his way out, he asks the housekeeper to get Noboru a blanket—and the housekeeper says she expects to see Ryuji again at night.
Noboru and Ryuji each contemplate places that are totally foreign to them but utterly familiar to the other. In this scene, they represent the complementary forces of change and stability, or motion and stillness, which people must balance in order to live well. Ryuji’s thoughts about settling down after a life at sea can be viewed as a metaphor for Japan’s struggle to transition from a regional empire with global aspirations to an insular democracy. And his thoughts about Fusako reflect how people perceive the world through the prism of their experiences. Finally, as Noboru falls asleep, he focuses on the same association between death, love, and heroism that dominates Ryuji’s life, thoughts, and destiny.
Themes
