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Part 1, Chapter 8
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
On the morning of December 30th, Fusako waits for Ryuji in the empty, artificial-feeling Center Pier neighborhood. Through the car window, she watches Ryuji leave the customs shed and walk out into the rain. The chauffeur gets him, and he joins Fusako in the back seat. “I knew you’d come,” he tells her. They kiss, and Ryuji grabs at Fusako’s body under her mink coat. They make small talk about their letters and Noboru, who is at home with a cold. They weren’t supposed to get along so easily after half a year apart, but Ryuji feels completely at home with Fusako. Life on land seems realer than ever.
The book jumps from Ryuji’s departure in the summer to his return in the winter. Again, Yokohama’s severe climate shapes the novel’s descriptions and mood: whereas heat and abundance dominated the first half, a chilly emptiness pervades it now. It’s also noteworthy that the novel narrates nothing during Ryuji’s months-long absence. Ultimately, the novel still depicts Ryuji’s presence as the factor that gives events their significance. While Noboru and Fusako were probably just following their ordinary school and work routines during those months, clearly, Fusako and Ryuji have kept in touch and maintained their romantic connection. In fact, they seem far more comfortable with each other now than they did in the summer, which suggests that their love has grown.
Themes
The car drives up Yado Hill to the Kuroda house, and the chauffeur shields Fusako with an umbrella on her short walk to the front door. Ryuji follows, but when he enters the house, he feels that something is slightly different. The housekeeper brings them tea, and Fusako shows Ryuji the embroidery pieces and tennis trophy that she has added to the living room. She has occupied herself with these hobbies since Ryuji’s departure; although she never wanted to, she has been eagerly awaiting his return. Meanwhile, Ryuji has become more social on the Rakuyo ever since meeting Fusako. He even told the other sailors about their romance.
Ryuji and Fusako return home as a couple, and the security of their newly-strengthened relationship leads Ryuji to view the house in a new light. They both recognize that although they once hoped to build a relationship on their own terms, they have fallen into common romantic clichés instead. Fusako is becoming the stereotypical sailor’s lover, waiting for him at home and occupying herself with menial hobbies, while Ryuji has started proudly telling his fellow sailors about his beloved. This indicates that the workings of love and fate are much stronger than their will as individuals.
Themes
Fusako asks Ryuji if he wants to see Noboru, and Ryuji clearly sees that “he was the man they had been waiting for, the man they loved.” Ryuji goes upstairs with his present for Noboru: a taxidermized baby crocodile. But Noboru refuses to smile, and Fusako asks if he has a fever again. Ryuji gives Noboru the crocodile and explains how the native tribesmen in Brazil dress up in crocodile and leopard skins for carnival. Noboru thanks him, accidentally glances at his chest of drawers, and then starts to worry that his mother and Ryuji will notice the peephole.
Ryuji’s thought indicates that he, Fusako, and Noboru have become a family, whether they originally intended to or not. But Noboru’s reaction to seeing Ryuji shows that he doesn’t seem to agree. Whether or not he’s actually happy to see Ryuji and receive his gift, Noboru pretends not to be. His anxiety about the peephole—which represents his power in his family—suggests that he’s really worried about Ryuji usurping his role as the man of the house.
Themes
Noboru stares at Ryuji’s tanned face and decides that Ryuji is acting unnatural and inauthentic. He calls the crocodile “phony”—Ryuji explains that it’s just a baby, and Fusako criticizes Noboru’s rudeness and ingratitude. She shows Ryuji how Noboru saved the stamps from all his letters in an album. Noboru asks when Ryuji will sail off again, and Fusako looks horrified. But she wants to know, too. Ryuji says he’s not sure. The ship won’t be ready until at least New Year’s.
Noboru’s cold reaction to Ryuji and the gift contrasts with his obvious enthusiasm for Ryuji’s adventures (as proven by the stamps). Again, even though Noboru views himself as stoic and sophisticated, he is actually still quite immature. In fact, he’s playing a part even more than Ryuji. Still, Ryuji seems phony to him because he now acts like an ordinary family man, not an intrepid sailor. And the crocodile seems phony because it’s just stuffed skin. This recalls how, after Noboru killed the kitten, the chief suggested that its organs represented reality, while its skin was meaningless.
Themes
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Later, Noboru adds two new accusations to his list of charges against Ryuji: saying that he isn’t sure when he’ll sail out and “coming back here again in the first place.” But Noboru is ashamed to feel angry—he has been trained to live with “absolute dispassion.” After his rage subsides, he reviews what he has written in his journal. Then, he hears a noise in the next room—it’s his mother with Ryuji. With his door unlocked, he wonders if he can take out the drawer and reach the peephole without anyone noticing.
Noboru remains caught between his passionate thirst for power and his belief that emotions are childish and meaningless. This is why he tries to logically reevaluate his accusations against Ryuji after initially writing them out. The problem with Ryuji’s failure to specify his departure date is that it suggests he is less committed to his heroic profession than before. But the problem with him “coming back here again in the first place” is clearly just that it challenges Noboru’s power and autonomy as his household’s only man.
Themes
