The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea: Part 2, Chapter 5 Summary & Analysis

Fusako gradually becomes kinder and more attentive to Noboru, who suspects that she’s trying to compensate for upcoming news that he won’t like. One night, she nearly forgets the key to Noboru’s bedroom, and Ryuji suggests that she stop locking him inside. So, she leaves the door unlocked. But Noboru isn’t happy—he doesn’t want the grownups to make him mature. He prefers the door locked.

One evening, Ryuji and Fusako take Noboru to a movie and then for his favorite dinner, Chinese food. They seem hesitant and afraid, and Noboru already knows what they’re going to tell him. He plays the part of the innocent child when his mother informs him that Ryuji will be his “new father.” She explains how she became lonely after Noboru’s real father died and will be marrying Ryuji next month. Noboru thinks this all sounds stupid, but he’s delighted that the adults are afraid of him. He puts on a wicked smile, but Ryuji notices it and thinks he’s glad. Ryuji declares that he’ll start calling Noboru “Son,” and they awkwardly shake hands across the table.

That night, Fusako leaves Noboru’s room unlocked. Inside, Noboru broods, struggling to control his emotions. He hopes his mother will come back and tell him that the wedding is a lie. But he also wants to hurt her. He hasn’t looked through the peephole in weeks—it feels too risky with his door unlocked. But tonight, he finds courage. He pulls out the drawer and lets it crash to the floor. He hides inside the chest with a flashlight and his English vocabulary cards. That way, he can spite his mother—if she finds him, she will be furious at him, but then notice that he was just innocently studying. He laughs villainously—he feels that he’s on “the world’s outer edge.” After studying a few words, he falls asleep. The flashlight is still on.

Ryuji and Fusako go to the bedroom around midnight. Fusako feels a sense of shame, but she can’t pinpoint why. She asks Ryuji to turn off the lights. They get into bed and have sex. Afterward, Fusako admits that she was even more embarrassed with the lights off than she is with them on. Then, Ryuji notices a light emanating from a spot in the wall. He points it out and promises to fix it, but when she sees it, Fusako instantly understands what has happened. She runs out of the room and into Noboru’s. Confused, Ryuji lights a cigarette and waits.

Fusako drags Noboru out of his dresser and starts hitting him harder than he ever imagined possible. When Noboru comes to, he sees her standing above him, with her robe open and her face covered in tears. He remembers this moment from his dreams. Fusako screams that Noboru is disgusting and that he humiliated her. Noboru doesn’t mention his studying—he believes that his mother has finally discovered reality itself and is distraught because of her prejudice against it.

Fusako declares that Ryuji will come punish Noboru. Meanwhile, Noboru proudly reminds himself that the peephole has shown him the true meaning and source of the universe. When Ryuji comes in, Fusako explains that Noboru was spying on them and needs a serious beating. Ryuji calmly asks if Noboru has been spying on them since the beginning, and Noboru nods. Ryuji contemplates what to do—this is his first true “decision about shore life.” He remembers the ocean’s violent fury, and he thinks about the other decisions he will have to make in the coming years. Compared to the swelling sea, they all seem unreal.

Ryuji decides that beating Noboru would be unwise. He sits down and says that since his own arrival has changed Noboru’s life, Noboru’s curiosity about him is understandable. So is using the peephole, even though it was clearly wrong. He proposes forgiving Noboru and moving on. Privately, Noboru is horrified to see his great manly hero saying such sensitive, dishonorable things. He recalls the chief’s comment: “there [are] worse things than being beaten.”