The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea Literary Elements

Philosophical fiction / Bildungsroman

Set in Yokohama, Japan post-World War II

Narrator: Omniscient speaker

Point of View: Third-person

Pensive, Nostalgic, Cynical

Protagonist: Noboru Kuroda; Antagonist: The elusiveness of glory and honor embodied by Ryuji Tsukazaki.

In his adoption of a code of stoicism, Noboru finds a hero in Ryuji as he represents the idea of glory and honor. However, as Ryuji forsakes this masculine identity for domestic constructs Noboru is disappointed in his idol. Accordingly, he embraces ideologies to preserve the glory seeing murder and death as the only solution to restore balance to the natural order.

The climax takes place when Ryuji is drawn to the sea during an intimate moment with Fusako which Noboru sees as a display of glory.

The group killing the kitten foreshadows the murder of Ryuji.

N/A

The novel alludes to the traditional Japanese values that define masculinity through honor and glory, which western philosophy threatens post-World War II.

“The window overlooked the red roofs of old warehouses. A block of new warehouses, like concrete apartment buildings, hulked up from the pier to the north. The canal was buried under sculls and barges. Beyond the warehouse district piles of seasoning lumber merged into an intricate wooden mosaic. Extending like a concrete finger from the seaward side of the lumber yards, a long breakwater stretched all the way to the sea.”

The contradiction of ideologies in the narrative stems from the clash between western philosophy and eastern values within the characters.

The narrative draws a parallel between Noboru and Ryuji to demonstrate the desire for glory and honor through pursuing traditional ideas of masculinity.

N/A

“The stars slanted into the south, swung to the north, wheeled, whirled into the east, and seemed finally to be impaled on the tip of the mast.”