Philip
Jenkins
Institute for Studies of Religion
Baylor
University
READING SHUSAKU
ENDOÕS SILENCE
(1966)
MAIN QUESTION TO
CONSIDER: Did Father Rodrigues ultimately
make the right decision? Right by whose standards?
Silence is a book about the death of a church. It tells a story
firmly rooted in history, about the brutal persecution and destruction of the thriving Catholic mission in
seventeenth century Japan, an era that produced many thousands of martyrs.
ItÕs a fine
historical novel, but beyond that, it is regarded as a spiritual classic
because of the portrayal of the main character, Fr. Rodrigues, who tries to
understand how God can permit the horrors he is witnessing. Why is God silent?
Does He not exist, or does He not care about His creatures? Or is there a
higher purpose utterly incomprehensible to humanity? Also, he must decide how
to respond himself to the destruction of a world – to an apocalyptic
situation. His whole background teaches him to resist to the point of facing
agonizing torture and martyrdom – and yet, the reality is quite
different from what he expects. This is a book about faithfulness, about treason and betrayal, and very
much about the relationship of Christian faith to state power.
It is helpful to
read something of EndoÕs life, to understand the thought-world of a
man living as a tiny religious minority in an intolerant culture. IÕve also
included links, above, that give you a good sense of the historical background
youÕll need to find out whatÕs going on in the story.
Also be aware
that the persecution produced some amazing contemporary visual art, which is well worth while checking out.
You can even see a picture of the fumie that plays so large a role in the book.
Based on what we
commonly think about the history of Christianity, why is this book a surprise,
even a shock?
This is a book
about the end of the world, about persecution. According to traditional
Christian thought, how should the church and its believers react to such a
time? What goes wrong in this book?
How does the
book fit with or clash with the standard images of missions and missionaries?
If someone was making a film of this kind of story thirty years or so ago, how
might they have made it different, with conventional heroes and villains?
We hear a lot
about how churches are born and grow, but virtually never how they fade and
die, yet historically such vanishings have been strikingly common. Why do we so
rarely hear about them, and why do historians so rarely discuss them? Contrary
to the noble sentiment that is sometimes heard, you really can kill an idea.
Does
the extinction of church pose challenges to faith: if Christianity is a true
religion, why has God permitted it to die in such large parts of the world? Is
the survival and extinction of a faith just a matter of chance and historical
accident? How might Endo address this broader question?
Why does it
matter that the author is himself Japanese, rather than a European describing
these events?
We read the
story partly through the letters of Fr. Rodrigues, a narrator with his
particular ideas and prejudices. Are we supposed to accept what he says as, so
to speak, Gospel truth? Or are we meant also to see things more through the
eyes of the Japanese characters themselves? How might they have seen things
differently? How reliable is Rodrigues as a narrator?
What conditions
in his lifetime might have shaped his account of this ruthless and fanatical
regime? There are two parallels you might pay attention to, each involving the
forcible regulation and repression of behavior. One is the ruthless repression
during WWII-era Japan, when the Secret Police (Kempeitai) rooted out Òthought crimeÓ and unpatriotic behavior. (George
Orwell actually borrowed the term Òthought crimeÓ from this precedent). The
other parallel is the brainwashing of prisoners during the Korean War
(1950-53).
Are we meant to
draw comparisons to the events of the Cold War with which both Endo and Miller
were so familiar?
Fr. Rodrigues
arrives in Japan with an elaborate set of ideas about what he can expect as a
priest and a missionary, about what the life of the church is like, about the
glories of sanctity martyrdom. How does the reality live up to that? What are
his surprises and disappointments as he confronts reality? Has his training
prepared him properly for what he is going to face?
What difference
does it make for the reader that the persecutors in this instance are Asian and
at least some of their victims are European?
Endo is
interested in the making of history, and the process of investigating the past.
How do these concerns shape the structure of Silence? How does the book use documents, real or invented, to tell
the story? What effect do such documents have on the reader?
What does Endo
try to teach us about the nature of Christ, and of Christianity? How does he
suggest that the church might have misunderstood these core lessons? How do Fr.
RodriguesÕs understandings of Christ change under the pressure of violence and
fear?
How do Biblical
images appear in the novel, and particularly New Testament images?
In the Catholic
thought of the seventeenth century, the priest re-enacted the role of Christ
during the Mass, and sought to imitate Christ. How does that imitation affect
Fr. RodriguesÕs view of himself, his situation, and his enemies and persecutors?
What does the
book tell us about religious persecution, about the ways in which it can be
ruthlessly effective? Based on the book, are there any ways of resisting such
an assault?
The Japanese
persecutions involved physical brutality and abuse on an appalling scale. Any
author describing them faces a dilemma, of making them convincing without
making the reader numb with disgust. Does Endo do an effective job in
portraying the violence of this world? You can read a
stunning and shocking historical account of such a martyrdom, and compare it with EndoÕs book.
Tell me about
the meaning of apostasy in the book.
Tell me about
the relationship between Ferreira and Rodrigues, and how each deals with his
fate.
Both seventeenth
century Europe and modern Japan were deeply committed to the ideal of loyalty,
and regarded betrayal as the worst of sins. Does Endo suggest that Christianity
should observe these values strictly, or rise above them?
Repeatedly in
the book, we hear that Christianity has failed in Japan because it is an import
not suited to the culture. Do you think Endo himself believes that? (Ferreira describes
Japan as a Òbottomless swampÓ for ideas). Does Endo put some or much of the
blame for the persecution on the European clergy and missionaries themselves?
What does Endo
tell us about the appeal of Christianity for the Japanese people?
What does the
book tell us about the problems of translating Christianity into another
culture and language without compromising its meaning?
What does the
book tell us about the nature of church and state? Can the church ever truly
rely on the tolerance of support of the state, or must the relationship between
the two always be a kind of armed truce? How does EndoÕs view of the state
differ from MillerÕs?
Does it matter
that the novel is by a Catholic author describing a Catholic story: might a
Protestant writer have treated the story differently?
Nature
descriptions abound in the book, especially the rain and the sea: tell me about
them. Are they used consistently to symbolize particular things?
What parallels
strike us between this book and the fate of persecuted churches in parts of the
world today?
When Rodrigues
hears Christ speak, are we meant to understand this as a real vision, or a
diabolic temptation?
At the risk of
being obvious, much of the bookÕs action takes place in or near the city of
Nagasaki, a name that has a special resonance for a modern audience (and it
certainly would have done in EndoÕs time, in the 1960s). Note that the city is
more or less being rebuilt at this time, that it is a large construction site. How
does knowing the twentieth century fate of Nagasaki affect our reading of Silence?
What is the core
lesson of Silence, the main takeaway?
Is it a novel of despair, or of faith?
Does Fr.
Rodrigues die as a Christian?