Silence Chapter 10 & Appendix Summary & Analysis

Chapter 10 & Appendix

Summary: Chapter 10

The first part of Chapter 10 is composed of the diary excerpts of a Dutch merchant stationed in Nagasaki named Jonassen. The entries describe how two men—Sawano Chuan (Father Ferreira) and Rodrigues—are called to testify that religious items confiscated on Dutch ships are Christian. Several families are sentenced to torture and death as a result, though the men beg the court for mercy on those convicted. Jonassen learns that Chuan is especially adept at negotiating the capture and identification of Christian items smuggled on Dutch ships, which makes Jonassen almost wish that Chuan would suffer for so blatantly ignoring God.

The narration shifts to the third person. A new law is enacted where every household is forced to stomp on a fumie to prove they reject Christianity. Rodrigues is called to meet Inoue. The two men haven’t seen each other since Rodrigues’s apostasy. Inoue is calm and gentle with Rodrigues. He tells him that he has called him to give him a new name—Okada San’emon. Rodrigues will assume the identity of a man who has recently died as well as his wife. Rodrigues doesn’t want this new life but quietly assents. Sensing Rodrigues’s apprehension, Inoue reminds Rodrigues that it was not he who defeated Rodrigues but the “swamp of Japan,” which cannot support the growth of Christianity. Rodrigues argues that his struggle with Christianity wasn’t with Inoue’s Japan but within his own heart. Inoue, now doubtful Rodrigues ever had faith in the first place, comments that Christianity is no longer a concern of his anyway; without the guidance of priests, the form of Christianity that the peasants now practice is some adapted version that doesn’t reflect the one brought by the Christian missionaries. Rodrigues returns home, bitter that he now has what he wanted—a life in Japan—but under very warped circumstances.

Finally, Kichijiro arrives at Rodrigues’s door, saying he wants confession. Rodrigues is reluctant at first, since he’s no longer technically a priest. For a moment he considers Kichijiro’s weakness in light of his own. An image of Christ appears in Rodrigues’s mind, reassuring him that he ordered him to stomp on the fumie so that Rodrigues could fulfill his purpose to betray him, just like Judas. Rodrigues decides to hear Kichijiro’s confession since there are no longer any priests in Japan. Rodrigues considers how his continued presence in the country is a testament to God’s presence.

Summary: Appendix

The novel’s Appendix is composed of several diary entries of an officer stationed at Rodrigues’s/Okada San’emon’s house. The diary lists some of Rodrigues’s activities, which include being forced to write a formal disavowal of Christianity and writing a book. Another set of entries describes a drama involving Kichijiro, who was caught wearing a Christian necklace. Once again, Kichijiro is sent to jail. Finally, Rodrigues’s death is recorded. Rodrigues dies at the age of sixty-four of natural causes, having spent over thirty years in Japan. His body is cremated, and he is given a Buddhist name posthumously.

Analysis: Chapters 10 & Appendix

Once again, the narration shifts to provide a larger context for the themes and characters in the novel. The Dutch clerk’s notes form yet another perspective on the broader social, political, and religious themes in the novel. The clerk notes that Ferreira and Rodrigues are in charge of identifying smuggled religious artifacts, which demonstrates that they are now complicit members of the Japanese government. The fact that the clerk describes Ferreira as especially efficient in his role suggests that Ferreira not only carries out his duties but potentially embraces them. This tragic irony underlines just how far Ferreira has fallen. Once a great leader of the Christian Church, he is now working wholeheartedly against it.

Rodrigues’s and Ferreira’s apostasy is raised to new, more problematic levels with these new endeavors. Even though they try to speak on the Christians’ behalf in the court, Rodrigues and Ferreira are inflicting pain on them by being the ones who lead to their arrest. This shows how deeply complex the act of apostasy is in Japan and the moral and ethical issues the men continue to face. Furthermore, the two men had hoped that by stepping on the fumie, they would bring an end to the peasants’ suffering. Yet here they are, continuing to cause more suffering for them. The clerk’s chastising of their actions adds further commentary on the complex situation. Presumably a Christian himself, the Dutch clerk has an opinion of the men that reflects what the rest of the European Christian nations likely think about Rodrigues and Ferreira now. Rodrigues and Ferreira are true exiles, with no real home anymore.

Rodrigues and Ferreira have become a hybrid of identities, but readers may wonder for what good. This is one of the major questions the novel asks, one that connects to the theme of the contrasts in Eastern and Western cultures: Have the two men truly evolved into something higher than their former selves? Their experiences in Japan have caused them a crisis of faith that has led them to a deeper understanding of Christ than they would have had if they remained safe on Portugal’s shores, protected by a literary and philosophical understanding of their religion uncomplicated by experience. On the other hand, the novel suggests that they are caught in a sort of purgatory of identity—neither Japanese nor Christian.

Rodrigues tries to come to an answer for this identity struggle for himself when he decides to hear Kichijiro’s confession. Rodrigues rationalizes that though doing so might be seen as sacrilege since he is no longer a priest in the eyes of the Church, he is not betraying God. The Church, as Ferreira explains earlier, is symbolic of a deeper understanding of Christ with one’s own heart. Still, Rodrigues seems to maintain a sense of his former identity in that he is the last priest in Japan and Kichijiro needs him. Rodrigues and the novel itself suggest that Rodrigues’s continued existence in Japan is testament enough to his faith.

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