Silence: Symbols | SparkNotes

Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.

Kichijiro

The character of Kichijiro is a symbol of betrayal in the novel. His persistent presence in Rodrigues’s life, always finding his way to Rodrigues’s side and asking for forgiveness, makes him a Judas-like figure to Rodrigues. In fact, Rodrigues often imagines Kichijiro as Judas and himself as Christ, being put in the same position by Kichijiro’s repeated betrayals. By the end of the novel, Kichijiro appears different to Rodrigues, who has endured much suffering and has had his faith severely tested. Rodrigues comes to view Kichijiro as flawed and his betrayals as something to be forgiven rather than feel bitter about. He also sees Kichijiro as a faithful friend, for Kichijiro is always looking for Rodrigues, asking Rodrigues to give him forgiveness. Like Judas, Kichijiro plays a key role in Rodrigues’s life, making him understand the crucial part he played in helping carry out Christ’s role to suffer alongside people on earth.

The Face of Christ

At the beginning of the novel, Rodrigues describes how he is fascinated by Christ’s face as if it were the face of his “beloved,” as almost an object of desire. He tells how there have been many depictions of the face of Christ through the ages, ranging from humble to regal and glamorous. The early Christians imagined him as a shepherd in a small tunic and Medieval men pictured Christ with the authority of a king. Because of this, Rodrigues explains, he can let his imagination run wild and free and create an idealized image of Christ’s countenance. The face of Christ appears in Rodrigues’s mind many times in the novel during times of intense suffering and questioning of faith. Finally, when Rodrigues tramples on the fumie, he sees not a romanticized, beautiful face of Christ but one worn with time and age from being trampled on over and over. The face of Christ symbolizes Rodrigues’s connection with Christianity, and as the image of Christ changes, so does Rodrigues’s faith.

The Ocean

The ocean plays a major symbolic role in the novel, as many of the martyrdom scenes occur at the shore, and Rodrigues and Garrpe’s journey to Japan takes them over rough waters, symbolizing the struggles they’ll have to endure to carry out their mission. When Mokichi and Ichizo are fastened to a crucifix at the ocean’s edge and left to die, Rodrigues looks upon them in despair. For the first time, Rodrigues’s faith is severely shaken. He stares at the sea, wondering why God is silent just like the ocean. The ocean, he feels, is just as cold and indifferent as God seems to him at that moment. Later, Father Garrpe is swallowed up by the ocean while chasing after Christian prisoners being brought out to sea to be dumped overboard. The ocean—described in many scenes as a powerful, all-encompassing entity—is a symbol of God in the novel and the apathetic attitude Rodrigues worries God ultimately has toward humans. The ocean also symbolizes the presence of the natural world, which is felt in many scenes of the novel.

Previous section Motifs