I first heard of Shusaku Endo's novel, "Silence," when I saw a trailer for the book’s upcoming motion picture. Me being a big fan of Liam Neeson, who is starring in "Silence's" film adaptation, I was quick to research the movie’s original book. Soon after I bought and read "Silence," and was amazed at Endo’s writing and message.
"Silence" is not a traditional missionary book. Instead of praising Christian missionary work in Japan, Shusaku, a Roman Catholic, critiques Western Christianity for its poor job of integrating theology into "the Japanese swamp,” or, rather, cultural background. The book does this while also revealing to readers the horrible persecution Christians in Japan endured. Endo’s work exceeded my expectations, and made me think about his spiritual and theological message.
The book begins with two Jesuit priests seeking to find their mentor Ferreira, after hearing about his recent apostasy in Japan. The two priests, Sebastian and Garrpe, refuse to believe that their mentor has apostated until they meet him face to face. They make their way to Japan and on the way meet a Japanese fisherman named Kichijiro, who agrees to guide them when they reach their destination. The three land in Japan and make their way to a Christian village. The village welcomes Sebastian and Garrpe, who begin to minister to the Japanese by baptizing, hearing confessions, giving out holy symbols and preaching. Soon the priests are forced to flee when Kichijiro betrays them to Japanese authorities. The priests witness the torture of two Japanese peasants as they were crucified and placed near the ocean at the mercy of Japanese waves, where they would die from exhaustion. Kichijiro then leads Sebastian into a trap where he is captured by the Japanese Samurai.
For the rest of the novel, Sebastian is forced to witness the torture of Japanese peasants until he apostatizes. In charge of the torture of Christians in the region is a man named Inoue, who, instead of killing priests outright, forces them to watch the torture of Japanese peasants in an attempt to destroy their faith. When the priest renounces his faith, Inoue hopes that the Japanese peasants will lose hope and renounce their faith as well. Peasants are burned alive, beheaded, covered with boiling water, and forced to watch their families die. By the end of the novel, Sebastian witnesses Japanese peasants being suspended in "the pit". This form of torture suspends the victim upside down against a stake. A small cut is made on the victim's forehead making the victim bleed out for several days of grueling pain. Rather than see the torture of fellow Christians any longer, Sebastian apostatized. Sebastian then spends the rest of his days working for the Japanese administration as a sad, lonely man.
Endo throughout the novel argues as to why Christianity has made little headway in Japan. Christian Theology, according to Endo, is incomprehensible to the Japanese because of its foreign theology. Unless Christianity finds a way to adapt to the "Japanese swamp," it will be unable to make headway into Japan. Two thirds through Endo's book Sebastian meets his fallen master Ferreira, who attempts to explain why he apostatized. "What the Japanese of the time believed in was not our God. It was their own gods. For a long time we failed to realize this and firmly believed that they had become Christians... yet, after twenty years of labor here I knew the Japanese. I saw that little by little, almost imperceptibly, the roots of the sapling we had planted decayed." The Japanese swamp had twisted Christianity from its central message to something completely different, all due to the missionaries’ failure to make Christian theology relevant to them.
Endo also discusses the problem of maintaining faith in troubled times. Kichijiro betrays Sebastian throughout the novel. Despite this, Kichijiro continues to maintain faith even if he cannot suffer for it. Sebastian, just like his mentor Ferreira, is apostatized by the end of the novel and is confronted by Kichijiro about the suffering of the strong and weak followers of Christ. "Father, I betrayed you. I trampled on the picture of Christ... The strong never yield to torture, and they go to Paradise; but what about those, like myself, who are born weak, those who, when tortured and ordered to trample on the sacred image..." What happens to those who are weak and unable to bear torture? Why couldn't they have been born at another time? Endo never answers these questions but presents the struggles of those who undergo them, sometimes in deep emotion.
"Silence" has been regarded by many reviewers, such as The New York Review of Books, as “a masterpiece." Endo's novel will take readers on a spiritual adventure as they question issues of faith. The book is emotional, intellectual, and intensely spiritual. "Silence" is also incredibly dark as readers will witness graphic images of the torture and cruelty that 17th century Japanese Christians faced. "Silence" is a masterpiece, and is a must-read for those who wish to explore deep issues of faith, and the problem of suffering in dangerous times.
