In Sailor, irony is very common. The first irony I noticed pertains to the concept of nihilism in the book. Nihilism is synonymus to meaninglessness. Nihilists follow the principles of this paradigm; they essentially don't care about anything. But if Noboru were to call himself a nihilist, the title would not quite fit him as perfectly as he would want. For one, Noboru shows attachment to this world; he idealises Ryuji and proves that the world is not as meaningless as it would be to a nihilist.
Secondly, it's very ironic, in my opinion, that Mishima uses natural imagery to illustrate the sea as a traditional Japanese force. The sea is a part of nature, which is in turn, relates to the admiration which the Japanese exhibit. Patterned kimonos, miniature gardens and cherry blossom festivals stand as a testament to this. However, the ironic twist is that the sea is used as a vehicle to get to the West. While supporting Eastern values, the sea allows infiltraton by the West (Fusako's international trade shop) to contaminate Eastern values.
Although Sailor is filled with ironies and may make it an unreliable piece for some, it actually makes the book more fun to research, in my totally nerdy opinion. =D
Oh and here's a cool thing I found:
Traditional Japanese portrayal of the sea (visual art-wise)
The boat looks quite insignificant as compared to the sea, eh? Even the sun looks tiny!
Secondly, it's very ironic, in my opinion, that Mishima uses natural imagery to illustrate the sea as a traditional Japanese force. The sea is a part of nature, which is in turn, relates to the admiration which the Japanese exhibit. Patterned kimonos, miniature gardens and cherry blossom festivals stand as a testament to this. However, the ironic twist is that the sea is used as a vehicle to get to the West. While supporting Eastern values, the sea allows infiltraton by the West (Fusako's international trade shop) to contaminate Eastern values.
Although Sailor is filled with ironies and may make it an unreliable piece for some, it actually makes the book more fun to research, in my totally nerdy opinion. =D
Oh and here's a cool thing I found:
Traditional Japanese portrayal of the sea (visual art-wise)
The boat looks quite insignificant as compared to the sea, eh? Even the sun looks tiny!
I quite enjoyed reading this post, I found the second irony which you mentioned very interesting. My question is, why do you think the author used this "ironic twist is that the sea is used as a vehicle to get to the West"? :') awesome possum by the way!
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