Silence

A detailed Summary of Silence


Shusaku Endo's novel Silence brings up the troubling question of God's silence in the midst of human evil and suffering. The reader is brought deeper into the mystery of God's silence as the narrative unfolds. Acts of human evil that cause anguish, suffering, and death seem to elicit only cold indifference. Yet in a climatic moment, it seems as if God does speak. Father Sebastian Rodrigues faces his greatest decision, hears the voice of Christ urging him to trample on the Fumie The Fumie was literally, pictures to step on. Pictures of Christian figures used during the Edo period (1600-1868) to identify adherents of Christianity. At the conclusion of the novel the reader is left with a disturbing question: Was Rodrigues act of apostasy a cowardly rejection of the Christian faith, which he self-servingly justified as a noble and costly sacrifice for the sake of others?


With the occurrence at the end of the book my feeling is that he did not have a great love for Christ but denounced Christ because the pressure was too strong. However when Rodrigues heart and prayers were sincere, Jesus spoke to him in a way that Rodrigues heard and understood Jesus' commands compelled him to step on the fumie as an act of faith and a command from Christ. I find it interesting that this book took place in the 15th century. If the details of the setting were not included into the book I would assume that I was set in modern times. The silence that the book mentions is when God talks to you. Do you ever here any thing when God speaks? Yes, he tells us things but not through words. I believe that God has a very creative side to him and he tells us what he is saying through the actions and occurrences that pass through our lives. But in the other hand the devil can also ta

Some common words found in the essay are:
Father Rodrigues, Shusaku Endo's, Pictures Christian, Father Rodrigues', Japanese Christians, Sebastian Rodrigues, Fumie Fumie, father rodrigues, rodrigues act, Jesus Christ, act apostasy, rodrigues act apostasy, act apostasy cowardly, rejection christian faith, japanese christians, human evil, christian faith, cowardly rejection christian, god's silence, apostasy cowardly rejection, rejection christian, apostasy cowardly, cowardly rejection,

Approximate Word count = 603
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Religion

join now Save Paper

Related Essays

  • Silence Silence is a very profound and very mysterious subject. The very element of silence and the loss of silence, otherwise known as ... 808 words
  • Silence Silence is a very profound and very mysterious subject. The very element of silence and the loss of silence, otherwise known as ... 808 words
  • Silence 2 To me ampquotSilence is Acceptanceampquot means that if you do not speak up or say anything, that you think it is okay. If you do not say anything ... 718 words
  • Breaking the Silence Breaking the silence Intimacy and sexuality are the most important aspects of our life, our sex lives affect all other spheres and often determines a sense of ... 1027 words
  • silence ... Years of silence must be ended in India with women choosing what they wear, say, and most importantly whom they marry with out the risk of being beaten or ... 1556 words

Professional Essays

  • Role of Silence in Communication Silence is not merely the absence of sound. ... Covino discusses only one aspect of silence, the silence that can be taken for agreement. ... 782 words
  • Silence and Literature Silence is not merely the absence of sound. ... Covino discusses only one aspect of silence, the silence that can be taken for agreement. ... 775 words
  • Silence Communicates Meaning Listen to the Context Silence has meaning. It is not merely the absence of speech. It is in fact a form of speech. ... Her silence is agreement. ... 514 words
  • Silence in The Woman Warrior Silence in The Woman Warrior Introduction In Maxine Hong Kingstons The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, the concept of silence plays a ... 1293 words
  • Copycat and Silence of the Lambs On a surface level, the films ampquotCopycatampquot and ampquotSilence of the Lambsampquot parallel each other in important ways. In both cases a young ... 945 words
  • Silence of the Lambs ampamp Psychology PSYCHOLOGY The Silence of the Lambs In Jonathan Demmes The Silence Of The Lambs we are treated to two serial killers, one of the most difficult to diagnose ... 1298 words


Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

  • "Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
    Jack M.
  • "With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
    Brian P.
  • "I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
    Sara J.
  • "I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
    Rachel W.
  • "I love this site!!!"
    Marie N.
Home Join Now Support
Acceptable Use Policy About us FAQ
All papers are for research and reference purposes only!
© 2002-2009 DirectEssays.com. All Rights Reserved.