UM Honors Blog 2021-2022

      Rodrigez's denial strikes me in an oddly personal manner. Tortured physically and mentally, it takes threatening the safety of others for Rodrigez to denounce his faith. He does it for the sake of others with full knowledge he will be condemned for this. He is willing to take on Hell for the Earthly safety of those around him.      When I was a child and much more passionate about traditional Christianity I had frequent thoughts of willingly giving up my Christianity and entering Hell if it meant the salvation and safety of those I love. Of course, as a human, I do not have this power. Yet the thoughts persisted. If asked today if I would do the same still, I think I would say yes.      Rodrigez gives up something that has defined him for so long, his faith. He gives it away to save others. As a child, I had thoughts of doing the same. Today, if I knew it would actually work, I would most likely do it. It is a form of selfishness, but i...

 Silence creates an interesting point of view for us as readers. As we read this story of one having to lose faith to save others we continually think about how sad it is but the dark reality is that Christians are still be persecuted today. This persecution is not a story of the past and is still being faced by many Christians today. Although this is a sad reality it also shows the faith and courage of those willing to risk their lives to spread the word of God. It shows how much faith those being persecuted for their faith truly have. We are lucky in the United States to have religious freedom through the Amendments but there are others in other countries that are not lucky enough to be able to exercise their religious beliefs freely. This is often a reality we do not want to face but must. As we read this work we must remember that this is still taking place today. We must recognize the courage and faith of missionaries and people being persecuted for their faith.  I commen...

               This is one of the main questions Rodrigues asks himself when forced to confront the image of the fumie. To justify his behavior, Rodrigues claims that Jesus would have apostatized himself to save these people, and in fact was even telling him to do the same. Personally, I do not believe this is the case, although I have no hard feelings towards Rodrigues for doing what he did, and I do not think that this necessarily compromises his faith.             Essentially, Rodrigues ultimately apostasies to save those around him from suffering. Jesus is faced with this same predicament numerous times throughout the gospel, as the Pharisees and rulers continually try to get him to give up his ‘act’ and admit he is not the Messiah. Obviously, Jesus never does so, but Rodrigues may argue that this is because Jesus was not faced with someone else’s life being on the line for his actions, ...

Throughout "Silence," the main theme has been silence. There is the silence of men, the silence of nature, but most poignantly, the silence of God. Multiple times, Rodrigues has cried out to God in frustration. Why has God remained silent through all the suffering of the people? Such a prolonged silence makes the scene at the end of chapter nine all the more noticable.  Rodrigues is faced with the decision to apostatize. The  fumie is placed at his feet and, as he raises his foot to take the step, the long silence is broken.  "And then the Christ in bronze speaks to the priest: 'Trample! Trample! I more than anyone know of the pain in your foot. Trample! It was to be trampled on by men that I was born into this world. It was to share men's pain that I caried my cross.'" (Endō, 183).  This is the only moment in the story in which God breaks his silence. Why is it that this is the moment? Rodrigues denies Christ by Christ's own command. Something about...

 The ending of Silence was very heavy. It was disheartening to read about how Rodrigues not only had to disgrace himself to save the lives of his fellow Christians, but he also is bound to live a faithless life. From the point of view of the Japanese, I suppose that it makes logical sense that Rodrigues would be forbidden from continuing his priestly ministry and even from evangelizing and publicly practicing his faith. (Just to clarify, this is NOT to say that I sympathize with the persecution of Christians! However, when looking at the situation from their point of view, it is the prerogative of the Japanese officials if they do not want Christianity to spread in the country, and I am not surprised that they would impose such requirements/restrictions on the apostate fathers.) It was extreme, though, for the Japanese government officials to limit the mobility of these men, even to the point of disallowing them to return to their home countries. I thought that this was a particula...

      Kichijiro is one of the most interesting characters in the entire story. He is very much not the most likable character but I can’t help but feel sorry for him. Kichijiro is in the position he is in because of his own actions, but at the same time I feel pity for him.     Kichijiro keeps begging the priest to forgive him but the priest keeps refusing him. While reading, I can hear the pain in Kichijiro’s voice and the painful begging he is doing. This reminds me of Esau in the Bible when he is begging his father Isaac for a blessing. Both were begging for something that they could not get. Both were as sincere as they could be to get what they wanted. Unfortunately, no matter how much they begged, or pleaded, or cried, they could not get what they desperately wanted. In cases similar to these, I sometimes can’t help but feel sorry for them, even if they aren’t deserving of it.  I commented on Haylee’s and Emily Otts’ post

       Silence did not end anything like I wanted it to. Which, being an avid reader, that is extremely frustrating. Many times when I'm reading I find myself wondering (not even necessarily meaning to) why the author did not do this and did not do that or chose to have a character take a different path. But isn't that life most of the time? We have plan A, and we really like plan A, and then something comes along to knock us off course. Now we're heading in a completely different direction that we really don't like and yet things are almost entirely out of our control. To bring a little psychological aspect into this, a lot of times we fail to realize just how much the people around us and the situations we are in affect our life. We like to think of ourselves as autonomous creatures who do as we please (especially in America's extremely harmful individualistic culture) and yet that autonomy is nothing more than an illusion. It makes us feel better, it gives us a s...