"Silence" Shusaku Endo - Hailey Morgan

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In chapter four of Silence, the overall feel of the novel becomes a bit darker as we witness Rodrigues questioning his faith.

As I was reading, I became slightly frustrated with him. Rodrigues was not only one of the main believers in the story, but he was also, arguably, the strongest. When he began having doubts about God and Christianity, I was almost disappointed.

But when I looked deeper into the reasons why Rodrigues came to doubt, my attitude quickly changed. Shusaku Endo's book is called Silence and for good reason. As all of these horrific tragedies are occurring in Japan, no one else seems to care. Believers from other nations are not rushing to go and aid their brothers and sisters. In fact, most Christians outside of Japan don't even know of the foreign conflict. I began to think of how I would feel in that same situation and how much I would start to question Matthew 6:26-27. The verse talks about how God cares for even the smallest of creatures and encourages us not to worry, but to trust that our Father will take care of us. But after witnessing so many people die and watching further as no one comes to mourn, or to prevent more tragedies from happening; I wonder how long it would take before all of the verses in the Bible were scrutinized as just meaningless words on a page.

Edit - Replied to Leanne White and Rachael Gregson   
     

Comments

Moriah Nelson said…
I think when we look at Rodrigues, we can see an example of a person seeking to understand what a relationship with God really is, as opposed to what the church or world says it should be. I think about how we look at people in the Bible and want to hear God's audible voice to tell us what to do, but it really doesn't happen very often, even in the lives of the patriarchs. That's not to say God won't speak to us audibly, but I do think He speaks in other ways. For instance, Rodrigues could have tried to recognize God's providence as the prison guards allowed him to have paper and ink and to minister to the other Christians in the prison. I think that is evidence that God is watching over Rodrigues and his imprisoned brothers and sisters, even then.
January 20, 2020 at 2:25 PM
AnnaKate Burleson said…
This is the first time that Rodrigues has truly struggled. Up until this point, he has led a life of priesthood in a country where he is revered for his piety. This is the first time that he has truly seen suffering, and I feel like its understandable that his faith would falter as a result. I can't even imagine living in fear because of my beliefs, and I'm reluctant to imagine what I would do in that situation. Rodrigues is such a realistic narrator and he is so easy to empathize with as a result.
January 20, 2020 at 3:55 PM
Rachael Gregson said…
I too was flustered with his questioning, but I can honestly say that if I ever got placed in a situation like this, I would be just like him. In fact, maybe even worse. There's only so much people can take before the true human shows up in them. In regard to your reason behind believing why Silence is called Silence, I can agree though. It's sad to imagine that people stood by and let Japan suffer and it's sad to imagine stuff like this occurring now without no one taking a stand. Your point opens my eyes and sobers the situation.
January 20, 2020 at 5:21 PM
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