Introduction
The Sound of Waves is a fishing love story in the style of the poem about Daphnis and Chloe. Yukio Mishima focused on the story of noble heroes with strong and invincible characters. Consequently, the novel’s key theme is cognition of oneself and the world around these individuals through the prism of identity evolution. The development of identity in the Sound of Waves is a complex and multicomponent process in which the novel’s characters are improved throughout history based on a wide range of external events.
Analysis
Development of Identity
Shinji Kubo and Hatsue Miyata are the central characters in the novel by Japanese writer Yukio Mishima. Respectively, they are simultaneously the main engines of the plot and the exponents of the author’s ideas. During the story’s development, these heroes gradually grow above themselves, change, transform and become better within the framework of building an identity and forming a self-concept. Noteworthy, the concept of the first love of the young fisherman and the diving girl in the spectrum of normal healthy feelings in a simple, lyrical way is crucial in the evolution of the identities of Shinji and Hatsue. In this case, the process of recognition modification excludes tearing internal conflicts with reality or painfully nurtured self-esteem. Instead, it focuses on something calm, light, artless, sunny, and bright in self-knowledge and relationships. The characters go through specific life trials, gain experience, and change their worldview to look at the picture of reality differently, appreciating human qualities, family, work, kindness, and other positive aspects.
Relation of Characters with their Settings
One should remark that Yukio Mishima focuses on the natural habitat and a city in the Sound of Waves as the main settings that form the narrative’s essence, meaning, and theme. The plot unfolds in Uta-Jima, the small island in the Pacific Ocean after the Second World War, where the sea is the personification of the duality of the inner world of a person, representing anxiety, confusion, longing, and at the same time striving for peace, happiness, wisdom, and peace. For instance, Shinji and Hatsue are “children of the sea,” drawing strength from interaction with water and nature. Indeed, Shinji is a hardworking young man who grew up in a small village among open spaces. Although Hatsue had a slightly different life experience, she is like a kindred spirit for Shinji and more like a simple village girl than a city lady.
Consequently, in their current development, cities are seen as the opposite of the serene rhythm of life on the island. Hence, the author describes Chiyoko as a rude, bold, and unsociable girl since she “longed for the Tokyo where, even on such a stormy day, the automobiles went back and forth as usual” (Yukio, 2013). Accordingly, Chiyoko, as a city resident, draws strength and energy from being in a civilized center. Therefore, Chiyoko’s intervention in the relationship between Shinji and Hatsue symbolizes the invasion of the urban environment in nature, trying to adjust it to a new, modern way. Thus, the finale clearly indicates that nature is powerful, wise, and strong, and a city will not be able to resist it because these are entirely two different worlds in the processes in which it is impossible to interfere.
Establishment of Individuality
In general, the characters manage to correctly and accurately establish their identity after passing through many difficulties: lies, betrayal, and natural disasters (typhoons). Moreover, the usual way of life is changing upside down, giving some impetus to rethinking the current reality. Furthermore, the characters grow up, change internally and externally, communicate with each other, compare themselves with “interlocutors,” and thus draw certain conclusions about themselves.
Conclusion
Summarizing the above, one should highlight that the characters of the Sound of Waves are lively, well-written heroes who, throughout the development of the entire plot, go through various difficulties and rethink their lives, themselves, and the environment. Each represents one or another world – a world of nature or a city. Therefore, external tests give, in a sense, a lever of pressure that allows them to establish their identity correctly.
Reference
Yukio, M. (2013). The sound of waves. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.