Silence was published in 1966 by the Catholic Japanese author, Shusaku Endo. It tells the story of Father Sebastion Rodrigues, a Jesuit priest who lives in Portugal. The story starts in 1637 when he, along with two other priests, sets out to Japan for missionary work. They also have another goal, and that is to find out what happened to their teacher, Christovao Ferreira, a respected theologian who has been shamed for renunciation of his faith. During his journey, Rodrigues encounters horrible atrocities and sees torture and death and questions not only his religious convictions, but the reasons why God, in his silence, allows these things to happen.
Rodrigues and his companions are also on a journey to keep Christianity alive during a time in which Christians were tortured and unfairly persecuted in an attempt to wipe out foreign influences in Japan. When they arrive in Tomogi with their guide, Garrpe, they set up in a hut to practice their faith in secret as those Christians who did not apostatize were persecuted.
Rodrigues is jailed when he is betrayed by another character, Kichijiro, and once there, again refuses to apostatize. There, he witnesses the death of another Christian who refused as he did and begins to question why God has not intervened. His faith in God is steadfast, but he does start to also think about what his life and the suffering around him would mean if there was no God. “. . . all it sufferings has been bestowed upon us – for everything that Our Lord does is for our good (p. 96). Therefore, Rodrigues is set on understanding what the good is in the torture, death and persecution of Christians.
There are further deaths, including a village of Christians who are drowned for refusing to renounce their faith. Again, Rodrigues is horrified by God’s acceptance of the fate of so many innocent people, who have been punished for simply following their faith. Again and again, as Rodrigues encounters others, such as Ferreira, who tell him to apostatize, he refuses. After years of torture, he eventually gives in and denounces his faith by trampling on a bronze image of Christ. He claims to hear Jesus tell him to “trample.” He is led to believe that this act will redeem himself and free the other prisoners.
When Ferreira had visited Rodrigues in jail, he tells him he apostatized himself when tortured because God never came forward to help him or the others. What Endo has done in these instances, is have the characters blame God for this misfortune. And their misfortune is that they traveled to a country that denounced Christianity, thinking the power of their faith would change the political and religious landscape.
The theme of silence is prominent throughout the book. Japanese Christians practiced their faith in secret, or silence. Everything around Rodrigues remains the same, and is silent, after the many murders. Is God indifferent to a world that allows suffering and torture? Or, is God displaying his power over the world through his silence? Rodrigues is told by his Japanese imprisoners that by denouncing his faith, he becomes a messenger to other Christians, just as Jesus was a messenger.
Rodrigues lives for another thirty years under house arrest with his wife and son. “I fell,” he says, but also says, “Lord, you alone know that I did not renounce my faith” (p. 75). He believes “his Lord” is different that the God that is taught in churches. Perhaps Endo wanted Rodrigues to have a private relationship with God, one that he believes is above others and gives him the excuse to betray his faith. Perhaps Rodrigues finds that the only way he can continue to witness human suffering while refusing to denounce his faith, is to believe that “his Lord” would have done the same thing, even though he knows deep in his heart that is not true.
However, in the end, just as Judas betrayed Jesus, Rodrigues has betrayed not only God, but the essence of his faith. Not only is Rodrigues a traitor, but he is guilty of sin, and that is he could have saved the lives of many other Christians had he apostatized sooner. Because doing so would not have compromised his real faith. He would have still been a Christian but would have just given the Japanese what they wanted. He would have said the words that they wanted to hear even if he did not believe them in his heart. Rodrigues could have sacrificed as God did: “. . . Christ did not die for the good and beautiful. It is easy enough to die for the good and beautiful; the hard thing is to die for the miserable and corrupt” (p. 71). In the end, Rodrigues is seen as a martyr and compares his own suffering and sacrifice to that of Jesus.
It can only be surmised that Endo was expressing his own religious doubts through Rodrigues and his story. It is only when Rodrigues sees the suffering of others coupled with his own that he questions the existence of God. Is Endo hinting as atheism? Is he speaking his own doubts and beliefs through Rodrigues? Why is the book called “Silence?” These are all questions the author meant to invoke. Silence symbolizes not only the fact that God did not intervene when there was human suffering, but the fear Rodrigues felt when he questioned whether God even existed. One can imagine his fear when he thinks, “Supposing God does not exist” (p. 117) . . .if I consented to this thought, then my whole past to this very day was washed away in silence” (p. 118).
There is a paradox in “Silence.” Christians were tortured and murdered for their beliefs and Rodrigues could have done something to save them. He could have renounced his faith. In his eyes, God did nothing to save them so he did the same. But would Christ have not done the same thing to save the people who were suffering? They were, after all, his followers. This is the dilemma Endo purposely poses to readers, challenging them to question the depth and meaning of their own faith. “Silence” is more than a story about Rodrigues and his quest to spread Christianity, it mirrors the story of Jesus and his the ultimate sacrifice — just like Rodrigues.
