Outside of the bible, it's hard to find literature that embodies the "Test of faith" story with a precision and effectiveness. It always gets muddied in challenges that are either played too much towards the supernatural, or reliant on convenient tropes. For Shusaku Endo's "Silence," he manages to break free of the trend not by making a test of faith that sees the hero in a position of power, but one of thankless struggle - constantly citing the bible as their journey falls further and further into chaos. It's a book where sidetracking with prayers feels important to the text. How could these characters survive such turmoil? For this reason and many more, it's a story that treats faith as a real world thing, embracing it for the devout without making it isolating to the outsiders, wondering what they see in Christianity. It's the perfect example of faith, and it's easy to see why this book has withstood the test of time better than most books that get by on literal wings and prayers.
On the surface, "Silence" is a story that's compelling as a mission story. It's the journey to enter Japan and rescue a missionary who has been kidnapped for spreading the Christian faith. It's an easy premise, not unlike Apocalypse Now, but it's set in a time where communication with an outside world isn't as easy as a phone call. It would be hundreds of years before that could be achieved. Instead, there is only one man who could save the heroes in their time of doubt: God. It's in the titular silence that the characters find solace, doing their best to reach out and ask the simple question of why. Why are they being punished in these ways? It's hard to say, especially given that there's an easy out. Deny their faith, and they will live free of torture and ridicule in unkempt prisons.
The historical fiction is written in a correspondence style, meaning that it creates an intimacy with the audience. We are the one for whom the letters are to be received. It creates an unnerving sense of the struggle, causing one to wonder how these letters even got out. The conditions described are at times horrific and the idea of idling mindlessly in a hut all day to avoid capture seems like torture. Yet the book's stroke of genius isn't just to pray, but to immediately draw parallels between the events and biblical verses. It's here that the struggles reveal how universal they are. What would play as a deceit of the townspeople quickly connects to Jesus and Judas' struggle following The Last Supper. No matter how torturous the plot gets, which is very much so, the book's reliance on faith reveals something admirable and human. The faith is something deeper than any whip can get to. It's part of their souls in a way that to even lie about disavowing God is to create an unforgivable sin.
The prose is predominantly dry and straightforward, creating a sense that this can happen. While most stories don't think to tackle stories as gruesome and jarring as this, Endo manages to find empathy in the simple actions of priests praying. It's the moment that the book is at peace, managing to overlook all of the struggle. Their mission may be falling apart, but the good news is that God is watching them. Even if there's no direct mention of it, there's still a sense that God is filling the characters with doubt and creating their own struggles. What God would let these men suffer? It's hard to say, but it's even harder to ask why you'd still follow along his path when it's given you such misery? The hope that lingers is the piece of faith that will never go away, and there's a power to it.
"Silence" is a story that may play better if you're into historical fiction, as well as how devoted to faith you are. There's plenty of reward for those who have had an experience even a microcosm of what happens here. It's tough to have faith in a world that persecutes you, and it's even harder to hold onto it when there's so much riding against it. As the book shows, faith can be frayed and even fail during tests. But it's important to never give up. If this seems powerful to you, then there's a good chance that the book's prose comparing a humble yet dangerous journey through Japan to the bible is worth checking out. It definitely is a compelling read, and one that reflects the trials of faith better than any contemporary fiction has been known to do. It's powerful and questioning in all of the ways that religion should be.
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