Jump Over That Fire! [The Sound of Waves / Yukio Mishima #FamousQuoteNote108]

The famous quote I would like to introduce this time is as follows!

✅Source

"The Sound of Waves" is a refreshing and pure coming-of-age novel that stands apart from Yukio Mishima's other works. The themes characteristic of Mishima's literature—such as death, homosexuality, and a morbid aesthetic sense—are kept in the shadows, and instead, the pure love of young people and the rich nature of Japan are vividly depicted. This unique style is the reason why it has continued to fascinate many readers for many years.

✅Story Synopsis

Set on Uta-jima (a fictional island) in Mie Prefecture, the story depicts the romance between Shinji Kubo, a poor young fisherman, and Hatsue Miyata, the daughter of a wealthy shipowner. Shinji falls in love with Hatsue at first sight, and Hatsue is also drawn to the sincere and strong-willed Shinji. However, the difference in their social status and the gossip of the islanders stand in their way.

The story carefully follows Shinji as he endures the harsh work of fishing and proves his pride as a man in order to fulfill his love for Hatsue. Hatsue, too, tries to remain true to her feelings for Shinji without being swayed by the trends of society. As their love is tested, the story maintains a pure and healthy atmosphere, combined with beautiful descriptions of the island's nature.

✅Uniqueness within Mishima's Works

Yukio Mishima's representative works, such as "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion" and "Confessions of a Mask," deal with heavy and complex themes such as the protagonist's inner turmoil, death, and an obsession with morbid beauty. In contrast, "The Sound of Waves" is modeled after the story of Daphnis and Chloe from Greek mythology, with pure and healthy beauty brought to the forefront.

The characters in this novel live according to the laws of nature without having complex thoughts or twisted emotions. Shinji and Hatsue's love is not shaken even when faced with trials, and in the end, it is united by strength and sincerity. This style of writing has given readers deep emotion and peace of mind, making it a masterpiece loved by many.

✅Reading Impressions

The feeling immediately after finishing this story, which follows a clear good-triumphs-over-evil structure, is quite refreshing. With its thorough adherence to poetic justice, it gave me an impression somewhat like a good old Disney movie.

That said, having read other Mishima works like "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion" and "Patriotism," I found myself viewing everything while reading "The Sound of Waves" as foreshadowing for a tragic end, so I was quite tense while reading it.

Now that I understand that "The Sound of Waves" is a work that can be watched in complete relaxation, I would like to re-read it on another occasion when I want to feel refreshed. (It's the same feeling as watching a good old Disney movie when you want to feel happy.)

I think good works are very skillfully interspersed with contrasts. "The Sound of Waves" also had contrasts set up for every possible factor.

For example, the protagonist Shinji and the heroine Hatsue are contrasted by the fact that Shinji comes from a poor family having lost his father at a young age, whereas Hatsue is the daughter of a prominent family on the island (in short, a rich girl).

The confrontation between the protagonist's mother and the heroine's father is also a contrast, and the love rival (?) character also appears as a cynical young man who is influenced by city life.

This character is depicted as a contrast to the protagonist Shinji's sincere and sturdy personality. Furthermore, to emphasize island life, the protagonist's younger brother goes to the city on a school trip and goes out of his way to send postcards to his family waiting on the island, telling them about the virtues of the city.

All of these contrasts are arranged quite conveniently. That is precisely why the story progresses as smoothly and fluidly as a musical.

It was a work that gave me the impression that the primary goal was not to depict the essence of humanity, but to create a beautiful story, and that the setting and characters were arranged to make that story work.

That said, I didn't get the impression that the setting and characters were mechanically and conveniently arranged just for the sake of the story; rather, the beauty of the writing style unique to Mishima's works, combined with the careful descriptions of the environment and psychology, resulted in a literary work that is easy to read yet has depth.

While 'The Sound of Waves' is such a meticulously calculated work, the scene where the quote I am introducing this time appears is particularly impressive.

'Jump over that fire'

I interpreted it as a device for the story to move forward significantly, breaking through the 'contrasts' that had been carefully depicted in the beginning, as the protagonist jumps over the 'fire' and dives into the heroine's arms while a great storm rages outside.

In fact, the story accelerates rapidly from this 'Jump over that fire' scene. By the way, these words were spoken by the heroine to the protagonist. My impression is that this line, 'Jump over that fire,' is placed exactly in the middle of the 'ha' (break) part of the 'jo-ha-kyu' (introduction, break, rapid) structure.

As described, 'The Sound of Waves' is a great work that is worth reading as a piece of literature, but I think it also has high value as a textbook that is very useful for unraveling the structure of a work and learning how to create a story. It doesn't have that many pages, and the content is interesting, so you can read it quickly. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend you pick it up and give it a read.

📢Notice

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