Romanticizing Death

In The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, Ryuji is drawn to the sea with antipathy of the land and its normality, thinking “the dark passions of the tides” are “an unknown glory calling for him endlessly from the dark offing” (179). The sea provides emotional stimulation for Ryuji that he never sees the need for a family. This changes when he meets Fusako. When Ryuji thinks of ideal love, death imposes as evident in his comparison of his and Fusako’s relationship as “an unseen Pandarus” as he fears that their union is not permanent (39). “For Ryuji the kiss was death, the very death in love he always dreamed of” (77). Evidently, just as Ryuji had been attracted to the mystery and dangers of the sea, he begins to romanticize about death, treating it as if a great adventure. It is this love that drives him to renounce his freedom of being with the sea to be with Fusako. However, his inability to balance his passion for the sea and his increasing love for Fusako leads to Ryuji’s death.

Do No Harm

I was watching an episode of House entitled “Parents” the other day and found parallels between House’s concept of parents damaging their kids and Noboru and his friends’ ideology that fathers are “the vilest things on earth” (167).

In the episode of House, Gregory House tries to validate his theory that “all parents screw up their kids”. Obviously, abusive and neglectful parenting may result in mental and emotional distress in children. House also discovers, however, that Adams’ parent’s “failure to screw her up is what really screwed her up”. Adams claims that being the only one among her peers to have two loving and understanding parents led her to feel that being dysfunctional made a person deeper; she soon began to romanticize dysfunction.  Although this may be an unusual example, it proves that it is inevitable for parents to damage their children.

 This is similar to Noboru and his friends’ ideology. The chief says, “There are no such things as a good father because the role itself is bad. Strict fathers, soft fathers, nice moderate fathers- one’s as bad as another” (136). They feel that parents negatively influence their children with their aspirations, resentments, and their ideals. Personally, I agree with the chief. Parents, along with their wisdom, instill prejudice, discrimination, fear, and much more negative aspects in their children. it impossible to do no harm.