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Chapter 16: Loveday, 1942
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in After Darkness, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Dangers of Nationalism
Isolation and Trauma
Kindness, Compassion, and Selflessness
Racism, Xenophobia, and Division
Guilt and Atonement
Summary
Analysis
After taking the train from Barmera to Melbourne, Dr. Ibaraki and his fellow exchangees board the ship at Port Melbourne. Walking between the train and the ship, Ibaraki once again feels like an outsider in the Australian setting, hearing violent remarks and remembering the encounter with the racist woman on the platform when he first traveled to Loveday. Along with the men, many women and children board the ship. Ibaraki is relieved to hear women’s voices and see children.
The days on the ship pass peacefully. Dr. Ibaraki socializes with many of the people in his cabin, rarely interacting with Mori and Yamada. One night, Ibaraki and some friends discuss Japanese soldiers who died in a suicide mission. One of his friends argues that it is the greatest sacrifice. Ibaraki, however, internally disagrees: he knows that those soldiers are at peace with themselves, rather than living with the suffering like himself.
Ibaraki’s disagreement with the principle that dying in a suicide mission for your country is the greatest sacrifice offers an alternative to the nationalist view that characters have perpetuated throughout the novel. Ibaraki, having experienced much trauma and personal growth in the past four years, is now able to hold a different view than many of his countrymen.
Themes
One day on the ship, Dr. Ibaraki recalls a memory. In the days leading up to his failed dissection at the lab, Ibaraki innocently reads one of the files in Shimada’s office, a detailed account of the effectiveness of one of the labs developing bioweapons. A few days later, after Dr. Ibaraki’s termination, he sneaks into the storage room of the lab. There, he finds the corpse of the boy he had been unable to operate on. He steals the tag from around his neck: the tag that Sister Bernice found in the book he lent her.
This scene sheds light on the meaning of his reaction when Sister Bernice found the tag in his book. When Ibaraki stole the tag, he symbolically rebelled against the work of the laboratory. Furthermore, this act, as it was out of character at the time, highlights how deeply the trauma of working in the lab affected him.
Themes
After many weeks of their voyage, Dr. Ibaraki and his fellow former internees switch ships in the neutral African nation of Lourenço Marques. They board the Kamakura Maru and begin their long journey back to Japan, stopping in Hong Kong on the way to raise the Japanese flag. On the final day of the voyage, Ibaraki stands on the deck looking out at the sea. A friend from the ship joins him, and they talk about what it will be like to return home. His friend comforts Ibaraki, saying that Kayoko will be glad to see him. As Ibaraki continues to look out onto the sea, he reflects how quickly things can change. He resolves to grow into a new person and never look back.
The final phase of the sea voyage is the ideal time for Ibaraki to reflect. In approaching Japan and thinking about all that waits for him, he symbolically finalizes the new man that he has become. The fact that his new friend comforts him about Kayoko exemplifies Ibaraki’s newfound ability to open up to the people in his life.
Themes
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