The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea

by

Yukio Mishima

Hot and Cold Symbol Analysis

Hot and Cold Symbol Icon

Extreme hot and cold in this novel illustrate how the world is governed by opposite, complementary forces that humans struggle to integrate. The first half of the novel is set in the suffocating, humid Yokohama summer and the second half in its freezing winter. But in both seasons, the novel constantly emphasizes how the temperature affects his characters’ feelings and perceptions. In the summer, Ryuji sweats through his shirt and Fusako hides from the sun under a parasol; in the winter, they run around the park together at dawn to keep warm, while Noboru and his friends hide from the freezing wind when they visit the piers.

The novel strongly associates heat with masculinity, life, and love, while it associates cold with femininity, weakness, and death. In the summer heat, Noboru praises Ryuji to his friends; in the freezing winter, they plot to kill him. Similarly, in the scenes where they meet and fall in love, Ryuji and Fusako are both overwhelmed by the heat, but they agree to get married in the freezing cold of New Year’s morning. In other words, their love heats up into a passionate affair, and then cools down into a stable relationship. Finally, in the book’s closing scene, Ryuji sits on a freezing mountaintop and daydreams about the tropical heat he used to encounter as a sailor. In other words, he spent his life seeking adventure while moving around the sunny tropics, while his death comes in the chilly Japanese mountains, after he has stopped moving and settled down.

Thus, like all the other binaries that dominate the novel—land versus sea, male versus female, order versus change, life versus death, and light versus darkness—hot and cold represent the contradictory aspects of people’s identities and relationships, which they struggle to integrate into a coherent whole.

Hot and Cold Quotes in The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea

The The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea quotes below all refer to the symbol of Hot and Cold. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Glory, Heroism, and Death Theme Icon
).
Part 1, Chapter 3 Quotes

The terrifyingly deliberate prelude and the sudden, reckless flight; the dangerous glitter of silver in a twist of fraying cable—standing under her open parasol, Fusako watched it all. She felt load after heavy load of freight being lifted from her and whisked away on the powerful arm of a crane—suddenly, but after long and careful preparation. She thrilled to the sight of cargo no man could move winging lightly into the sky, and she could have watched forever. This may have been a fitting destiny for cargo but the marvel was also an indignity. “It keeps getting emptier and emptier,” she thought. The advance was relentless, yet there was time for hesitation and languor, time so hot and long it made you faint, sluggish, congested time.

Related Characters: Fusako Kuroda (speaker), Noboru Kuroda, Ryuji Tsukazaki
Related Symbols: The Rakuyo, Hot and Cold
Page Number: 35
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 1, Chapter 4 Quotes

“It was the sea that made me begin thinking secretly about love more than anything else; you know, a love worth dying for, or a love that consumes you. To a man locked up in a steel ship all the time, the sea is too much like a woman. Things like her lulls and storms, or her caprice, or the beauty of her breast reflecting the setting sun, are all obvious. More than that, you’re in a ship that mounts the sea and rides her and yet is constantly denied her. It’s the old saw about miles and miles of lovely water and you can’t quench your thirst. Nature surrounds a sailor with all these elements so like a woman and yet he is kept as far as a man can be from her warm, living body. That’s where the problem begins, right there—I’m sure of it.”

Related Characters: Ryuji Tsukazaki (speaker), Fusako Kuroda
Related Symbols: Hot and Cold, The Sea
Page Number: 41
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 1, Chapter 6 Quotes

His eyes roved the dim room and he marveled at the golden clock enthroned on the mantel, the cut-glass chandelier depending from the ceiling, the graceful jade vases poised precariously on open shelves: all delicate, all absolutely still. He wondered what subtle providence kept the room from rocking. Until a day before, the objects here had meant nothing to him, and in a day he would be gone; yet, for the moment, they were connected. The link was a glance met by a woman’s eyes, a signal emanating from deep in the flesh, the brute power of his own manhood; and to know this filled him with a sense of mystery, as when he sighted an unknown vessel on the open sea. Though his own flesh had fashioned the bond, its enormous unreality with respect to this room made him tremble.

Related Characters: Ryuji Tsukazaki (speaker), Noboru Kuroda, Fusako Kuroda
Related Symbols: Hot and Cold, The Sea
Page Number: 68-69
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 1, Chapter 7 Quotes

For Ryuji the kiss was death, the very death in love he always dreamed of. The softness of her lips, her mouth so crimson in the darkness he could see it with closed eyes, so infinitely moist, a tepid coral sea, her restless tongue quivering like sea grass…in the dark rapture of all this was something directly linked to death. He was perfectly aware that he would leave her in a day, yet he was ready to die happily for her sake. Death roused inside him, stirred.

Related Characters: Ryuji Tsukazaki, Fusako Kuroda
Related Symbols: The Sea, Hot and Cold
Page Number: 77
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2, Chapter 2 Quotes

Are you going to give up the life which has detached you from the world, kept you remote, impelled you toward the pinnacle of manliness? The secret yearning for death. The glory beyond and the death beyond. Everything was “beyond,” wrong or right, had always been “beyond.” Are you going to give that up? […]

And yet Ryuji had discovered on the return leg of his last voyage that he was tired, tired to death of the squalor and the boredom in a sailor’s life. He was convinced that he had tasted it all, even the lees, and he was glutted. What a fool he’d been! There was no glory to be found, not anywhere in the world.

Related Characters: Ryuji Tsukazaki (speaker), Noboru Kuroda, Fusako Kuroda
Related Symbols: The Sea, Hot and Cold
Page Number: 110-111
Explanation and Analysis:

A minute later, far to the right of the floating lumber and surprisingly high up, a gauzy red ring loomed in the slate-gray sky. Immediately the sun became a globe of pure red but still so weak they could look straight at it, a blood-red moon.

“I know this will be a good year; it couldn’t be anything else with us here like this, watching the first sunrise together. And you know something? This is the first time I’ve ever seen the sunrise on New Year’s Day.” Fusako’s voice warped in the cold. Ryuji heard himself bellow in the resolute voice he used to shout orders into the wind on the winter deck: “Will you marry me?”

Related Characters: Ryuji Tsukazaki (speaker), Fusako Kuroda (speaker)
Related Symbols: The Sea, Hot and Cold
Page Number: 112
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2, Chapter 5 Quotes

Obviously, his mother was not mistaken; and she had brushed against “reality,” a thing she dreaded worse than leeches. In one sense, that made them more nearly equal now than they had ever been: it was almost empathy. Pressing his palms to his reddened, burning cheeks, Noboru resolved to watch carefully how a person drawn so near could retreat in one fleeting instant to an unattainable distance. Clearly it was not the discovery of reality itself that had spawned her indignation and her grief: Noboru knew that his mother’s shame and her despair derived from a kind of prejudice. She had been quick to interpret the reality, and inasmuch as her banal interpretation was the cause of all her agitation, no clever excuse from him would be to any purpose.

Related Characters: Noboru Kuroda, Ryuji Tsukazaki, Fusako Kuroda
Related Symbols: The Peephole, Hot and Cold
Page Number: 153
Explanation and Analysis:

Noboru listened feeling as though he were about to suffocate. Can this man be saying things like that? This splendid hero who once shone so brightly?
Every word burned like fire. He wanted to scream, as his mother had screamed: How can you do this to me? The sailor was saying things he was never meant to say. Ignoble things in wheedling, honeyed tones, fouled words not meant to issue from his lips until Doomsday, words such as men mutter in stinking lairs. And he was speaking proudly, for he believed in himself, was satisfied with the role of father he had stepped forward to accept.
He is satisfied. Noboru felt nauseous.

Related Characters: Noboru Kuroda (speaker), Ryuji Tsukazaki, Fusako Kuroda
Related Symbols: The Peephole, Hot and Cold
Page Number: 158
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2, Chapter 6 Quotes

At that moment, the pool was terrifically deep. Deeper and deeper as watery blue darkness seeped up from the bottom. The knowledge, so certain it was sensuous, that nothing was there to support the body if one plunged in generated around the empty pool an unremitting tension. Gone now was the soft summer water that received the swimmer’s body and bore him lightly afloat, but the pool, like a monument to summer and to water, had endured, and it was dangerous, lethal.

Related Characters: Noboru Kuroda, Ryuji Tsukazaki
Related Symbols: The Sea, Hot and Cold
Page Number: 163
Explanation and Analysis:
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Hot and Cold Symbol Timeline in The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea

The timeline below shows where the symbol Hot and Cold appears in The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1, Chapter 1
Japanese Nationalism and Identity Theme Icon
Masculinity, Love, and Family Theme Icon
Reality, Perception, and Identity Theme Icon
...in the back of it. It leads into his mother’s room, which is lit by the hot summer sun bouncing off the sea. Looking through the peephole, Noboru sees the shiny American beds that... (full context)
Part 1, Chapter 2
Masculinity, Love, and Family Theme Icon
Reality, Perception, and Identity Theme Icon
...Ryuji has only slept four hours, but he feels energized and clear-headed in the morning heat. He stretches and turns on the fan. (full context)
Masculinity, Love, and Family Theme Icon
Reality, Perception, and Identity Theme Icon
...breakfast for Ryuji. She apologizes for making him wait and comments on the day’s brutal heat. When Fusako pours coffee, Ryuji feels that he no longer recognizes her arms. He kisses... (full context)
Part 1, Chapter 3
Glory, Heroism, and Death Theme Icon
Japanese Nationalism and Identity Theme Icon
Masculinity, Love, and Family Theme Icon
Reality, Perception, and Identity Theme Icon
...Rakuyo. At the port, Noboru chattered on about ships, while Fusako languished in the sweltering heat. But when she first saw the mighty Rakuyo, she felt unexpectedly aroused. As the ship... (full context)
Japanese Nationalism and Identity Theme Icon
Masculinity, Love, and Family Theme Icon
Reality, Perception, and Identity Theme Icon
...to meet Yoriko Kasuga, the film actress. Fusako descends and chats with Yoriko about the heat. Yoriko complains about filming 30 takes for a mediocre movie on the docks that morning.... (full context)
Masculinity, Love, and Family Theme Icon
Reality, Perception, and Identity Theme Icon
...giant cargo containers up through a hatch, relentlessly emptying out the ship in the sweltering heat. She invited Ryuji to dinner. Then, she remembers their dinner and their long walk in... (full context)
Part 1, Chapter 4
Masculinity, Love, and Family Theme Icon
Reality, Perception, and Identity Theme Icon
Back in the present, Ryuji can’t stand the afternoon heat. He has forgotten to bring his hat, and he has already sweated through the dress... (full context)
Part 1, Chapter 5
Glory, Heroism, and Death Theme Icon
Masculinity, Love, and Family Theme Icon
Reality, Perception, and Identity Theme Icon
...the boys munched on the extravagant lunches their mothers packed them. As Noboru ate under the sweltering sun , he imagined visiting the tropics. The chief mocked Noboru for daydreaming, but Noboru didn’t... (full context)
Glory, Heroism, and Death Theme Icon
Reality, Perception, and Identity Theme Icon
...They caught a tiny stray kitten, then undressed and took turns cooling off from the heat with water from the sink. The chief instructed Noboru to kill the kitten. Noboru felt... (full context)
Part 1, Chapter 6
Masculinity, Love, and Family Theme Icon
Reality, Perception, and Identity Theme Icon
...Ryuji and Noboru lay down in the air-conditioned living room to cool off from the heat. After Ryuji and the housekeeper comment on Noboru’s day of swimming, the frustrated housekeeper leaves... (full context)
Part 1, Chapter 8
Glory, Heroism, and Death Theme Icon
Masculinity, Love, and Family Theme Icon
Reality, Perception, and Identity Theme Icon
...hardworking sailor, but Fusako feels a sense of overwhelming grief engulfing her. To hide from the scorching sun , they both squat by a sea wall and watch the waves, ships, and seabirds.... (full context)
Glory, Heroism, and Death Theme Icon
Japanese Nationalism and Identity Theme Icon
Reality, Perception, and Identity Theme Icon
Noboru notices the seagulls, shadows, and warehouse signs on the empty, sun-seared docks. At 5:45 p.m., the Rakuyo’s horn blasts. Noboru feels like this is “where all... (full context)
Part 2, Chapter 2
Japanese Nationalism and Identity Theme Icon
Masculinity, Love, and Family Theme Icon
Reality, Perception, and Identity Theme Icon
...bundles up in luxurious imported clothing, and then they run around the park in the cold morning twilight. They end up at the viewpoint, looking out over the harbor. Fusako prays... (full context)
Glory, Heroism, and Death Theme Icon
Japanese Nationalism and Identity Theme Icon
Masculinity, Love, and Family Theme Icon
Reality, Perception, and Identity Theme Icon
...on achieving glory. The ships start to move, and Ryuji keeps asking Fusako if she’s cold. But he’s really asking himself if he’s willing to give up sailing. On the one... (full context)
Glory, Heroism, and Death Theme Icon
Japanese Nationalism and Identity Theme Icon
Masculinity, Love, and Family Theme Icon
Reality, Perception, and Identity Theme Icon
...and will be giving it to Fusako no matter what. Fusako starts crying. In the cold under the rising, blindingly bright sun, Fusako says yes. But she explains that they have... (full context)
Part 2, Chapter 4
Glory, Heroism, and Death Theme Icon
Masculinity, Love, and Family Theme Icon
...winter break. The pier is empty, since it’s under construction and the weather is freezing cold. The boys can see smokestacks and lighthouses across the harbor, and they notice two ships... (full context)