The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea

by

Yukio Mishima

The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea Themes

Themes and Colors
Glory, Heroism, and Death Theme Icon
Japanese Nationalism and Identity Theme Icon
Masculinity, Love, and Family Theme Icon
Reality, Perception, and Identity Theme Icon
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.

Glory, Heroism, and Death

In Yukio Mishima’s controversial novel The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, 13-year-old Noboru Kuroda watches a budding love affair between his widowed mother, Fusako, and the passionate, enigmatic sailor Ryuji Tsukazaki. At first, Noboru idolizes Ryuji, whom he sees as the perfect masculine hero: a strapping seafarer living a fabulous life of adventure. But Ryuji’s feelings about his own life are more complicated. While he dreams of achieving greatness…

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Japanese Nationalism and Identity

Set in the Japanese port city of Yokohama in the early 1960s, The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea is at heart a political allegory. After Japan lost World War II, the occupying Americans imposed a liberal democracy and capitalist economy that enabled the nation to grow and reconstruct, but—according to traditionalists like the novel’s author, Yukio Mishima—also crushed its people’s spirit and identity. Thus, by the 1960s, Japan faced a stark choice…

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Masculinity, Love, and Family

The family drama at the center of The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea isn’t just an elaborate metaphor for Yukio Mishima’s political and philosophical beliefs—it’s also a detailed commentary on family itself. At the beginning of the novel, 13-year-old Noboru finds a peephole that allows him to see into his widowed mother Fusako’s bedroom and watch her have sex with the strapping sailor Ryuji Tsukazaki. While Noboru views love as…

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Reality, Perception, and Identity

The central characters in The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea are preoccupied with identity: they worry about who they truly are and what kind of people they will become. For instance, Noboru wants to become an adventurous sailor like Ryuji, but also a cold-hearted nihilist like the chief, and doesn’t know if he can be both at the same time. Similarly, Ryuji wonders if he can remain a sailor at…

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