Confessions of a Mask: Yukio Mishima - Essay Example

Confessions of a Mask: Yukio Mishima Introduction Confessions of a Mask tells a story of a young Japanese boy growing up in the World War II era. The unnamed young boy struggles with his sexuality and grows up isolated and consumed with the aspects of sadism and ultimate death. The protagonist attempts at a normalcy in life through the pursuit of a relationship with the sister of his friend, even though, we see that he ends the relationship. It was after realizing that he cannot have any romantic feelings for a woman. He continues being unsatisfied and unfulfilled. The following literature essay attempts to explore the literature while attempting to describe the distance between the narrator and his mask in the confession. The distance between the narrator and his mask in Confessions As the title of the literature implies, the story is concerned with the ways in which the narrator presents or conceals his identity. The concealment of the identity is made possible through the use of a mask. The true identity of the narrator is what the culture finds objectionable and dirty, and the narrator adopts a persona or the mask that affords him some degree of acceptance in his culture. Since the narrator lacks the qualities of what is inherently considered to be of normal individuals, he learns to how to mimic these qualities through the observation of his peers. He can live a life of what is culturally accepted as normal. The book is about the young Japanese boy trying to reconcile his sexual orientation with an intolerant Japanese society and culture. The narrator’s public identity, however, is a mere performance, a mask of sorts because it lacks substance. While he understands the requirements of his role, he knows little of the character he plays and shows. He behaves and acts almost mechanical like an actor as the culture of the society expects without seeing the underlying reasons for the adopted behavior. The narrator, therefore, has worn a mask that hides his true identity in order to fully fit into the society’s demands and what it considers and views to be normal. The confession of a mask is divided into four chapters that depict the narrator in a different light. The first describes the beginnings of the narrator, named Kochan, from the early times of his birth and upbringing to his pre-adolescence. The book is narrated through the first perspective of his life, and it is well written. He is brought up by his grandmother after she takes him from his parents for reasons that are not mentioned. As a one-year-old boy, the narrator falls a flight of stairs injuring his head (Mishima 7). The narrator experiences and exhibits symptoms of autointoxication. The symptoms depicted are highlighted in him appearing dead for a couple of hours. In this period he begins taking on strange affectations, for example while looking at a picture of a samurai, he starts exhibiting strange thoughts (Mishima 25). These strange thoughts show when he thinks that the Samurai picture would be more appealing if the man would be dead. Moreover, the narrator is euphoric in the case where the bearers at the summer festival destroy the flower. His attraction to men is developed as he witnesses their lack of restraint, particularly among the lower class. His awareness that he must hide this new disposition becomes clears, and thus he starts developing his need to wear a mask in order to survive. The mask becomes a means of survival in the community and society. The young narrator learns that he cannot act normal in the second chapter of the book. The chapter finds him progressing in his teens and middle school. His sexuality is developing quickly through his teenage years. His homosexuality starts developing and becoming more outward and seen. The homosexuality tendencies are furthermore, accompanied by sadomasochistic fantasies that he has had since he was a young child. He begins having regular fantasies that are negative and sinister in nature. The nature and theme of his fantasies include cannibalism, torture, and death. For example, there is a section where he graphically dreams about cannibalism, he also has violent visions such as the slaughtering of his fellow classmate and eating his flesh. His other sadistic act involves him performing and pleasuring himself to a painting of Saint Sebastian that was depicting a Roman youth (Mishima 29). The Roman youth was skewered by arrows in order to achieve martyrdom. Furthermore, he discusses his idea of a murder theater to show his dark nature further. The murder theater is made up of Roman gladiators battling each other to death for his amusement. The gladiators can only use spears or knives, and they had to be aimed at the stomach area to prolong suffering. These fantasies highlight ways through which the narrator is seen as being strange and deviating from the cultural norm of the Japanese society. He begins to realize that he is deeply wrong, and something is wrong with his psyche. His not so normal sexual development is seen in the case where he becomes attracted to an older schoolmate name Omi (Mishima 33). The schoolmate is more manly, unintelligent and rumored to be more sexually experienced. The narrator becomes obsessed with the Omi schoolmate and starts lusting over his body parts. This is after the narrator had followed him, and the schoolmate having touched him. The narrator finally understands that he does not know how to act normal in the society and according to the Japanese culture. The third chapter continues with the narrator seeking the ability to hide or have his mask to cover his homosexuality and his deviant behavior. This time around, in the middle to late teens and during the time of the Second World War. The narrator is trying hard to hide his sexuality and to prove his normality. He tries to prove his normality by trying to force a romantic relationship with women although he later admits to never having had feelings towards any woman. Towards the end of the chapter, he meets a sister of one of his school friend. As a recurring theme by now, he pretends to have romantic feelings towards her. While doing so, he confesses to himself that he is not attracted to her in a sexual manner. The young girl, Sonoko, falls in love with him, but he rejects her romantic interest. The rejection reveals something about Kochan because he had grown to be connected with her. He was enamored with her presence when he joined her family in visiting their brother at the local barracks. He fabricated family obligations in order to get out of the affair. While attempting to run away from his homosexuality, he goes to a brother in trying to accustom his body to heterosexuality but fails. The narrator becomes delusional by this and attempts to commit suicide by getting directly in the way of a bomb during a raid in the war (Mishima 83). He survives, much to his dismay. As the story nears its end, the sister of Kochan dies and this affected him deeply. Sonoko, the woman who had fallen in love with him, is soon married. Kochan starts working for a government ministry same as the husband to Sonoko. Sonoko and Kochan begin to meet often for afternoon drinks because of their government bond, and she confesses her guilt about their meetings. She feels that something may develop between the two. Kochan keeps wanting to see her even though he is not sexually attracted to her. She later realizes the intense attraction that Kochan has for men without any restraint as they are walking down a dance hall (Mishima 145). Kochan, the narrator, begins to fantasize about the other man as he wishes he would go outside into the street and get into a knife fight with another gang member. Sonoko then realizes why he did not want to marry her, even though, her family had approved of him earlier on. He then realizes too, that he cannot run away or hide his sexuality. He and Sonoko part ways. Conclusion The confession of a mask begins with a character who is outside of the cultural and societal norm in a small manner. The character later grows even more to being an outsider as the story concludes. The character, the narrator, begins as an introverted young boy to being someone who cannot feel any passion unless he has any sadomasochistic fantasies. Violence, sexuality, and romance are the major themes of the narrator’s life and the recurring theme of the book. It talks of the masks that the narrator wears in his pursuit of normalcy. The narrator appears a typical normal boy throughout the book just like other schoolmates. He tries to force himself into being attracted to other women and developing romantic relationships that are normal, and he sees every day around him. His efforts are never fruitful. The above essay has explored the distance between the narrator and his mask. Works Cited Mishima, Yukio. Confessions of a Mask. London: New Directions, 1958. Print. Read More