A Review of Silence by Shusaku Endo

For me Shusaku Endo’s book Silence was a difficult read. It was difficult because I knew the outcome of the story. I had watched the Scorsese movie shortly after it was released in 2016. Furthermore, in the mid 1980ies I served as a Christian missionary in Japan. So, I am familiar with Japanese landscapes, beliefs, and culture. For reasons of faith and culture this is a heartbreaking story.

What Endo does very well is slowly build tension as the story advances. For most of the book we are living a hidden and confined life—confined and hidden in the mind of the Catholic priest Rodrigues. The constant fear of discovery and torture by the Buddhist Japanese authorities is palpable.

When Rodrigues is finally captured the fear of inevitable torture continually builds as he witnesses other believers and priests succumb to torture, apostasy, and death. The anticipation of torture in many respects is worse than the torture itself. This acute psychological torment builds till it reaches a dramatic climax.

Throughout this novel silence is the underlying theme. After initially enjoying great success the original Portuguese missionaries to Japan hit a vicious wall of state led persecution, violence, and death. The once vibrant Japanese church is destroyed. What follows is silence. Two young Portuguese missionaries are sent to investigate and see if any believers remain. This book is a fictionalized account of the experience of these two early seventeenth century priests whose names are recorded in the annals of Japanese and Portuguese history.

For the priest, Rodrigues, the most troubling silence is the silence of God amid carnage and suffering. But this is where the book departs from the movie script. In the novel, God breaks the silence. Rodrigues finally hears God’s voice.

In this respect I found the novel more gratifying than the movie. Nevertheless, the end of the book is grim and disturbing. If there is hope in this book it can be found in this implicit truth:

Despite the pervasive evil and cruelty of man, the God of mercy still speaks.

I come from a protestant/Pentecostal tradition, consequently I find aspects of the Catholic version of the Christian faith disturbing, or unbiblical. Nevertheless, the courage and zeal of the believers in Christ as portrayed in this book is astonishing. For this reason, I recommend it. But be warned. This is not a lighthearted read. It’s a brutal and historically accurate portrayal of systematic state-led religious repression.