RYUJI GLORY vs WOMAN

GLORYWOMAN Ryuji's idea of destiny, and how he is destined for some far-off glory. Ryuji's love for Fusako, and how it changes his view on life.

“Whenever he dreamed of them, glory and death and woman were consubstantial. Yet when the woman had been attained, the other two withdrew beyond his offing and ceased their mournful wailing of his name. The things he had rejected were now rejecting him.” - pg 180

GLORY Ryuji's view of Glory “At twenty, he had been passionately certain: there's one thing I'm destined for, and that's glory; that's right, glory!” - pg 16 “There must be a special destiny in store for me; a glittering, special- order kind no ordinary man would be permitted.” - pg 17 “All the other officers have two or three children by now...Those men have thrown opportunity away - there's no hope for them anymore. I've never done much, but I always thought of myself as the only real man. And if I'm right...a turgid cloud laced with light will sweep down, and the poignant voice of glory will call for me from the distance...” - pg 38

GLORY Glory's connection with the sea “Now the sea's my home, I decided that...” - “I Can't Give Up the Sailor's Life”, pg 19 “For the moment, as a man leaving a woman behind to voyage around the world, as a sailor, and a Second Mate, Ryuji was perfect.” - Noburo's thoughts, pg 88 “I could have been a man sailing away forever...” - pg 179

GLORY Glory's connection with manliness “In the grand dream Ryuji had treasured secretly for so long, he was a paragon of manliness...” - pg 39 “The man sets out in Quest of the Grand Cause, the woman is left behind...” - pg 74

GLORY Abandonment of glory “He began to examine his hopes and dreams one by one, and one by one began to efface them as a sailor pencils out the days on the calender in his cabin.” - pg 17 “It was time to abandon the dream that had cherished too long. Time to realize that no specially tailored glory was waiting for him. Time...to open his eyes.” - pg 110 “This man so at one with the Rakuyo's existence, so inseparably part of the receding luster of a ship, had sundered himself from that beautiful whole, willfully banished from his dream the phantoms of ships and the sea.” - pg 134

WOMAN Earlier approach to women “He is not at present involved with a woman nor is there any indication that he has ever cohabited with a woman or even engaged in a prolonged or significant affair...” - pg 129

WOMAN How his love is portrayed “Ryuji slipped his hands under Fusako's coat and clutched wildly at her body as though searching for life in a corpse he had saved from drowning, locked his arms around her supple waist and replenished his heart and mind with the details of her...” - pg 96

WOMAN Love and his idea of death “Her sweat and perfume fragrance reaching him seemed to clamor for his death. “DIE! DIE! DIE!” it screamed; and he imagined when her delicate fingertips, stealthy now and reluctant, would quicken into tongues of flame.” - pg 42 “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...in the dark rapture ofall 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.” - pg 77