‘Confessions of a Mask’ is the second novel by Yukio Mishima and it was published in 1949, causing admiration due to its power of context and writing style, appealing a lot to readers within the literary community. It is a novel which talks to people’s hearts since it addresses them with the widely acknowledged issue of the difficulty that humans experience and feel when they deal with a differentiation of theirs which makes them feel difficult to be adjusted to their social group and / or community.
This paper will present you with the critical analysis drawn upon the reading of this novel which actually focuses on revealing how difficult it may be for an active member of his / her society to carry an unusual personality trait.
Kochan, the main leading character of the novel is man growing up in a strict, traditional Japanese society within which there are special expectations as far as the profile of a man is concerned. Unfortunately Kochan realizes that he is ‘tortured’ by homosexual trends so he is wearing his ‘own’ mask. What is this mask? It is the mask which the hero uses to hide himself and his real face. And the reason for his hiding is not his own fear or embarrassment but his knowledge of his society’s mentality. If survival is to be one of the top priorities for humans then they cannot easily jeopardize their surviving. Therefore they do everything possible to ensure their being accepted by their social group. Likewise Kochan falls into the expected steps which they will ensure his acceptance and survival within his socio-cultural context.
He wears the mask which hides his inner truth and the first truth that crosses the readers; minds is that societies do indeed need a lot of time in order to learn to accept their members for what they are. What is more important though is that there is still a lot of way in front of people so that they learn to accept themselves for what they are.
One could argue that Kochan would not feel the need to use nay masks or hide his own truth if he felt proud of himself and if the social and ethical principles and values of his society had not affected him so much that he would not dare to accept himself for something different, having unfortunately mixed the ethical quality with the quality of differentiation.
There is a critical line which ought to be drawn between the respect a society owes to its citizens and members no matter their differences and at the same time there is a need for drawing the line which separates ethical from unethical. And these two lines ought to walk hand in hand so that prosperity, harmony and peaceful coexistence could exist in any time’s societies. This is the message that the novel ‘Confessions of a mask’ puts across to its readers.
Works Cited
Mishima, Yukio , Weatherby (translator), (1958) ‘Confessions of a Mask’, New Directions
