Sound of Waves

English Essay Nature in the novel The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima is a very important element. Mishima uses the water around Song Island as a way of isolating or secluding the island from the rest of the world. The Island and ocean act as characters in the novel, not just as a setting or background. Without the forces of nature, the characters would not have behaved the way they did, and the story would not have unfolded the way it did. “From time to time its tip was shrugging its rocky shoulders swaggeringly, rending asunder the foaming waves.” Pg. 50.
This quote refers to a jetty coming off the island as water is crashing into it creating spraying foam. “….Its trunk bathed in the afterglow….” pg. 51.

“Spring seaweeds are staining the sea red.” Pg.4.

“It was a gift that the sea bestows upon those who make their livelihood upon it…” pg.6.

“It was doubtless because nature itself satisfied his need that Shinji felt no particular lack of music in his everyday life.” Pg. 45.
The books characters are the sea, the island and the wind. What these aren’t characters, but they are in this enticing novel by yukio Mishima. He uses an excessive amount of personified dialogue to explain how the sea changes the way of the characters and how it molds the island and creates a beach. He also explains how the wind from storms molds the true characters like Shinji and how he gets chosen by Terukichi to be the one to marry Hatsue, which only happens when Shinji proves himself during a storm. If the storm wasn’t there he wouldn’t have been chosen by Terukichi to marry Hatsue so