The Last Samurai Sparknotes
Many a great warriors emerged throughout the course of human history, Spartans, Vikings, and Apache warriors. Throughout all of human history these warriors had glorious and heroic tales, however there was one that stood out vastly from the others: The Samurai. Samurai are noble warriors whom emerged during the Edo period of Japan, they first began as a hired guard for the rich, landholding nobles. The word “samurai” means “the one who serves” in the Japanese language, as more noble families appeared, the samurai culture shifted from being hired guards into a family organization. In exchange for land or income, samurai swore loyalty to their lords and would do nothing to dishonor the family name of their lord. Although the samurai’s main purpose
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was to serve and protect the lord and his family name, they were to serve much more than the mere bodyguard function. The Samurai was a way of life, and it was something that you were born into. Just like each country and practice has its own rules, samurai have rules of their own, rules that should never be broken by one another, rules that separates themselves from other types of warriors, rules that bound them to their way of life. The Samurai was a warrior driven by their sense of loyalty. In the film The Last Samurai and The Twilight Samurai, although their sense of loyalty were quite different; one loyal to family, defending them at any cost, and the latter loyal to the ideal of Bushido and master, even going against the whole government to try to protect what they believe in.
In The Last Samurai, an American civil war hero Nathan Algren was hired to travel to Japan in order to train Japanese peasants to become soldiers in order to suppress a samurai rebellion.
During an early battle, Algren was captured by the samurai rebels and taken prisoner. As a prisoner, he had full freedom to wander around the samurai village at the cost of one samurai looking after him in case he spurred trouble. Algren was told that the samurai rebels were barbarous and uncivilized by the Japanese government, but his observations did not coincide with what he had been told. The samurai rebels were so much more than just barbarians, they had their own rules, disciplines, and way of life. Talking to the leader of the samurai rebels, he learned about the true intention of the rebellion. Loyalty is one of the fundamental aspects for samurai, it is something that make them what they are. Without someone to be loyal to, samurai becomes Ronin, a warrior without a master, and loses his position in the Japanese society. The reason all the rebels can be called samurai is because they are all still loyal towards the emperor, they only wished to fight the change the government is trying to make. “If The Emperor wishes my death, he has but to ask.” This line was said by Katsumoto, the leader of the rebellion. The loyalty Katsumoto have towards the emperor is shown through this sentence. Later on, when Katsumoto met the emperor, he showed his loyalty once again by the following line: “Your highness... if you believe me to be your enemy, command me, and I will gladly take my
life.”
In the movie The Last Samurai, Algren, serving as the main character, is actually just an observer of the loyalty of Katsumoto. It is from Katsumoto that we learn what loyalty means to all the samurai rebels, to make change for the things they believe in, they must take action in this case to rebel against the government for the abandonment of samurai culture. Towards the end, the emperor agreed wholeheartedly with Katsumoto’s viewpoint and declined America’s treaty. The Last Samurai embraces the ideal of loyalty, whether it is loyal towards the emperor, or loyalty to the Japanese traditional society. “This is Katsumoto's sword. He would have wanted you to have it. He hoped with his dying breath that you would remember his ancestors who held this sword, and what they died for. May the strength of the Samurai be with you always.” This line expresses the true intention of Katsumoto’s rebellion, and his will to protect Bushido at the cost of rebelling against the whole nation and even resulting in death. To him, this is what the loyalty of a samurai meant.
The Twilight Samurai is about Iguchi Seibei, a low-ranking samurai who takes care of his two daughters and his mother with the little earnings he receives. His coworkers call upon him twilight Seibei because he would always rushes back home at dawn to take care of his family. Everything started to change when his childhood friend Tomoe was almost assaulted by her ex-husband Koda. Seibei stopped Koda from harming Tomoe, but this resulted in the agreement of a duel with him. Seibei, knowing that his house forbids dueling and the penalty for such was death, used a wooden stick during the duel with Koda. This act of Seibei is not for himself but for the two daughters that he loves very much and must survive in order to take care of them. Knocking Koda out with the stick, Seibei returned to his humble lifestyle of farming, fishing, and working at the storage. The ranking officials hearing about Seibei’s duel and his skill in swordsmanship, ordered him to kill a “disowned” Samurai known as Yogo. Despite the rise in rank and pay were he to accept the mission, Seibei was reluctant because he could not afford the risk of his life for the house due to his attachment towards daughters. But he reluctantly accepted the task after the leader threatened to kick him out of the house. Meeting Yogo drunk at his house, he asked Seibei to let him run away, and after talking of the lives they’ve lived, the parallels of their stories, Seibei told him that he had sold his sword to pay for his wife’s funeral. Feeling insulted, Yogo revoked the idea of escaping and drew his sword against him. Forcing Seibei to tragically end Yogo’s life.
Although Both The Last Samurai and The Twilight Samurai expressed the ideal of loyalty, they differ in what and whom they are loyal to. The Last Samurai emphasized on the loyalty to the culture of samurai, sacrificing self for the greater good of Japanese culture. To Katsumoto in The Last Samurai, The existence of Bushido is more important than the individual wellness. To him, loyalty is more than just to an individual. Having an emperor or master to be loyal to is vital, but it is not everything. The preservation of Bushido is also a fundamental part of loyalty, it is because of this loyalty to his own lifestyle that Katsumoto can live life to the fullest extent. Loyalty is not restricted to a certain person, but rather restricted to one’s personal ideal in life. Katsumoto’s actions in the film The Last Samurai can be viewed as extolling the ideal of loyalty. Even when his view and the emperor’s view did completely match up, he was willing to give up his life if the emperor ever truly thinks his doings are wrong. In The Twilight Samurai, loyalty is expressed within family relations. Unlike traditional samurai, Seibei did not value the ranking of his samurai status, he didn’t even care about his clothes or smell. Seibei simply was willing to give everything he had for his mother and two daughters, working long hours at the storage, and rushing home to take care of the farm after. The only thing that keeps Seibei motivated and happy was looking at his two daughters live happily. To him, house and rank was merely a way to get a better life for his loved ones, loyalty lies within his family, and nothing else. Seibei separated himself from the majority of samurai in the fact that he sent his daughters to school. In Japanese society during the 19th century, women’s education was not valued. This act of his showed that he loved his daughters more than anything. No matter in what circumstance, whether it were during the duel with Kodo, or accepting the job of killing Yogo, Seibei made sure that he did nothing to jeopardize the happiness of his daughters. Proven by the fact that he would only use a wooden stick during the duel while his opponent Kodo used a steel katana, and the hesitant acceptance of the job of killing Yogo. In the Twilight Samurai, Seibei’s ideal of loyalty can be considered to be critical of the traditional Japanese concept of loyalty, that is, loyalty to his house. But he defied this very concept by putting his daughters first in every situation.
The Last Samurai and The Twilight Samurai both emphasized on the ideal of loyalty. Although the person or object they were loyal to differed, both films expressed loyalty towards what they believed in. Katsumoto believed in the preservation of Bushido, he thought it to be something that could not be replaced by the western ways. Seibei’s loyalty was much simpler, only lying with his mother and two daughters, doing anything that can keep them from harm. Who can judge which loyalty is the correct one? Seibei betrayed the loyalty for his house in order to uphold the loyalty he had for his family. Katsumoto went against the emperor’s ideals for society in order to later change the emperor’s mind. Both of the samurai did something that can easily be considered betrayal in order to accomplish their personal beliefs. Who is to say what true loyalty it?
was to serve and protect the lord and his family name, they were to serve much more than the mere bodyguard function. The Samurai was a way of life, and it was something that you were born into. Just like each country and practice has its own rules, samurai have rules of their own, rules that should never be broken by one another, rules that separates themselves from other types of warriors, rules that bound them to their way of life. The Samurai was a warrior driven by their sense of loyalty. In the film The Last Samurai and The Twilight Samurai, although their sense of loyalty were quite different; one loyal to family, defending them at any cost, and the latter loyal to the ideal of Bushido and master, even going against the whole government to try to protect what they believe in.
In The Last Samurai, an American civil war hero Nathan Algren was hired to travel to Japan in order to train Japanese peasants to become soldiers in order to suppress a samurai rebellion.
During an early battle, Algren was captured by the samurai rebels and taken prisoner. As a prisoner, he had full freedom to wander around the samurai village at the cost of one samurai looking after him in case he spurred trouble. Algren was told that the samurai rebels were barbarous and uncivilized by the Japanese government, but his observations did not coincide with what he had been told. The samurai rebels were so much more than just barbarians, they had their own rules, disciplines, and way of life. Talking to the leader of the samurai rebels, he learned about the true intention of the rebellion. Loyalty is one of the fundamental aspects for samurai, it is something that make them what they are. Without someone to be loyal to, samurai becomes Ronin, a warrior without a master, and loses his position in the Japanese society. The reason all the rebels can be called samurai is because they are all still loyal towards the emperor, they only wished to fight the change the government is trying to make. “If The Emperor wishes my death, he has but to ask.” This line was said by Katsumoto, the leader of the rebellion. The loyalty Katsumoto have towards the emperor is shown through this sentence. Later on, when Katsumoto met the emperor, he showed his loyalty once again by the following line: “Your highness... if you believe me to be your enemy, command me, and I will gladly take my
life.”
In the movie The Last Samurai, Algren, serving as the main character, is actually just an observer of the loyalty of Katsumoto. It is from Katsumoto that we learn what loyalty means to all the samurai rebels, to make change for the things they believe in, they must take action in this case to rebel against the government for the abandonment of samurai culture. Towards the end, the emperor agreed wholeheartedly with Katsumoto’s viewpoint and declined America’s treaty. The Last Samurai embraces the ideal of loyalty, whether it is loyal towards the emperor, or loyalty to the Japanese traditional society. “This is Katsumoto's sword. He would have wanted you to have it. He hoped with his dying breath that you would remember his ancestors who held this sword, and what they died for. May the strength of the Samurai be with you always.” This line expresses the true intention of Katsumoto’s rebellion, and his will to protect Bushido at the cost of rebelling against the whole nation and even resulting in death. To him, this is what the loyalty of a samurai meant.
The Twilight Samurai is about Iguchi Seibei, a low-ranking samurai who takes care of his two daughters and his mother with the little earnings he receives. His coworkers call upon him twilight Seibei because he would always rushes back home at dawn to take care of his family. Everything started to change when his childhood friend Tomoe was almost assaulted by her ex-husband Koda. Seibei stopped Koda from harming Tomoe, but this resulted in the agreement of a duel with him. Seibei, knowing that his house forbids dueling and the penalty for such was death, used a wooden stick during the duel with Koda. This act of Seibei is not for himself but for the two daughters that he loves very much and must survive in order to take care of them. Knocking Koda out with the stick, Seibei returned to his humble lifestyle of farming, fishing, and working at the storage. The ranking officials hearing about Seibei’s duel and his skill in swordsmanship, ordered him to kill a “disowned” Samurai known as Yogo. Despite the rise in rank and pay were he to accept the mission, Seibei was reluctant because he could not afford the risk of his life for the house due to his attachment towards daughters. But he reluctantly accepted the task after the leader threatened to kick him out of the house. Meeting Yogo drunk at his house, he asked Seibei to let him run away, and after talking of the lives they’ve lived, the parallels of their stories, Seibei told him that he had sold his sword to pay for his wife’s funeral. Feeling insulted, Yogo revoked the idea of escaping and drew his sword against him. Forcing Seibei to tragically end Yogo’s life.
Although Both The Last Samurai and The Twilight Samurai expressed the ideal of loyalty, they differ in what and whom they are loyal to. The Last Samurai emphasized on the loyalty to the culture of samurai, sacrificing self for the greater good of Japanese culture. To Katsumoto in The Last Samurai, The existence of Bushido is more important than the individual wellness. To him, loyalty is more than just to an individual. Having an emperor or master to be loyal to is vital, but it is not everything. The preservation of Bushido is also a fundamental part of loyalty, it is because of this loyalty to his own lifestyle that Katsumoto can live life to the fullest extent. Loyalty is not restricted to a certain person, but rather restricted to one’s personal ideal in life. Katsumoto’s actions in the film The Last Samurai can be viewed as extolling the ideal of loyalty. Even when his view and the emperor’s view did completely match up, he was willing to give up his life if the emperor ever truly thinks his doings are wrong. In The Twilight Samurai, loyalty is expressed within family relations. Unlike traditional samurai, Seibei did not value the ranking of his samurai status, he didn’t even care about his clothes or smell. Seibei simply was willing to give everything he had for his mother and two daughters, working long hours at the storage, and rushing home to take care of the farm after. The only thing that keeps Seibei motivated and happy was looking at his two daughters live happily. To him, house and rank was merely a way to get a better life for his loved ones, loyalty lies within his family, and nothing else. Seibei separated himself from the majority of samurai in the fact that he sent his daughters to school. In Japanese society during the 19th century, women’s education was not valued. This act of his showed that he loved his daughters more than anything. No matter in what circumstance, whether it were during the duel with Kodo, or accepting the job of killing Yogo, Seibei made sure that he did nothing to jeopardize the happiness of his daughters. Proven by the fact that he would only use a wooden stick during the duel while his opponent Kodo used a steel katana, and the hesitant acceptance of the job of killing Yogo. In the Twilight Samurai, Seibei’s ideal of loyalty can be considered to be critical of the traditional Japanese concept of loyalty, that is, loyalty to his house. But he defied this very concept by putting his daughters first in every situation.
The Last Samurai and The Twilight Samurai both emphasized on the ideal of loyalty. Although the person or object they were loyal to differed, both films expressed loyalty towards what they believed in. Katsumoto believed in the preservation of Bushido, he thought it to be something that could not be replaced by the western ways. Seibei’s loyalty was much simpler, only lying with his mother and two daughters, doing anything that can keep them from harm. Who can judge which loyalty is the correct one? Seibei betrayed the loyalty for his house in order to uphold the loyalty he had for his family. Katsumoto went against the emperor’s ideals for society in order to later change the emperor’s mind. Both of the samurai did something that can easily be considered betrayal in order to accomplish their personal beliefs. Who is to say what true loyalty it?