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The day after the conversation with Ferreira, the fumie was brought in the front of Rodrigues. Rodrigues thinks the significance of
Christ figure in his life, especially when he still young. In the other hand he remembered the Christians who are moaning in the pit. When he looked at
the bronze Christ face, he hears the revelation „Trample Trample I more than anyone know the pain in your foot.
Trample It was to be trampled on by men that I was born into this world. It was to share men
‟s pain that I carried my cross.‟ p.259 In the end of Chapter 8, Rodrigues put his foot on the fumie, and the
officials release the three Christians from the pit. After Rodrigues has apostatized his faith, Inoue give her a privilege to take over the land in
Kobinatacho, Edo. Inoue also gives Rodrigues a house and wife of a recently deceased man. He will take over the dead man‟s name; Okada
Sanemon p.283 Rodrigues action shows that he has a difficult choice to choose. In
the deep of his heart, he still wants to be a priest. Apostasy is a shame for him, because of his decision Rodrigues automatically being expelled from
the Catholic Church, the dearest institution in his life. Harjana 1991 states that human action is dealing with life and social conditions p.85. By this
action, Rodrigues choose to save the human‟s life rather than stand on the ideal standard of becoming a good Christian.
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CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
This chapter consists of two parts. They are the conclusions and the suggestions. The conclusions focus on the characterization of Sebastian
Rodrigues. The characterization contains of literal and the true meaning of Sebastian Rodrigues decision to convert to Buddhism, which are analyzed in
Chapter IV. The suggestions consist of the suggestions for the future writers and English teachers.
A. Conclusions
The conclusions part deal with the problems formulation that have been discussed in Chapter IV. First, it is about Sebastian Rodrigues character as seen in
Shusaku Endo‟s
Silence
. Second, it deals with the true meaning of Sebastian Rodrigues decision to convert to Buddhism. The researcher used the theory of
character and characterization to answer the first question and theory of motivation to answer the second question.
The first finding is how Sebastian Rodrigues is described in Shusaku Endo‟s Silence. In the novel, Rodrigues is categorized as a major character. He
has the important role in the novel. Besides, Rodrigues is also categorized as round character. The characteristics of Sebastian Rodrigues cannot be described
in one sentence. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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The character of Sebastian Rodrigues in the
Silence
is described as a young Catholic priest who craves as the witness of Christ to spread the gospel
among infidel. With the enthusiastic he chooses to go to Japan with his friends. Japan has known as a mission island for the missionary activity. But, the mission
to Japan actually is not to spread the gospel, but to find his former teacher in the seminary, Ferreira.
The process of searching for his teacher makes him feel awesome with the faith of the hidden Christians in Japan. They can survive almost six years, since
the government issues decree about the prohibition of Christian faith and the missionary activity. The government‟s decree makes Christians fall in the difficult
situation; they must be punished if they are proved practice the Christian faith. The struggle of Japanese Christian makes Rodrigues realizes himself as a good
shepherd who finds the lost sheep. Rodrigues tries the best what he can do to serve the Christians; his mind is
full of caring of the flock. Although Garrpe had reminded him about the risks when the government know their activities. He dedicates himself to ministering
the sacraments among the Christians. He chooses to trust strange Christians who come from other island, despite they can be the spies from government. Because
of his trust, he can meet another hidden Christians who need the presence of a priest.
The bad side of Rodrigues‟ character is; he is easy to become a doubtful man. In Catholic tradition, one of the qualifications to become a priest is that the
candidate has a good and strong faith in God in all situations. This qualification PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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supposes the priest to be the role model for the Christians to keep their faith in God and believe that God will provide what the needs of the people.
Rodrigues began his doubt when he has seen so many sufferings since Christians to be persecuted and tortured because of the faith. Since he has left
Portugal, Rodrigues has not yet seen the sufferings that must be face by people because of religion. He questions about the silence of God. Although he still
believes in God, but he thinks how Christians‟ suffering and death can be meaningful, if God does not exist and religion just the the creation of man.
The second finding is about the true meaning of Sebastian Rodrigues‟ decision. the researcher divided the meaning into two, literal meaning and deeper
meaning. The first literary meaning, Rodrigues realizes himself as a Catholic priest. Since come to Japan, he was grappling with his faith and he cannot able to
understand the burden and sufferings that must face by Japanese Christians. It means that, his decision is influenced by the people around him, especially the
Christians. Nex
t, the deeper meaning of Rodrigues‟ decision can be seen from his motivation to come to Japan. His motivation is to find his apostate teacher
Ferreira. So, the mission is not about to spread the Gospel, but just to find one person only. However, Rodrigues has a strong desire to be a good pastor for the
Christians. He is care about Christians, especially about their life. Because of that, after he has met his teacher, he chooses to apostatize his faith and follow his
teacher‟s step to save the peasant by leaving the Catholic faith and trample the fumie.
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Silence is a literary work that containing reflective values. In this novel, the readers are invited to explore the notion of the existence of God. Sometimes
people only remember God when they are happy. But in times of suffering, they begin to berate God and do not believe in His existence. Through his novel, Endo
plays with human feelings. Endo raised the figure of a priest as a form of holiness that is often seen by humans. Nevertheless, the priest; as a holy person, choose to
save his life and refuses his faith If the readers view from the religious standpoint, Rodrigues action is a
great insult to God. Rodrigues is a coward who will not die for the sake of faith. On the other hand, when the readers look at the terms of humanism, what
Rodrigues does is solely to save the lives of innocent Christians. He is more concerned with humanity than to save the holiness of his religion.
B. Suggestions
This part proposes suggestions for future researchers who are interested in Shusaku Endo’s novel, Silence, and suggestions for English teachers and lecturers
in using this novel as a learning material to teach English.
1. Suggestion for Future Researchers
In this research, the researcher only limits to the characteristics and the true meaning of Sebastian Rodrigues‟ decision to convert to Buddhism. There are
many aspects that can be analyzed from this novel, because the novel‟s writer uses PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
40
some of metaphor to make his novel becomes alive. Because of that, the researcher suggests the future researchers to analyze about the using of metaphor
in Silence novel
2. Suggestion for English Lecturers
Silence is a great masterpiece of Shusaku Endo. It is about the European Catholic priest who came to Japan. It is very interesting because the readers can
see the different culture and standard between Europe and Japan. A lecturer can use this novel to teach the students how the cross cultural understanding can
influence the man’s perspective about something that is important, like faith.
Silence is also good for the students who have interest in literature field. The metaphor, symbolism and characteristic that contain in the novel can be
analyzed by students, especially for those whose want to know about the deeper meaning of the excellence novel. This novel can be the material to teach Prose or
Cross Cultural Understanding. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
