A Response to Silence Silence by Shusaku Endo tells the story of a Catholic Priest known as Rodrigues who attempts to share the gospel with Japanese peasants. Rather than save the local people, his ministry results in their torture and eventual murders. The book questions the spiritual morality connected to apostatizing in order to save innocent lives. Chapter 10 and the appendix are included in Silence in order to maintain the books moral ambiguity; the author purposely includes both so he can force his readers to question their views regarding Rodriques’ ultimate decision. Endo’s decision to include both the Dutch clerk’s perspective as well as the the officer’s diary results in the reader’s ability to see both sides of the argument the author presents. Rodrigues’ opinion of his faith is presented in Chapter 10 while an impartial outsider’s perspective is provided in the appendix. On the one hand, Rodrigues views his decision as the right one because he has merely rejected the Catholic church and has not given up his own personal…show more content… By including both Chapter 10 and the appendix, Endo seems to present two alternate ending in his book. If the reader chooses to read only to page 191, it is apparent that Rodrigues’ decision to trample the fumie was correct. His relationship with Christ is strengthened through his time of suffering as well as his disconnection from the Catholic church. By apostatizing, Rodrigues is able to better understand Christ’s love for mankind (including the traitor Judas) as well as improve his understanding of men like Kichijiro. Chapter 10 strengthens this argument by including the scene that describes Rodrigues administering the sacrament to Kichijiro. The scene asserts that the Lord was not silent in all of this suffering and that Rodrigues still considers his faith to be
