Yasuo Flashcards
This contrasts Shinji and Hatsue, whose clothing is practical, and for work close to the sea. It also contrasts the images of light connected to them, like the ‘dazzling sand’ on page 140 or Shinji’s flashing smile on page 182.
He stood there laughing, his leather jacket glistening in the sun. (p.59)
This occurs just before Yasuo’s attempted rape of Hatsue, associating mainland items and materialism with ‘very bad ways’.
On Uta-jima it was not everyone who could afford a leather jacket (p.84)
Yasuo reacts angrily to the thought of Shinji having sex with Hatsue before him, highlighting his sense of ownership, and the way gossip can disrupt wellbeing when one’s ego is fragile.
Her story was a staggering blow to Yasuo’s pride. He brooded about it all night. (p.85)
This occurs in the context of how ‘ownership of such a wonderful watch made him by rights a favourite with the women’, associating material greed with a sense of entitlement to sex with girls.
Yasuo was the proud and always bragging owner of a watch with a luminous dial. (p.87)
Yasuo is told off by one of the Utajima-maru’s officers for his laziness, and responds by making him angry with this speech about how he expects to get everything for nothing anyway.
“When this voyage is over I’m going to become Uncle Teru’s son. Then this ship will belong to me.” (p.155)
This closes Yasuo’s character arc. His lack of “get-up-and-go” condemns him to earn nothing. Success is a product of courage, perseverance and putting others above oneself, as Shinji does when he dives into the ocean to save the Utajima-maru from the storm.
Yasuo’s lips quivered. He pulled his neck down into his shoulders. (p.161)
Chiyoko’s first meeting with Yasuo upon returning the village at the ferry not only highlights her insecurities when it comes to relationships with other human beings, but is also meant to display to the reader Yasuo’s overconfident and prideful personality, and the negative effects it can have on the opinions concerning you of other human beings.
“His worldly manner seemed to be saying: “There’s no doubt but what this girl has a fancy for me.” (p. 59)
