The+Chief

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The Chief is a nameless character in the book The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea.

- The chief is a character who remains nameless throughout the novel;This dehumanizes him and makes him seem like he has no real personality. - He is the leader of the "objective" group that Noboru is in, he creates a microcosm hierarchy of society - He is greatly respected by all other members of the group. - The Chief's personal history is very mysterious, living in a large mansion. His parents are never seen in the novel, but they are mentioned several times - He pretends to understand the world even though he has faint traces of which he does not. Mishima gives dimples to the chief as a sign of immaturity to show that he is still a child and does not have a fully adult understanding of the world. - He gives out thoughts which are not uncomon by teenagers of his age. Such as, society is meaningless, is a representation of gothic, depressed or rebellious teenagers at that age. - The fact that he has the rank “Chief” could represent a military position - He contradicts himself: -He claims that there are no heroes but he himself tries to be one: p.50 //“Don’t You Realized there is no such thing as a hero in this world?”// - He is very sceptical of adults but mocks Noboru for being childish p.54 //“You’re day dreaming while you eat, aren’t you? That’s a child’s habit”// p. 50 //“No adults is going to be able to do something we couldn’t do”// - Ironic to criticize about fathers when he is like a father to the kids. p.136 //“There is no such thing as a good father because the role itself is bad”//
 * Role in the book**

-'..were all smallish, delicate boys and excellent students' (pg 49) this is a contrast of the face he shows to the world and his private life - 'dimples dented the chief's cheeks' and 'The smiles were boyish, innocent' shows the childish features of the Chief -Perfectionism: p.56 “the chief would write out topics for the discussion… Whenever he made a mistake, he would crumple the thick imported paper and toss it carelessly away” p. 179 “The boy crossed them nervously again and again as if to glue the cold rubber to his flesh”
 * Appearance**

- This is due to his facade that he is cold-hearted and seen through the shams of society. - The chief is a nihilist as he doesn't believe in anything. - He is also misanthropic - he shows great hatred toward humanity. - "An expression of chagrin at this blow to his pride" - He does not enjoy being questioned. - We can also tell that he is cruel because he killed a cat, and he also said 'It's not dead yet, kill it again' while he was killing it. - "Don't you realize there is no such thing as a hero in this world" he is cynical yet right to some sense - The chief is intelligent p.48 “The Chief, number one …… were all smallish, delicate boys and excellent. In fact most of their teachers lavished praise on this outstanding group…” p.55 “A solitary boy, he had read at thirteen every book in the house and was always bored”
 * Personality**

- Hes is hypocritical as he believes society is pointless and yet he has created a society for himself. - This is a very childish and simplistic view of the world as he never looked beyond his own house.This shows his ignorance - The chief is a sarcastic and cynical individual: "Don't you realise that there is no such thing as a hero in this world?" - He says that society is a false illusion even though he had created a microcosm of society with the members of his gang. - He wants to have the others believe him to be a person that is cold, rational and has his life figured out. - He has a tradition view and value on glory and death p. 136 “There’s just one way to make him a hero again” - He has pathetic fallacy p.167 //“The chief glanced through a black frame of evergreen branches at the watery gray sky and observed; “Looks like tomorrow will be a nice day.””//
 * Views/Motives**

- This empty house could be the reason why the chief believes the world is empty (e.g. Life in empty house = Life is empty, father = bad, therefore men = bad) - As his parents have left him, he doesn't know how to grow up as he didn't have an authoritative figure. This could represent Japan after the second world war as Japan was left lost without an authority figure. - This reflects Mishima's beliefs that people need direction, or else they will be lost. (e.g. killed himself to try get the emperor back in power) - The house that the Chief lives in is hollow and incredibly empty. Which reflects the way that he is brought up and about his beliefs in the world.
 * Background/History**


 * Gideon's Amazing Mindmap -** //To get those creative & analytical juices flowing.

[|The Chief]//