Father Sebastien Rodrigues

Character Analysis

Father Sebastien Rodrigues spends the bulk of Silence in a mad downward spiral. This once enthusiastic priest sees his faith tested, his preconceptions shattered, and his identity stripped from him.

Yikes.

Turns out life as a Jesuit missionary isn't exactly a walk in the park.

Bad Vibes

Despite his constant claims to the contrary, Rodrigues journeys to Japan solely for self-centered reasons. He isn't doing it "to render service to mankind" or anything so high-minded—he's doing it to find out if his former teacher, Father Ferreira, actually renounced the Catholic faith (1.39). In Rodrigues's mind, Ferreira's failure reflects back on him, highlighting his own limitations as a priest and a Christian. If Ferreira renounced his faith, then how is Rodrigues supposed to feel secure in his?

Already, we can see that seeds of doubt have been planted in Rodrigues's head.

These contradictions are apparent from Rodrigues's first interactions with Japanese Christians. Rodrigues utterly fails to see them as individuals, stating that "their names [are] difficult to remember" and "their faces all look the same" (3.5). That's just about the most prejudiced thing we've heard all week. Similarly, Rodrigues has difficulty expressing compassion toward the Japanese who are martyred, seeing their deaths as just the price that has to be paid for bringing a priest like him to their shores.

Still, nowhere are these contradictions in Rodrigues more evident than when we're talking about his relations with the crafty Kichijiro. These two are like mirror images of each other, though Rodrigues doesn't realize it until the end. Both of them, when you get right down to it, are weak in the faith; they're more concerned with preserving their own skin than staying true to their beliefs. It's understandable, of course—but being weak in the faith isn't the M. O. of a good priest, and Rodrigues knows it.

Betraying the Betrayers

After Kichijiro's betrayal, Rodrigues's doubts grow out of control. Now he not only distrusts the Japanese, but he also worries that all of his work will be for nothing. These doubts are expressed through the idea of God's silence: "in the face of this terrible and merciless sacrifice offered up to Him, God has remained silent" (4.47). No matter how many Japanese Christians are killed, no matter how many communities are destroyed, and no matter how much suffering is inflicted, there seems to be no hope of things getting better.

Rodrigues's interactions with his fellow priests only amplify these feelings of doubt. Rodrigues's former companion Father Garrpe has also been captured, and he dies after refusing to renounce Christianity. This only highlights Rodrigues's failures, making him feel "weak-willed" and undeserving "of the name 'father'" (7.112). Rodrigues also learns that Ferreira is alive and well, having taken a Japanese name and integrated himself within Japanese society. Finally, those seeds of doubt in Rodrigues are sprouting up from the dirt.

Turning a New Leaf

Meanwhile, Rodrigues assumes that he will be the next person executed. He's wrong: as he learns, the Japanese government doesn't give a hoot about Japanese Christians—those folk are mere "small fry" used to make "the fathers [...] apostatize" (7.100). It's only then that Rodrigues realizes that he is part of the problem, his arrival in Japan causing nothing but pain and suffering for the people he claims to serve. After some prodding from Ferreira (who came to similar conclusions when he apostatized), Rodrigues does the thing he always promised himself he'd never do: he renounces Christianity.

Ironically, it's only then that God breaks his silence, telling Rodrigues that he did the right thing. Weird, huh? Jesus doesn't hate Rodrigues for his betrayal, just as he didn't hate Judas, because "Judas was in anguish as [Rodrigues is] now" (10.81). What's more, this was the only decision Rodrigues could have made to spare countless Christians from painful deaths. Though he ends up living out the rest of his life as a Japanese citizen, those seeds of doubt are now gone—somehow, Rodrigues loves Jesus more than he ever did before.

What Rodrigues learns is that faith isn't just a matter of believing, nor is it a matter of just of doing what you think the Bible tells you to do. It's about actually acting according to your beliefs and your conscience, even when it involves personal sacrifice, and even when it involves going beyond what you think you know about your faith.