Explore Gaston As A Christ-Like Figure In Shusaku Endo's Wonderful Fool
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Explore Gaston as a Christ-like figure in Shusaku Endo’s Wonderful Fool In the novel Wonderful Fool, Shusaku Endo draws a clear parallel between Jesus Christ in the Bible and Gaston Bonaparte, the protagonist. Throughout the novel, Endo illustrates Gaston’s pilgrimage in Japan and highlights his Christ-like characteristics through strange encounters, such as those with the stray mongrel, the Higaki siblings and Endo the killer. The four aspects of Gaston that resembles that of Christ; compassion for the weak, source of epiphany, transcendental nature and redemptive quality are revealed in these encounters, and in describing them Endo employs various literary devices, most noticeably symbolism. Gaston’s particular attachment to the dog can thus be seen as a direct reflection of compassion Christ had for the weak. His compassion for the dog is clearly seen when he noticed the vulnerability of the dog, with “no master to take care of it...ugly and old” yet “squatted down and stroked his head.” (Endo, 2008:73) Here, Endo portrays an image of Gaston lowering himself and comforting the mongrel, which has been shunned away from the society and had “been pelted with rocks.” In the Bible Christ often offers protection and comfort particularly to those who have been rejected by the society, most noticeably the incident with a woman caught in adultery who was at risk of being stoned to death. The dog is used here as a symbolic device that represents the weak, orphaned and the