Choosing between something you anxiously want and something you psychologically need can be a hard decision, especially when the thing you need almost defines who you are as a person. Like the modern concept of "give and take," human beings often struggle, on the one hand, with the desire to be free and abandon to ones desires and the yearning to be domesticate, living 'the happy life' with a family. This is the struggle Ryuji Tsukazaki wrestles with throughout the novel. This is poignantly illustrated in the passage on pages 68-69, of "The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The See." The event occurs after Noboru invites Ryuji to his home, during a conversation about Ryuji's remarkable adventures. Here, through imagery and indirect characterization, Yukio Mishima exemplifies the dilemma that Ryuji faces which is whether to continue the life he loves at sea or to settle down and succumb to the love of a woman.
             The passage starts off by Ryuji's examination of the room. Ryuji's eyes "roved the dim room and he marveled at the golden clock enthroned on the mantel, the cut-glass chandelier depending from the ceiling...all delicate, all absolutely still" (68). With this imagery, several impressions can be made. First of all, he watches the time, which represents the fact that his time is running out the longer he is on land. He must return to his true line of duty at sea. The ticking of the clock is almost beckoning him back. The stillness also represents the distain for land and its sedentary nature. At sea, the boat is always rocking and fluctuating with the waves in a constant state of motion. Therefore, through this, you can strongly infer Ryuji's lack of emotional attachment towards the physical or earthy appeal of land, which the room represents. As a result, he leave Fusako and goes back to the sea, but he is still torn, "a day before, the objects here had meant n...