I read a novella with a collection of three stories by Yukio Mishima. The first story was called "The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea," the second was called "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion", and the third was "Confessions of a Mask."
             I would enjoy talking about each of these books individually, however I have far too little room for discussions of a such a great feat of writing. Instead I will point out the under lying themes that manifest themselves in each story very clearly.
             The most prominent and head motif was of the hero myth. Every culture honors a form of hero, and although not many realize that heroes are not always people hero myths often fall onto the shoulders of leaders who focus the same kind of energy. Each story has a hero character. Even thought they have done heroic things it shows a sad side to being a hero. It also tells us that heroes to some are villains to others. In Donald Duck, he is looking for a true hero, a north star to follow to the promised land of his own culture where he can be proud of being Chinese. The important thing is he found it, but not in one person, in everyone. As I pointed out before sometimes heroes are not people. Like the mandate of heaven, that's not really a hero, or is it? It focused the heroic qualities onto one person, a leader. Although each Empire rose and fell it shows that they were popular with the people. And to the people they were heroes. Just like Donald, he found his hero in the community. Each hero in Yukio's book meets a grotesque fate, or has an impassable quirk that only lets his heroic qualities shine on very few. Frederick Douglass was his own hero, and he knew that and he exploited it. Ultima had many heroic leadership qualities. Even Tenorio, the one who whooped a bunch of men into killing Ultima, he was able to do it which must say something, even if he is an anti-hero.
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