DEJ+-+John

Passage My hands are a man’s hands, wet with blood. “Like the morning sea breeze ”, I feel it rise: “intent to kill” (57). “Flicker[ing] for an instant in the distance”, my pity disappears (57)… Replaced with a “wholeness and perfection” (61) in death

Response This passage illustrates the process of Noboru’s internal transition from a normal, innocent child, to that of a cold and apathetic killer. The moment before Noboru causes the death of an unfortunate kitten; his “intent to kill” is described as rising “like the morning breeze”. The contrast between his true malevolent emotions and the serene simile use to describe it shows Noboru’s inner peace towards his horrific actions. Trained to embrace the indifferent arms of dispassion, he looks upon his hands as “a man’s hands, wet with blood”. Any trace of humanity during this transformation simply disappears. The metaphor used to compare his pity with a light “flickering for an instant in the distance” further contributes to fleeting empathy that would manifest in any normal child in such a situation. Instead, Noboru finds these feelings replaced with a calming resolution .Once again, like the ocean zephyr of homicide, the contrast of “wholeness and perfection” with “death” emphasizes the ultimate phase in his progression, finding completeness and purity in the one inevitable thing that humanity fears the most. Through his inner change, Noboru loses all remaining fragments of his innocence as an ignorant child and revels in the heartless embodiment of insensitivity.