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The One-Eyed Man
Valignano is a Superior of the Church whom Rodrigues and Garrpe meet in China. Valignano is the overseer of the missionaries in Japan, all of whom have either been expelled or killed, and thus initially refuses to allow the two young priests to undertake a new mission. However, after they convince him, Valignano arranges a Chinese ship to smuggle them to Japan’s coast and warns them of Inoue, the “terror of Christians.”
Valignano Quotes in Silence
The Silence quotes below are all either spoken by Valignano or refer to Valignano . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 6 Quotes
Stupefied, [Rodrigues] gazed at the old man [Inoue] who, naïve as a child, returned his gaze still rubbing his hands. How could he have recognized one who so utterly betrayed all his expectations? The man whom Valignano had called a devil, who had made the missionaries apostatize one by one—until now he had envisaged the face of this man as pale and crafty. But here before his very eyes sat this understanding, seemingly good, meek man.
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Valignano Character Timeline in Silence
The timeline below shows where the character Valignano appears in Silence. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Prologue
In Macao, the three priests meet Valignano, overseer of the Mission, who tells them that any missionary work in Japan is strictly...
(full context)
Chapter 1
...Rodrigues and Garrpe remain in good health and work at a missionary college in Macao. Valignano still refuses to send missionaries into Japan, even though there are many Japanese Christians who...
(full context)
After much pleading, Valignano finally relents and lets the priests make their journey “for the conversion of Japan and...
(full context)
...Portuguese vessel) since it will be useful to have a guide once they reach Japan. Valignano arranges a Chinese crew and vessel to take them to Japan, though Santa Marta becomes...
(full context)
