Samurai's Garden Love, Loyalty, and Essay

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Like Stephen, Sachi's illness is feared by many because it is contagious -- another reason Stephen has been sent away is not just to recuperate, but because of the fear that he may infect his young sister. Sachi's courage in the face of social exclusion and the love she feels for Matsu inspires Stephen to have courage to rebuild his life, even while the world is falling apart and he struggles with his illness.

By talking to Sachi, Stephen learns more about the complexities of Matsu's character. Matsu is initially a closed and rather taciturn man, but this surface appearance conceals great strength. "I believe Matsu always had inner strength, even as a young boy," says Sachi (Tsukiyama 80). Like Sachi, the gardener has been able to weather adversity while still holding within his heart compassion and love towards others. He is clearly the samurai of the title, and in the garden he tends there is a symbolic representation of his fidelity: "thee bridge represented the samurai's difficult path from this world to the afterlife. When you reach the top of the bridge, you can see your way to paradise.

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..to simply live without fear has been a true paradise" (Tsukiyama 58). Stephen, like Sachi, experiences a sense of freedom from physical pain and shares in a mutual spiritual liberation in the garden in the presence of Matsu. Stephen also gains a new sense of freedom in his painting that he lacked before coming to Japan.

Even while relations between China and Japan grow sour, and the Japanese community as a whole begins to turn away from Stephen, the unity and possibility that can exist between mutually suffering but good people is manifest in the relationships of Sachi, Matsu, and Stephen. The notion of loyalty, so important during a war, becomes problematic over the course of the novel. Ultimately, the novel counsels that the greatest loyalty is loyalty to the value of hope and the loyalty to one's friends, regardless of nation. Even after Stephen leaves Matsu and the garden, he takes the memories and lessons of what he learned within him, and uses them to sustain his spirits and his paintings.

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