Heart of a Samurai Analysis

This is where we first meet Manjiro and the other Japanese fishermen, and even though most of them hate the whole lost-at-sea-away-from-home gig, Manjiro loves the sea and ship life because of all...

Third Person (Limited Omniscient)We may be reading the book from the position of some outside observer, but this third person narrator is definitely in Manjiro's head and looking at things through...

AdventureWe have a thrilling rescue, the high seas, and a whole new country. Then, on top of that, a return to a home country that doesn't want our main man back and readily tosses him in jail to p...

HopefulFor the most part, hopeful covers the tone for the majority of the book. Manjiro is a pretty positive dude, and since the book is pretty much from his perspective, it makes sense that the to...

ClearThe clear writing style of this book means the sentences tend to be short, with simple structures (think: subject-verb-object). If the author uses a descriptive clause, trust us—it's not goi...

In Heart of a Samurai, Manjiro totally want to be a samurai. The only trouble is, he is "a fisherman's son" (1.2.33), and at this point in Japan, there's not a whole lot of upward mobility. In fact...

I have no parents; I make the heaven and earth my mother and father. I have no home; I make awareness my dwelling.I have no life and death; I make the tides of breathing my life and death.—from t...

If you think about it, there are actually two endings to the book. The last chapter ends Manjiro's story as Preus has written it, and then the Epilogue comes along and wraps up all the factual loos...

This book is basically one of those novels that you can plow through in a couple of days. The language is flat-out easy (no real SAT words anywhere to be found—yay!). Plus, the chapters are short...

Lost At SeaA small group of young Japanese fishermen get stranded at sea and then make their way to a deserted island, where they stay for a while. Their food and water are running out and they d...

When Captain Whitfield and Manjiro arrived at New Bedford, they weren't completely on their own. They were actually met by "Aunt Millie" who cooked them a good solid meal and housed them. (Source)M...

This book is about as PG as things get. There's no sex (there's barely even any flirting), a minor amount of violence (a whale does die brutally), and the barest amount of sailor talk—and we mean...

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "Voices of the Night: A Psalm of Life" (2.6.45; 2.8.31-34)Utagawa Hiroshige (2.3.1)Izanami and Izanagi (2.8.42)1825 Edict to Expel Foreign Ships (2.6.30; 2.9.18)The Morr...