61 pages • 2 hours read
Helen DeWittThe Last Samurai
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2000A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Magazines
In The Last Samurai, magazines play a multifaceted symbolic role, encompassing the concerns of Intellectual Pursuit and Genius, cultural exposure, shared connections, and the profound existential boredom haunting Sibylla. Sibylla’s life takes a crucial turn when she starts digitizing obscure magazines like Sportsboat and Waterski International and Pig Fancier’s Monthly or Weaseller’s Companion. These magazines, filled with banal and uninspiring content, symbolize the overwhelming boredom engulfing Sibylla’s life. Ludo sheds light on her perception of boredom, emphasizing that she considers it a fate worse than death. This perspective underlines the severity of Sibylla’s struggle with the mind-numbing task of digitizing these uninteresting magazines. These publications symbolize the soul-crushing futility from which Sibylla desperately seeks an escape.
The magazines also represent Sibylla’s intense yearning for intellectual engagement. Faced with the mind-numbing nature of digitization, she often abandons these periodicals in favor of more intellectually stimulating texts, highlighting her unwavering commitment to the pursuit of knowledge and art. This contrasts starkly with the shallowness of the magazines’ content.
DeWitt uses the magazine’s symbolism to portray a unique connection between the characters. Sibylla’s experience of reading and engaging with these mundane magazines becomes a shared activity between her and Ludo. Their discussions, translations, and explorations of these magazines create an intimate bond that transcends the dullness of the content. The magazines serve as a testament to Sibylla’s resilience and unquenchable thirst for knowledge which she passes to Ludo.
The University of Oxford
In Helen DeWitt’s The Last Samurai, the University of Oxford symbolizes status, success, and the relentless pursuit of intellectual excellence. The university’s presence in the lives of the characters sheds light on the novel’s exploration of academic ambition. Sibylla spent her “time at Oxford infiltrating classes on” multiple languages (28), highlighting The Power of Language and Art to Enrich the Human Experience. Characters like Sibylla perceive the university not just as an educational institution but as a beacon of intellectualism and the epitome of academic excellence.
Ludo underscores the university’s significance by aspiring to join this institute. His ambition to “go to Oxford at the age of 11” highlights the university’s role as a symbol of Intellectual Pursuit and Genius (290). To Ludo, Oxford represents the pinnacle of academic achievement. Throughout the novel, it serves as a touchstone for the characters’ intellectual aspirations and a reminder of the relentless pursuit of knowledge and academic accomplishment as the characters strive to reach this venerable institution.
Furthermore, Oxford is not merely a backdrop in The Last Samurai, but a dynamic and vital setting where Sibylla’s interactions with multiple characters play a crucial role in the novel’s unfolding narrative. Oxford is the novel’s setting for cultural exchange and diversity, attracting students from various corners of the globe. This multicultural atmosphere enriches the characters’ experiences and represents the novel’s exploration of the interplay between different worlds and the exchange of ideas.
Seven Samurai and Bamboo Poles
The symbolism of Seven Samurai and the reference to “bamboo poles” in the novel provide a tapestry for exploring the ideas of morality, truth, and the quest for identity (219). These elements are woven into the narrative, offering insights into the characters’ journeys.
Seven Samurai transcends its role as a mere film and emerges as a symbol that weaves through the novel, embodying ideals of masculinity and the search for a suitable male “role model” (37). It acts as a surrogate father figure, shaping Ludo’s understanding of the workings of the world. The film serves as a moral compass, emphasizing the importance of virtuous behavior and the pursuit of excellence. Moreover, Seven Samurai symbolizes the ideal male role model that Ludo seeks in his life. It directs Ludo’s search for his biological father and multiple father figures.
The reference to bamboo poles from Seven Samurai further amplifies the exploration of truth in the novel. Ludo invokes the line, “if it had been with real swords you’d be dead” (219), to underscore the peril associated with the truth. He views the swords of samurai—the truth—as a dangerous and potentially deadly weapon. In contrast, his false claims of being the son of multiple men represent a less risky form of conflict, akin to bamboo poles, where the truth can be sidestepped. Seven Samurai and bamboo poles symbolize not only morality and the quest for a father figure but also the treacherous nature of truth. Through these symbols, DeWitt delves into the human condition, illuminating the perpetual search for truth and meaning in life.
