However, Shinji is severely lacking in this aspect, and even Hatsue comes across as rather two-dimensional. Theirs is a picturesque love story, but as a result, both characters seem void of any real flaws. Chiyoko on the other hand, struggles with insecurity, the way "she brooded over her commonplace face as being so unlovely" (Mishima 58). Her problem is not with perceiving beauty as she is "even more honest than a man in always recognizing anything beautiful about any woman", however she does fail to realize any beauty within herself (79). This very flaw prevents her from truly carrying out the life she wants to live, and although she desperately longs for them, she "had never had any sort of adventures [out of shyness]" (61). She lacks the proactiveness to be brave and go after what she wants, instead resorting to superstitions such as letting her fate be decided upon by a seagull finally flying past a certain height in order for something “wonderful” (61) to happen to her. Expecting good fortune to come without any initiative will prove to be futile, and in Chiyoko's case, result in being "overcome with boredom" …show more content…
Even before this, while waiting on the pier, “the unsociable girl” is holding “a Boston bag” (58). Already we see that she feels ostracized, as if she does not belong, not feeling apt to interact with the other island residents. Moreover we see her bringing elements of the outside world into this pastoral setting, fleshing out one of the central themes in the novel: outside influences. Time spent abroad has shaped the way Chiyoko thinks “influenced by… the movies seen and novels read in Tokyo” (59). That exposure that she has had to a completely new surrounding has instilled desires in her, now “always wishing that she could have a man look at her at least once with eyes saying "I love you" instead of "You love me" (59) because of that exposure she has had in Tokyo. Although Uta-Jima might be where she raised and where she gained her moral values and perspectives, she now has a new point of reference to compare every aspect of the almost ‘double life’ she seems to lead, noticing even “how different [Yasuo’s] iron-like hand felt from the hands of men in Tokyo” (60). The result of Chiyoko arriving on the island with alien material objects, ideas and experiences, proves how slowly the island of Uta-Jima is becoming far less of an isolated pastoral society and more interconnected to the outside world, more specifically Western culture,