Zeami Mtokiyo Atsumori Themes

Differences in religion have been the root cause of war throughout history. Conflicts arise even within a set religious group, such as the Catholic/Protestants or Shiite/Sunni Muslims. Westerners have often view Asian religions, like Buddhism, to be backwards or polar opposites of the traditional church. However, Zeami Motokiyo reflects the prevailing themes of forgiveness and sin, common in both Christian and Islamic beliefs, in the Japanese drama Atsumori. A central dogma of Christianity, besides belief in God and Christ, is forgiveness. As Christ died to forgive the sins of mankind, men should forgive one another. The parables Jesus shares exemplify this need to pardon sin. In one story, a wealthy man welcomes home his wayward son, even after the young man wasted all his inheritance away. The man could have casted out his son, but instead chose to feed and cloth him well. Likewise, the concluding message of Atsumori is to forgive, even the unforgivable. The priest directly killed Atsumori, yet in the eleventh hour, …show more content…
Across all the major religions, there is a need to expunge sin for access to a greater afterlife. The purity of Jesus’ sacrifice wiped away humanity’s debt to God, belief in certain rites of passage or prayer, such as the Hail Mary found in the Catholic religion, or just affirmation in the religion’s deity, such as al-Shahada for Islam, are all tied with granting immunity from sin to go to heaven. Although Atsumori did not have to forgive the priest, he could not have ascended into Buddha’s paradise if he held on to the anger. The priest already felts guilty for killing Atsumori and came to the temple to pray for Atsumori’s soul, thereby taking a step in receiving forgiveness. The priest’s own spiritual growth is why he was granted salvation. Atsumori sees the value in moving on from one life’s troubles when he decides not to kill the priest, finally receiving access to the heavenly