Kochan's Self-Hatred in Confessions of a Mask In his semi-autobiographical novel, Confessions of a Mask, Yukio Mishima examines the struggle for acceptance by a man who lives outside socially accepted norms. A motif that strongly pervades this novel is death and the images of blood associated with it. Kochan, a Japanese teenager living in post-war Japan, struggles with his homosexuality and his desire to be "normal." To survive, he must hide behind a mask of correctness. At a young age, Kochan shows signs of attraction to male beauty. His first memory is of a young man from the night soil "with beautiful ruddy cheeks and shining eyes" (8). Initially, her attraction to men is confused with a desire to be like them. Referring to the young man of the night soil, Kochan remembers thinking, "I want to turn into him. I want to be him" (9). However, as his life continues to take its course, he slowly realizes that his admiration for other men is actually love. As she begins to appreciate male beauty, she develops an affinity for blood and death. This association can ...
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