Romeo and Shinji

Love is like quicksand, the more you fight back, the stronger the love. On the other hand, the more you let go, and release, the less the feeling of love. For example, Romeo and Juliet fought for their right to love, which had then resulted in the immense amount of love for each other. Shinji and Romeo are very different; however, they can be similar as well. Even though they both come from very different time periods yet they are similar in an abundant amount of ways. The characters have a very distinguishing difference in their set of morals. “At the mere sound of the name [Hatsue] his cheeks flushed and his heart pounded. It was a strange feeling…he had experienced only during heavy labor.” (pg 22) This narration from the book The Sound of Waves shows how Shinji is so vulnerable to love. Shinji’s inability to understand love contrasts that of Romero’s feelings about love. Romeo expresses his emotions thoroughly, with every intent in learning what has gone wrong. Shinji, on the other hand, is confused and lost the strong feeling of love. He feels as though he is sick with a fever, not sick with love. The time period has a drastic change in views upon love. Romeo, in the age of the Renaissance, is at his prime age of thinking about love, and has so much time on his hands. Shiniji, in the twentieth century, has more plans and stress on his mind about his fishing career, and supporting his poor family. In addition to the time period there is the difference in customs, and traditions. Romeo was raised with parents that allowed him to have free feelings, and let loose. Since he was born in a prosperous family, he did not have much work to do, and had a lot of spare time to think, and examine love. However, Shinji was raised to respect elders, and everyone else around him. He had to work endlessly to help out his family. Despite the fact that Shinji has conquered fishing in his sea, he has yet to encounter the vast ocean of love. Thus, Shinji and Romeo contrast in terms of love. Shinji and Romeo both have strong feelings of love for a girl. Shinji loves Hatsue, and Romeo loves Juliet. However, in addition to there love, there are an immense amount of obstacles in the way, which are imperative to the characters personalities. For example, in Romeo and Juliet, Romeo finds out that Tybalt had killed Mercutio. When Romeo found out, his impulsive trait kicked in, and he ended up killing Tybalt, which had ultimately led to his downfall. In The Sound of Waves, Shinji, his obstacle is Yasuo, who is trying to marry his lover, Hatsue. Romeo and Shinji have qualities that are very alike. Shinji and Romeo are both in their teenage years developing their dynamic aspects throughout the play. They have loving families especially their mothers who show the most affection. Other than family care, both characters have support from adults that are not related to them. For example in “Romeo and Juliet” Romeo has a good relationship with Friar Lawrence and in “Sound of Waves”, Shinji has a good connection with the lighthouse keeper. Therefore, as much as Shinji and Romeo contrast, they also have many similarities as well. They both differ because they live in a different period in time, and they have characteristics that are the exact opposite. In addition to that, their outlook on love contrasts as well. Romeo tends to enjoy the feeling of love at times, and notices if he loves someone or not. Shinji does not know what love feels like, and he automatically assumes that he is sick. However, there were many similarities as well. Shinji and Romeo both have a loving mother, and have a difficult obstacle in their way. Thus, Shinji and Romeo, although at times have their differences, they can also be comparable as well