"Faith": Masuji Ono vs. Sartre

*All information here credited to Sartre’s philosophies, with minimal exceptions, can be found in Walter Kaufmann’s Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre *

As framed by Jean-Paul Sartre and his positioning in Existentialism, people are defined by the choices they make, by the “faith” in which they are made (Burton, 2/26/08). I dare to add that the outcomes of these choices reflect on one’s character as well; that a “wrong” choice, determined “wrong” by an undesired outcome, is just as informative of one’s person as a “good” choice.

Masuji Ono, the protagonist of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel An Artist of the Floating World, consistently tells the reader that he acted “in good faith,” or “in the best of faith” (123, 125). Sartre’s take is that “in good faith” simply acknowledges the choice to believe a certain conviction, to place trust in something despite not having any “self-evident intuition,” any substance to support this belief (Sartre in Kaufmann, 326).

Perhaps Ono did act in “good faith” when he changed course in his art and purpose (123); it’s possible that he really believed he turned Kuroda in “for his own good” (183). However, these initial intentions do not change the fact that Ono rejected everything he had been taught in order to become the government’s prophet-cum-puppet, nor do they soften the blow of Kuroda’s fate: “He was in great pain, but the warders conveniently forgot to report the injury…But of course, they remembered it well enough whenever they decided to give him another beating. Traitor. That’s what they called him. Traitor” (113). Whether Ono acted in good faith or not is really irrelevant in light of the results of his actions, and on some level, he recognizes this. An example of this recognition may be found in his uneasy dismissal of his memory of Kuroda: “But this is all of limited relevance here” (184). Ono knows he is in control, albeit barely, of his memory - he can change track, can shake his head and move onto something else.

Despite the reader’s discomfort and quiet resentment, by the end of the novel Ono reports “a profound sense of happiness” which he says can only “[derive] from the conviction that one’s efforts have been justified…been worthwhile; that one has achieved something of real value and distinction” (204). Ono’s use of the word “conviction” here calls nicely back to Sartre’s framework of “belief.” Sartre uses courage as an example of how this framework translates: “At the moment when I wish to believe myself courageous I know that I am a coward. And this certainly would come to destroy my belief” (original emphasis). Because of this relationship between belief and knowledge, “[e]very belief is a belief that falls short; one never wholly believes what one believes” (Sartre in Kaufmann, 327).

 While Ono seemingly refuses to completely accept the ugliness of his choices, he knows he made the wrong choices. This is why he needs to keep reminding himself that his “faith” was favorable. Matsuda says it best when he asserts, “We…acted on what we believed…It’s just that in the end we turned out to be ordinary men. Ordinary men with no special gifts of insight” (200).