Article Before a fall: The role of the interpreter in Endo’s Silence Peter G. Epps Oklahoma State University–Stillwater, USA Abstract Readings of Endo’s Silence usually focus on the pivotal conversations Ferreira and Inoue have with Rodrigues. Too tight a focus, however, diminishes the challenge the novel poses to modern readers; Silence becomes mere personal tragedy, selling short the novel’s complex involvement in Buddhist–Christian dialogue. The character called ‘‘the interpreter’’ broadens that challenge. His three major conversations with Rodrigues present the groundwork and summation for a challenge more perennial and more spe- cifically rooted in Endo’s milieu than would appear from just those events surrounding the fumie scene. Keywords Endo, interpreter, kenosis, mercy, Rodrigues, sunyata Conversations about reading and teaching Shusaku Endo’s Silence tend to focus on the final confrontation between Ferreira and Rodrigues, or on Inoue’s recapitula- tion of that confrontation. This focus is understandable, as Rodrigues himself is preoccupied with his questions for Ferreira and his fear of Inoue. Treating Rodrigues’s preoccupations as the dominant concern, however, sells short the com- plexity of the novel’s appeal to readers. If only the flawed personal aspirations of Rodrigues and his disillusionment at the hands of Ferreira and Inoue are at stake, then many questions readers should pose are just beyond the novel’s scope. The reader is free to simply regard Rodrigues as one more fictional example of a flawed person, dismissing the unmistakable challenge the novel presents to the claims of living faith traditions. Characters such as Kichijiro, Garrpe, and the interpreter make this challenge more robust. In particular, the character named only ‘‘the interpreter’’ stands out: although he dominates the book throughout long passages after Rodrigues is captured, he is one of the few characters who never receives any historical or quasi-historical proper name. I will argue that the interpreter’s Christianity & Literature 2016, Vol. 65(4) 413–429 ! The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/ journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0148333115585278 cal.sagepub.com Corresponding author: Peter G. Epps, 2207 NW 19th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73107, USA. Email: pgepps@gmail.com