Clear all
Work #1231 · Late

The Decay of the Angel

Yukio Mishima
1970 (completed Nov 25, 1970); 1971 (posthumous publication) · Japanese
Novel (final volume of Sea of Fertility tetralogy) · Japanese modern literature / Mishima's aesthetic-nationalist tradition

Mishima's 1971 final volume of The Sea of Fertility — completed the day of his ritual suicide

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute The Decay of the Angel (Late)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Non-Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Bi-directional
Space · Extent Finite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Variable
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Multiple
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Partial
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Passive
Observer · Number Singular
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Impersonal
Observer · Moral Authority Experience
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Finite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Variable
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Variable
Information · Personal Conservation Variable
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

The Decay of the Angel

The November 25, 1970 completion-date moment.

Space

The Decay of the Angel

The contemporary Japanese setting; the Gesshū-ji temple closing.

Matter

The Decay of the Angel

The aged Honda and the disputed-young-Tōru.

Observer

The Decay of the Angel

The aged Honda as proper-participant-observer.

Energy

The Decay of the Angel

The tragic-philosophical-religious energies of the culmination.

Information

The Decay of the Angel

The narrative-philosophical-religious content.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

The Decay of the Angel

The Decay of the Angel has been variously assessed — defenders see proper-philosophical-religious culmination of the tetralogy.