Preview

The Last Samurai Sparknotes

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1604 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Last Samurai Sparknotes
Many a great warriors emerged throughout the course of human history, Spartans, Vikings, and Apache warriors. Throughout all of human history these warriors had glorious and heroic tales, however there was one that stood out vastly from the others: The Samurai. Samurai are noble warriors whom emerged during the Edo period of Japan, they first began as a hired guard for the rich, landholding nobles. The word “samurai” means “the one who serves” in the Japanese language, as more noble families appeared, the samurai culture shifted from being hired guards into a family organization. In exchange for land or income, samurai swore loyalty to their lords and would do nothing to dishonor the family name of their lord. Although the samurai’s main purpose …show more content…
During an early battle, Algren was captured by the samurai rebels and taken prisoner. As a prisoner, he had full freedom to wander around the samurai village at the cost of one samurai looking after him in case he spurred trouble. Algren was told that the samurai rebels were barbarous and uncivilized by the Japanese government, but his observations did not coincide with what he had been told. The samurai rebels were so much more than just barbarians, they had their own rules, disciplines, and way of life. Talking to the leader of the samurai rebels, he learned about the true intention of the rebellion. Loyalty is one of the fundamental aspects for samurai, it is something that make them what they are. Without someone to be loyal to, samurai becomes Ronin, a warrior without a master, and loses his position in the Japanese society. The reason all the rebels can be called samurai is because they are all still loyal towards the emperor, they only wished to fight the change the government is trying to make. “If The Emperor wishes my death, he has but to ask.” This line was said by Katsumoto, the leader of the rebellion. The loyalty Katsumoto have towards the emperor is shown through this sentence. Later on, when Katsumoto met the emperor, he showed his loyalty once again by the following line: “Your highness... if you believe me to be your enemy, command me, and I will gladly take my

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    To begin with the famous Samurai I’m researching is a man by the name of Tokugawa Leyasu. Tokugawa Leyasu was a famous and important samurai warrior due to the fact that he stands tall as possibly the most famous samurai of all time, and the only one of the three great unifiers of Japan (other 2 were Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi) to be crowned shogun.…

    • 587 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The samurai represent strength. While recovering from a very challenging illness, Stephen in Gail Tsukiyama’s The Samurai’s Garden leaves Hong Kong and travels to the small beach town of Tarumi to recuperate. Here, he befriends the home’s servant and many other members of the area as well. After many months of living in the town, Stephen experiences many situations in which Matsu remains strong in the face of adversity. However, upon discovering his best friend’s dead body, Matsu begins deteriorating. “Since I’d arrived in Tarumi, Matsu had been the anchor and I was the one afloat. I wasn’t ready to switch places,” (Tsukiyama 102). Through his recovery in Tarumi, Stephen has constantly relied on Matsu’s strength to heal and learn. Without Matsu’s…

    • 193 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Even before the Kamakura period the Japanese warrior had begun his ascent to a higher social status. During the Heian period collateral branches of the imperial line, the Minamoto and Taira clans, represented two of the greatest warrior associations. Wars and battles that broke out during the eleventh century in the Kanto area presented the local warriors and the powerful clans with the chance to continue to build up their power (Schirokauer 181). During Kamakura period the provincial warrior class had managed to consolidate political power at the expense of the nobility. Under the Minamoto clan leader, Yorimoto, the Taira clan was defeated in the Gempei War, a bakufu or "tent government" was established – which demonstrated the military origins of his power - and the emperor named him shogun. The shogun had delegated power under the control of the emperor – which by this time was merely theoretical – and would represent an institution in Japanese politics that would last until the nineteenth century (Schirokauer 289). The shogun maintained his power through the loyalty of vassals - warriors who vowed service to a lord in exchange for military protection and land rights. This loyalty would become the characteristic ideal of the samurai warrior.…

    • 1658 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    that samurai would be debtors to merchants was not lost on some samurai, who decided to become…

    • 640 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Samurai lived by the code of Bushido, which emphasized on the rule that they should respect and honor those above them on the social class. And they should obey all the commanders. On the contrary, the reality is a large percentage of samurai become jobless and homeless at the end of Tokugawa Era. Less of governmental offices can provide them occupations as the long period of peace for 200 years. So without war, the samurai’s role and life style dramatically changed since there was no more…

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In document E written By Yamaga Soko it says Outwardly he stands in Physical readiness for any call to service and inwardly he strives to fulfill the Way.” Samurais were physically and mentally ready. Samurais would be calm, but when they were called to fight, they were ready and would fight till the end. Another piece that shows that Samurais OR Knights could win is in document E also but written by Sir Thomas Malory. It states, ¨...Solemnly promising to do, not wicked deed, to be loyal to the king, to give mercy to those asking it.” Samurais were also loyal to their king(emperor), but knights gave mercy to anybody who was willing to ask for it. Knights were warriors in Europe but when they did not have to kill, they didn´t. They still fought at the best of their…

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In medieval Japan, the relationship between warriors and clan chiefs was very intense. An outcome of this feudal arrangement was a strict code of warrior behavior emerged known as Bushido (way of the warrior), which called upon warrior to sacrifice his life for his master. Such an act was thought of as the highest from of honor and respect. It was during the twelfth century that these warriors became known as samurai, meaning “those who serve.” Although the samurai were mainly soldiers, many excelled in the arts and philosophy. In these pursuits, the samurai normally showed the same type of discipline that characterized their martial…

    • 3342 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Samurai were a little higher up than Knights in the feudal social order. In the social order in feudal Japan if you were a Samurai you were a warrior who owed loyalty and military service to Dalmyos for land or regular payment. All of the Samurai plus their family made up about ten percent of Japans population. Now, Knights on the other hand were warriors who owed loyalty and military service to a lord for land. There were about twelve thousand Knights in England and Normany France in the twelfth century. (Documents A, B)…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Bushido Code Essay

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A lot of the bushido was self honour, which meant living and dying with respect. The bushido code was so strict that the samurai that broke the code it would kill themselves to save their honour (even if nobody knew they broke the rules), this was called harakiri. It involved slitting their stomach open and disenbowing their stomach and organs. It was supposed to be extremely painful as punishment for breaking the bushido code (I’ve never tried it though). The word bushido means way of the warrior, bushi meaning way and do meaning warrior. The biggest need for a samurai back then was to have absolute and total respect to the daimyo. The samurai trusted and respected the daimyo so much that after a samurai’s master had been disrespected of killed it was a samurai’s job to hunt down and kill that person. If the samurai's master had been killed, then the samurai was referred to as a ronin, or masterless samurai. The bushido code was lived by samurai until the about the seventeenth…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    All woman out there if you want to protect yourself and not rely on a man then you should become a samurai but if you want protection and respect then marry a knight. During the Middle Ages in Feudal Japan and in Europe samurai and knights were two of the bravest warriors. It is important to compare these two because you can see who is more respectful or more powerful. Samurai were sent to defeat barbarians in Northern Honshu. Samurai worked for landowners and offered them protection and loyalty in exchange for land and rights. Knights lived in their lord's castle because they protected their lord. They lived in the lower floor of the castle with other knights because there was enough space there. In this essay I will compare the views on women of samurai and knights, the views on education of both warriors, and their code of conduct.…

    • 710 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    - Each lord surrounded himself with a body guard of loyal warriors called samurai. They were expected to show reckless courage, reverence for the gods and dying an honorable death was judged more important than living a long life.…

    • 7725 Words
    • 31 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    47 Ronin Summary

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Japan was in a place of constant change towards the beginning of the 18th century. While the Shogun, Tsunayoshi, attempted to expand his control, the social classes were changing; a system that was once enforced by the samurai was being taken away and replaced. Asano and his samurai were the exception. From the beginning, the concept of honor and redemption is obvious. Lord Asano is an honorable man who is attempting to live by the laws set by Shogun Tsunayoshi. Asano is prompted to bribe Kira (master of ceremonies), but due to his tradition values, Asano refuses. In an attempt to protect himself from the bribery and corruption, he injures Kira. Asano was allowed to commit seppuku, and it was a disgrace to the honor and tradition of traditional Japanese values. Following the death of Lord Asano, his masterless samurai become obsessed on getting revenge. After learning that Kira had survived they become obsessed to avenge Asano and redeem his name. Following the Confucian saying, “No man may live under the same sky with the murderer of his lord,” and they go to avenge on the death of their master.…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the first battle scene the Japanese army is unprepared even though that had a huge advantage over the samurai as far as technology goes. The samurai used bow and arrows, swords, spears, and rode on horseback. They wore traditional dress such as large metal armor and ornate headpieces. The Japanese army wore modern outfits and fired their arms in synchronized lines. The samurai reigned victorious. It was considered an honor among the samurai to die in battle while fighting for what they believed in. They practiced a form of suicide known as hari cari if they were disloyal. Even if they were wounded in battle and were soon to die, they'd rather kill themselves then be defeated by the enemy. The American general is captured as a prisoner and brought back to the samurai village. He is taught "bushida" or the ways of the warriors. The village was very primitive and showed no signs of being modernized. Women were subordinate to men, which was shown when Taka was forced to obey her brother. These people were very religious and practiced a form of Buddhism which included deep meditation.…

    • 545 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    World History

    • 315 Words
    • 2 Pages

    They wanted order and balance, Buddhist sect that flourished in Japan. Samuri soliders were attached to this.…

    • 315 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Child Labor

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages

    4. The term “samurai” describes men in feudal Japan who were most like the men in feudal Europe known as…

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics