The Last Samurai

I am grateful for permission to use copyright material from the following: The Biographical Dictionary of Film, by David Thomson, The Eskimo Book of Knowledge, by George Binney, by permission of the Hudson’s Bay Company; Theory of Harmony, by Arnold Schoenberg, translated by Roy E. Carter (English translation ©1983 Faber and Faber Ltd); interview with John Denver, Melody Maker 27/3/76, p. 11, © Chris Charlesworth/Melody Maker/IPC Syndication; Foundations of Aerodynamics: Bases of Aerodynamics Design, by Arnold M. Kuethe and Chuen-Yen Chow, ©1986, reprinted by permission of John W. Wiley & Sons, Inc.; Half Mile Down, by William Beebe (Bodley Head); The Films of Akira Kurosawa, by Donald Richie (University of California Press), ©1984 The Regents of the University of California; The Solid State, by H.M. Rosenberg (©1988 Oxford University Press) by permission of Oxford University Press; Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar edited and enlarged by E. Kautzsch, second English edition by A.E. Cowley (1910), by permission of Oxford University Press; Njal’s Saga (extracts from pages 244-246), translated by Magnus Magnusson and Herman Pálsson (London, 1960) © 1960 Magnus Magnusson and Herman Pálsson, reproduced by permission of Penguin Books Ltd. I would like to thank Kurosawa Production K. K. for permission to reprint material from the screenplay Seven Samurai (Shichinin no Samurai).

Prologue

My father’s father was a Methodist minister. He was a tall, handsome, noble-looking man; he had a deep, beautiful voice. My father was an ardent atheist and admirer of Clarence Darrow. He skipped grades the way other boys skip class, he lectured my grandfather’s flock on carbon 14 and the origin of species, and he won a full scholarship to Harvard at the age of 15.

He took the letter from Harvard to his father.

Something looked through my grandfather’s beautiful eyes. Something spoke with his beautiful voice, and it said: It’s only fair to give the other side a chance.

My father said: What do you mean?

What it meant was that my father should not reject God for secularism just because he won arguments with uneducated people. He should go to a theological college and give the other side a fair chance; if he was still of the same mind at the end he would still be only 19, a perfectly good age to start college.

My father, being an atheist and a Darwinist, had a very delicate sense of honor, and he could not resist this appeal. He applied to various theological seminaries, and all but three rejected him out of hand because he was too young. Three asked him to come for an interview.

The first was a seminary with a fine reputation, and my father because of his youth was interviewed by the head.

The man said: You’re very young. Is it possible that you want to be a minister because of your father?

My father said he did not want to be a minister, but he wanted to give the other side a fair chance, and he explained about carbon 14.

The man said: The ministry is a vocation and the training we offer is designed for people who feel called to it. I doubt very much that you would benefit from it.

He said: This offer from Harvard is a remarkable opportunity. Couldn’t you give the other side a fair chance by taking a course in theology? I believe the college started out, after all, as a College of Divinity, and I imagine they must still teach the subject.

The man smiled at my father kindly and he offered to give him a list of books to read if he would like to do any more in the way of giving the other side a fair chance. My father drove home (they were living in Sioux City at the time) and all the way he thought that this might give the other side a fair chance.

He spoke to his father. The point was made that one course in theology in a strongly secular environment would probably not make a very considerable impact, but all the same my father must decide for himself.

My father went to the second seminary, which had a good reputation. He was interviewed by the Dean.

The Dean asked him why he wanted to become a minister, and my father explained that he did not want to become a minister, and he explained about carbon 14.

The Dean said he respected my father’s intentions, but still there was something whimsical about it, and he pointed out that my father was very young. He recommended that my father go to Harvard first and then if he still wanted to give the other side a fair chance he would be delighted to consider his application.

My father returned to his father. The beautiful voice pointed out that a man with a degree from Harvard would find it hard to resist the temptation of going instantly into a career, but it said that of course my father must decide for himself.