One thing that Shusaku Endo's Silence and Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis have in common is the aftertaste they leave in the reader's intellectual palate. Unlike most authors, Endo and Kafka refuse to give readers a satisfying happy ending, opting instead for a less predictable but more dramatic finale. Despite the innocence of the central characters, both stories reach their climax in the downfall of these characters: Rodrigues ends up a prisoner and apostate, while Gregor dies alone in his room without ever regaining his humanity. In both books, the powerful but unhappy ending is offset by a hopeful note that the character's downfall contributed to a happy ending in another place and time. This hopeful addition is important because it emphasizes the moral message of each story, which lies in how the central characters are able to find gratification in their defeat. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The transformations of the characters in each work culminate in their respective downfalls, which have further positive repercussions for themselves. In Silence, Rodrigues' fall is embodied in his new identity as an apostate and prisoner. However, the positive repercussion of Rodrigues' apostasy is his amplified understanding of the character of God. As he becomes aware of his spiritual filth, Rodrigues becomes more and more grateful for God's forgiveness and His presence as the only remaining comfort in his life. Rodrigues realizes the presence of God who was with Him all the time, who told him that “it was to be trampled upon by men that I was born into this world. It is to share the pain of men that I carried my cross” (171). He is a God who comes down to be condemned so that his people do not have to be condemned for the sins they commit in their weak and limited flesh. This alternative aspect of the power struggle is emphasized when Inoue confidently reestablishes his victory over Christianity, which Rodrigues objects to by saying, “No, no. [...] My fight was against Christianity in my own heart” (187). Thus, Endo implies that although Rodrigues' downfall is apparent in his power struggle against the Japanese, in a more positive light he won the struggle for faith in his own heart through the strengthening of his relationship with God . In The Metamorphosis, Gregor's downfall lies in his increasing isolation from humanity and his ultimate death. However, on the other hand, Gregor manages to escape his existentialist boredom through his death. This is evident in the description of Gregor's thoughts as he lay dying. The narrator describes: He remembered his family with deep feeling and love. [...] He remained in this state of empty and peaceful reflection until the clock struck three in the morning. [...] Then, without wanting it, [...] from his nostrils weakly flowed his last breath. (85) This passage contrasts sharply with his feelings in the rest of the book, such as his frustration at having to get up in the morning or his concern over Mr. Samsa's increasingly negative feelings. For the first time, he feels peaceful and content. So, alternatively, the positive repercussion of Gregor's death is his own victory over the stagnation of life. The characters' downfall also has positive repercussions on the people around them. In Silence, even though Rodrigues is forever scandalized and imprisoned as an apostate, he passes on his new knowledge about salvation to Kichijiro. He consoles Kichijiro's weakness by saying: There are neither the strong nor theweak. Can we say that the weak do not suffer more than the strong? [...] Since in this country there is no one else left to hear your confession, I will do it. [...] Go in peace! (191) Rodrigues lightens Kichijiro's burden by indirectly noting the lesson he himself learned through his apostasy: namely, that in their sufferings, God himself had suffered before them and with them. In the end, Kichijiro goes out into the world with the hope that he can learn from Rodrigues' mistakes and live a faithful life. Likewise, in The Metamorphosis, despite the melancholy of Gregor's death, this very event allows the Samsa family to move forward towards their bright future. Before this, Gregor sacrifices his time and efforts for his family by being the breadwinner. However, through his metamorphosis, this sacrifice is amplified. Without Gregor's financial support, the family is forced to take on their own work, which turns out to be a good idea. Gregor's death is the catalyst that allows the family not to remain cooped up in their comfortable nest, but to continue moving towards a better future. The narrator describes how they talked "about future prospects and discovered that upon closer observation they were not bad at all" (89). This fact is something they would never risk or otherwise discover unless Gregor's shapeshifting occurs to free them. The promising nature of the situation is particularly emphasized by Grete; the narrator describes in particular how “the girl first rose and stretched her young body” (90). Kafka dramatizes Gregor's death while informing readers that it enabled these positive changes. The hope that presents itself after the characters' fall is explored by the authors through spiritual and natural contexts. In both books, the setting changes during the descending action and denouement of the plot. In Silence, Rodrigues drinks in the atmosphere of Japan outside his window while he sits in captivity. The passage that describes this scene does so with severe melancholy: His only consolation was leaning against the window and watching people come and go. In the morning, women passed by with crates of vegetables on their heads. [...] In the evening, monks ringing their bells came down the slope. He contemplated this landscape of Japan, savoring every detail. (174) This passage describes the bucolic and peaceful landscape enjoyed by the Japanese, including the Japanese in the pit whom Rodrigues saved by apostatizing. Ironically, Rodrigues himself is unable to participate in such beauty and is confined to his prison. However, this contrast also serves to highlight the balance between the despair of Rodrigues' situation and the hope resulting from his sacrifice. Similarly, in The Metamorphosis after Gregor's death, the setting of the book changes radically. It becomes lighter and more serene, as shown by the serenity of the family as they embraced each other on the morning of Gregor's death, or how "the car in which they sat alone was totally engulfed by the hot sun » (89). as they talked about their future. The hope of the situation of other characters such as Kichijiro and the Samsa family is saturated, contrasting with the despair of the central characters. Thus, the two austere images reinforce and deepen the balance between discouragement and optimism. The balance created by the bittersweet endings of these books is significant because it allows the authors to insert a hopeful moral message that balances out the bleakness of the endings. The outcomes of conflicts in stories determine the moral messages conveyed to readers. Because in both cases, the outcome of the conflict is the disappearance of the central character, Endo like Kafka.