17th-century 17th-century-japan acceptance adaptation african-american african-american-culture african-american-experience african-american-identity african-american-literature african-american-protagonist alienation ambiguity american-dream american-history american-identity american-literature apostasy assimilation belief betrayal bildungsroman black-culture black-experience black-identity black-literature blindness brotherhood catholicism christian-fiction christian-literature christian-missionaries christian-persecution christianity christianity-in-japan civil-rights civil-rights-movement colonialism coming-of-age conflict conformity conscience conversion cross-cultural cultural-assimilation cultural-clash cultural-clashes cultural-conflict cultural-heritage cultural-identity cultural-imperialism culture culture-clash discrimination disillusionment double-consciousness doubt dystopia east-asia east-meets-west eastern-philosophy eastern-spirituality endurance equality existentialism exploration faith faith-crisis faithfulness fiction foreigner forgiveness freedom guilt harlem harlem-renaissance hidden-christians historical historical-fiction history human-nature human-suffering identity identity-crisis individualism individuality inequality injustice inner-conflict inner-struggle inner-turmoil internal-conflict introspection invisibility invisibility-metaphor invisible invisible-identity invisible-man isolation japan japanese-culture japanese-literature japans-hidden-christians jazz jazz-music jesuit jesuit-missionaries jesuit-priest jesuit-priests jesuits journey literature loss loyalty martyrdom mission missionaries missionary missionary-work modernism moral-ambiguity moral-dilemma moral-dilemmas morality nagasaki narrator novel oppression persecution personal-freedom personal-narrative personal-struggle politics portuguese-missionaries power power-dynamics power-struggle prejudice priests protagonist protest psychological quest race race-relations racial-discrimination racial-identity racial-inequality racial-stereotypes racism ralph-ellison redemption religion religious-beliefs religious-conflict religious-conversion religious-exploration religious-faith religious-identity religious-intolerance religious-oppression religious-persecution religious-tolerance resilience resistance sacrifice samurai search-for-meaning segregation self-discovery self-sacrifice shusaku-endo silence silence-of-god sin social-commentary social-criticism social-inequality social-injustice social-isolation social-justice society southern-united-states spiritual-crisis spiritual-journey spiritual-struggle spirituality stereotypes struggle subversion suffering surrealism survival symbolism the-american-dream tradition underground urban-life western-influence white-supremacy