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So where do all the settings and characters in The Temple of the Golden Pavilion fit into Mishima's fascist, samurai-era ideals?
Kashiwagi - A personification of Mishima's own insecurities, or the degenerate spirit that led the Japanese away from the glory of their past?
The Temple - Obviously representing pre-war Japan, and its spirit.
But what about all the other elements? Was the girl that fell in love with Kashiwagi's feet a symbol for how easily people are led towards degeneracy?
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>>7715931
Mishima's fascist ideas developed near the end of his career, so they're not necessarily formed here.
The Temple represents beauty. Whether pre-war japan also represented beauty is a separate consideration.
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>>7716261
This. It's like analyzing Hitler's landscape paintings with Mein Kampf in mind. Mishima's early work is mostly autobiography like Forbidden Colors and Confessions. Golden Pavilion is significant because it's one of the first where he's projecting his ideas about beauty, which is THE major theme in his work, onto events that happened.
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