Confessions

Confessions is centered on vengeance, and part of that vengeance is casting blame. Sparked by the revelation of Manami’s murder and Moriguchi’s blame of Naoki and Shūya, the novel explores the cyclical nature of blame and revenge as characters seek to shirk responsibility for their actions and exact vengeance for perceived slights, resulting in escalating acts of vengeance.

Moriguchi is the most direct mastermind of the “evil mind games” present in the text (106). Blaming Shūya and Naoki for their murder of her daughter, Moriguchi initially gets revenge by placing Sakuranomi’s blood in their milk. While the true odds of transmitting HIV in this fashion are, as she acknowledges, low, the intended effects are psychological: Ignorant of facts about HIV, the class treats the boys as pariahs and engages in relentless and violent bullying. After Sakuranomi switches the milk, Moriguchi continues her revenge by exploiting Werther’s idolization of Sakuranomi and manipulating his teaching methods to exacerbate their pariah status. However, it is not until Shūya and Naoki both commit matricide that Moriguchi considers her revenge complete. By eliminating their own mothers, she finds closure for the loss of her daughter.

Mrs. Shitamura initially blames Moriguchi for her son’s suffering, declaring a single-parent teacher a bad role model for her son and victim-blaming Moriguchi for her daughter’s murder. In this way, she attempts to absolve herself of any wrongdoing, when in fact Naoki blames her for much of his suffering—too much academic pressure, too much meddling, and too much spoiling him rather than teaching him responsibility. Naoki’s mother’s idea of vengeance is writing letters to the school to complain of slights to her son, eventually succeeding in nominating Werther as Moriguchi’s replacement. In the end, however, Mrs. Shitamura turns the blame on herself for “failing” as a mother, believing the only way forward is to end both her life and Naoki’s.

Naoki assigns blame for his actions first to the tennis coach, whose blunt advice is perceived instead as an insult; then to Moriguchi, who helped him when asked, but not in the form he wanted; and finally, Shūya. Shūya is more complicated for Naoki because Naoki believed in their friendship and was hurt when Shūya rejected him. Manami thus becomes Naoki’s tool for revenge—initially to seek revenge against Moriguchi but also against Shūya. By taking away Shūya’s press coverage (accidentally), Naoki’s vengeance was more successful than he anticipated. However, as their game of one-upmanship continues, Shūya—who blames Naoki for messing up his perfect murder—eventually “wins” by going to school and enduring the bullying that Naoki could not, the knowledge of which further deteriorates Naoki’s mental state.

Shūya assigns blame most readily—to his father’s family for being dull, to Moriguchi for not supporting his inventions, to Naoki for messing up his murder plan, and to the Lunacy girl for stealing his spotlight—but, notably, not to his mother. Though she abused and abandoned him, he still desires her attention, to the point that he kills Mizuki when she is frank about his mother’s abandonment, which he perceives as an “attack.” Shūya’s vengeance against his bullies, Naoki, and Mizuki is straightforward because he has no stakes in it—he is dismissive of all of them and cares little when he succeeds, even unintentionally. It is only his mother that he can’t bear to hurt, Moriguchi points out, and so he hurts everyone else instead. Therefore, when she moves the bomb from Shūya’s school to his mother’s laboratory, she simultaneously completes her vengeance and assists with his own. In this way, the cycle of blame and revenge ends, even if the general suffering does not.

A key theme in Confessions is the failure to anticipate consequences. Werther is a key example: An inexperienced, easily impressionable teacher, he seeks to emulate his idol, Sakuranomi, but only succeeds on a surface level. He tries to befriend his students, but by being overly close to them, he disrespects them. He attempts to end the bullying but only exacerbates it, and his home visits to Naoki fail because he has no real plan to help him. Most importantly, his refusal to read Moriguchi’s notes about the class, if well-intentioned, ultimately seals his fate with the class, as all his subsequent failures stem from this inaction. While the author later reveals Moriguchi’s role in manipulating him, his actions still suggest he did not weigh the merits of following her “advice.”

Naoki’s mother also fails to see the consequences of her actions—specifically, how they affect her son. She spoils him, emulating her own mother, but also expects success—this proves to be an impossible combination given that she never taught him the tools he needs to succeed in life when facing setbacks, only to feel shame when he inevitably fails. Naoki, in turn, does not think of the consequences of murdering Manami, only of the immediate gratification of one-upping Shūya, who had just rejected Naoki’s friendship. Indeed, even when Naoki kills his mother, it results from an emotional outburst.

Shūya is similarly single-minded in his goal to reunite with his mother, though his lack of consideration of consequences stems more from disdain for other people. The fact that none of his classmates—including Naoki—understand the science of his inventions only proves his genius and their stupidity; he distances himself rather than stooping to their level. He therefore feels no remorse in using Moriguchi as a test subject for his shocking coin purse, even though doing so decreases her willingness to sponsor him for the science fair he wants to attend. He doesn’t consider Naoki’s hurt feelings when he rejects the friendship, resulting in his spotlight being dashed via Naoki’s vengeance of dropping Manami in the pool; nor does he consider Moriguchi’s grief or capacity for vengeance when he kills her daughter. He comes close to considering Mizuki’s feelings when he attempts to console her after their forced kiss by proving that he does not have HIV, but he becomes disdainful when she equates her love for him with that of her love for Naoki and pushes too close to the truth about Shūya’s mother. Shūya kills her impulsively but doesn’t plan what to do with her body afterward. While Shūya is brilliant, his inability to understand people or what they are capable of thus contributes to his downfall.

Moriguchi is perhaps the only person to truly consider the consequences of her actions, as she plays the long game, rather than depending on direct, short-term results. While her initial plan fails due to Sakuranomi’s interference, Moriguchi changes tactics by manipulating Werther and, finally, moving the bomb. She expresses regret for the suffering Mizuki faced, however, suggesting that even careful control sometimes results in unintended consequences.