Temple of the Golden Pavilion Chapter 8

Mizoguchi feels that by destroying the Golden Temple he will be showing people that it is senseless to suggest that something, in this case the temple, can live on forever because nothing lives forever. When Mizoguchi is with the police officer, he says that he could still refrain from burning down the temple and choose to live live like the young officer, but then he concludes that the only way to start a new life is to burn down the temple. Perhaps Mizoguchi feels this way because he believes that once he burns down the temple his mind will be set free and he will be able to start over. I think Mizoguchi no longer feels any fear or threat from his mother because once he devises his plan to burn the temple he obtains a feeling of strength and power because he alone has the will and plan to destroy something so sacred and beautiful. he starts to be nice to everyone at the temple because he knows that one day they will all be in shock when he destroys the temple. Mizoguchi practically gives up in school because he knows that his education will not alter the outcome of his future because he already knows that he will never be the priest that he set out to be. I think Mizoguchi wants the other school boy to burn down the gate because he wants to be able to relate to someone he suspects deals with the same inner struggles as he does. He is greatly disappointed in the fact that the other boy is only mischievous because he wants to sneak a cigarette. Kashiwagi's plan to go to the superior for the money actually works out very well for Mizoguchi because he is relieved of his debt and of his duties to the temple. Mizoguchi believes that he should have gratitude to Kashiwagi because he made Mizoguchi's plan to burn the temple become more final in that he is forced to set a date to burn the temple before he is thrown out. It was surprising to hear that Tsurukawa committed suicide because he always seemed to be a very happy, positive individual.