Line #12 Literature/TheThousandAutumnsOfJacobDeZoet


1	[[quoteright:181:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thousand_autumns.jpg]]
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3	The year is 1799 and Jacob de Zoet, a young clerk at the Dutch East India Company, intends to make his fortune. He plans to stay in Dejima (the man-made island where the Dutch traded with the Japanese) for a single year and earn his fortune so he can marry his fiancee Anna. However, while he is there, he meets an unusual young woman with a burned face by the name of Orito Aibagawa. The daughter of a {{samurai}} and a midwife, she's studying medicine under Dr. Marinus and Jacob becomes quite attracted to her and Orito seems to reciprocate his affections.
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5	However, after a series of twists and turns, both Jacob and Orito end up in serious trouble and soon more lives than theirs rest on the choices they make....
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7	This is the fifth novel by Creator/{{David Mitchell\|Author}}. It was published in 2010 and is a current New York Times Hardcover Bestseller. Well worth reading.
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9	----
10	!! This book provides examples of:
11	* BeingGoodSucks: The novel is one long example of Jacob being unrewarded (at best) and punished (at worst) for his honesty. While his integrity does eventually earn him enough respect that [[spoiler: he is unanimously elected president of the short-lived Republic of Dejima and has a respectable tenure as Chief Resident]] that just means more responsibility to shoulder with little in the way of reward.
12	%%* BittersweetEnding: Could also be a DownerEnding, depending on how the reader views it.
13	* ButtMonkey: Jacob suffers a long string of humiliations, especially in Part 1 ([[ItMakesSenseInContext getting smoke blown up his rectum with enough pressure to force the turd-scented gas out of his mouth]] being a standout moment) but his ability to tolerate it in good grace is one factor that eventually leads to the respect he deserves.
14	* TheCaptain: Penhaligon of [[MeaningfulName The Phoebus]].
15	* CharacterDevelopment: Jacob matures considerably, going from a naive young man who is exploited by everyone to someone greatly respected, and Orito Aibagawa learns to let go of her (totally justified) fury at her life's injustices.
16	* TheChessmaster: Enomoto earmarked [[spoiler: Orito]] for service years before, and guaranteed her father's loans in preparation for the day he could claim her as payment.
17	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Even the more sympathetic Dutch characters keep slaves, keeping Japanese courtesans as 'wives' is common practice and all half-Japanese, half-Dutch children are under the jurisdiction of the Nagasaki magistrate for their entire lives and cannot leave Dejima without his permission.
18	* DeusExMachina: Penhaligon stops firing on Dijima because [[spoiler: Jacob's red hair reminds him of his son.]] Possibly [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by the fact that Jacob is reciting [[Literature/BookOfPsalms the 23 Psalm]] at the time.
19	* DidNotGetTheGirl: [[spoiler: Jacob's]] longed-for romance with [[spoiler: Orito]] never blossoms, even with the most obvious obstacles removed.
20	%%* DrJerk: Marinus is by no means pleasant, but he is a man of fierce principles.
21	%%* EatsBabies: Yeah, [[spoiler: Enomoto]] is just that evil.
22	* FalseFriend: [[spoiler: Shuzai is in the pay of Lord Enomoto, as Ogawa discovers right before Enomoto executes him.]]
23	* HonorBeforeReason: The titular character. Contrasted with several other characters in the book. Also applies to Aibagawa when she [[spoiler: has a chance to escape Shiranui shrine, but goes back for the sake of Yayoi and her twins]]
24	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Ogawa facilitates Jacob's proposal to Orito because it would be much better for her than any of the alternatives, [[spoiler: although Orito is ultimately captured before she can agree.]]
25	** Jacob later shows this attitude himself.
26	%%* IndyPloy: Jacob towards the end has to rely on these.
27	* {{Jerkass}}: Peter Fischer shows many contemptible qualities and not a single redeeming one throughout the entire book.
28	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Enomoto truly believes he is 600 years old himself, and is subtly shown removing the life force from small animals, but since supernatural elements are otherwise absent from the extremely realistic novel, and these are never directly stated to be true by other people than Enomoto - whom is decidedly nuts - the question of the truth in his words remain unanswered.
29	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The ''Phoebus'' arc of the British ship under Captain John Penhaligon is clearly based on the ''HMS Phaeton'' Incident in Nagasaki harbor in 1808, though certain differences are clear. The main parts, that a British ship arrives in Nagasaki under Dutch flag, captures representatives of the Dutch, and unsuccessfully tries to bargain with the Japanese and Dutch before [[spoiler: leaving without combat, followed by the suicide of the Nagasaki magistrate]], are unchanged. The primary differences are the character of the British captain: The real captain Fleetwood Pellew was actually an 18 year old blood knight with a power career, while the captain from the novel is an old tired man, primarily concerned with his retirement. De Zoet is however clearly based on Hendrik Doeff, the Dutch commander at the time of the incident, and the Japanese faces similar problems with lack of preparation on understaffing, though [[spoiler: the novel provides a different reason for the magistrates suicide.]] Also, the British never bombed Dejima in real life, and was not interested in negotiating with the Japanese for trade relations, but merely plundering Dutch ships in the harbor.
30	* OutGambitted: [[spoiler: Ogawa]] loses badly due to placing too much trust in his teacher, and is beaten with little effort by [[spoiler: Enomoto]] who later loses spectacularly himself.
31	%%* PeopleFarms: What [[spoiler: Enomoto's monastery]] turns out to be.
32	* TheReliableOne: Jacob's principled tolerance of his previous ButtMonkey status eventually gets him seen as this, and is the man both the Dutch and Japanese turn to when [[spoiler: a British incursion happens out of the blue]].
33	* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: Jacob turns down a very promising career for the sake of his principles. Everyone who hears thinks he's an idiot for it, but it does earn him a reputation as TheReliableOne in Dejima.
34	* {{Seppuku}}: Subverted. [[spoiler: Enomoto]] thinks that [[spoiler:Shiroyama]] is intending to commit seppuku. Instead, [[spoiler:Shiroyama]] poisons himself, his (willing) chamberlain and [[spoiler: Enomoto]]
35	* SmugSnake: Peter Fischer is nowhere near as competent as he thinks he is, and glories in any opportunity to boast or abuse his underlings. Snitker is the same, but does have some PetTheDog moments, while Fischer is just a complete ass.
36	* ThisIsUnforgivable: [[spoiler: The magistrate Shiroyama]] says this to [[spoiler: Enomoto]] as they're both dying.
37	* TitleDrop: In chapter 29, of Mitchell's previous work: "like an atlas of clouds".
38	* TouchOfDeath:[[spoiler: Enomoto]] has the unnerving ability to remove the "ki" from lesser creatures, effectively killing them instantly.
39	* TheVerse: A subtle, easily-missed example-- the minor character Satsuki Miyake mentions that she hails from the small island of Yakushima, hinting that she's a distant ancestor of Eiji Miyake, the protagonist of Mitchell's 2001 novel ''number9dream'', who also comes from Yakushima.
40	** Marinus also appears in Mitchell's follow up, ''Literature/TheBoneClocks'' [[spoiler: where it is revealed that he is an immortal that is reincarnated into new bodies after death. Marinus also lets drop in that book that he once encountered a mysterious monk in Nagasaki who was found to be using a rudimentary [[SoulEating psycho-decanter]]. It's similar to the Chapel of the Dusk of the Blind Cathar, but ''far'' less dangerous.]]
41	** [[spoiler: The last chapter has Jacob ride back to his home country aboard the “Profetes,” with a servant named “Boerhaave.” This is the same ship that appears in Cloud Atlas during “The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing,” where it is named the Prophetess and where Boerhaave has graduated to first mate]]
42	** Con Twomey is revealed to be [[spoiler: actually named Muntervary, an Irish debtor and convict who escaped to Dejima after killing a British officer. His fate is left unstated, but Mitchell's first novel ''Literature/GhostWritten'' prominently features an Irish scientist named Mo Muntervary.]]
43	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: [[spoiler:Unico Vorstenbosch]] by the end of part one and [[spoiler: Lord Abbot Enomoto]] until his KarmicDeath.
44	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: If the report Jacob receives is any indication, Enomoto kills [[spoiler: Shuzai and the ten mercenaries]] after they deliver [[spoiler: Ogawa]] to him. Jacob's perfectly reasonable fear of this happening to the Dutch staff a few years down the line is also one of his main reasons for not [[spoiler: surrendering to Penhaligon]].

Context Literature / TheThousandAutumnsOfJacobDeZoet