Major Themes
The book explores the history and atmosphere of the early Showa Period and also of the Meiji Period through Isao's increasing obsession with the League of the Divine Wind, a group that attempted an insurrection in Kumamoto in October 1876, eight years after the Meiji Restoration, in reaction to the prohibition of the wearing of swords.
It also discusses the Wang Yangming school of thought (according to which, "to know and not to act is not truly to know"), espoused in Japan by Chusai Oshio, a rebel who died in 1837 while leading an insurrection in Osaka.
Isao's final acts are to a certain extent nihilistic because he performs them after he has become aware of their falsehood and futility. In other words, it is a much more profound kind of suicide than the one he had been planning.
The book explores the boundary between atheism and religious belief by presenting Honda with seeming evidence of reincarnation and exploring his emotional responses. The religions of Buddhism and Shinto are contrasted.
Read more about this topic: Runaway Horses
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