Mizoguchi has been mentally troubled since he witnessed his mother'sinfidelity in the presence of his dying father. Mizoguchi feels utterlyabandoned and alone until he becomes a priest at Kinka-kuji, a famousBuddhist temple in Kyoto. Failing in his quest to find the warmth ofhuman companionship in the temple, the young man, tormented bythe temple's exquisite beauty, decides to destroy himself and all heloves. He feels he cannot live in peace as long as the temple exists.Mizoguchi, like many other troubled Mishima heroes, becomesobsessed with unattainable ideals.The Temple of the Golden Pavilion reflects Mishima's preoccupations withbeauty and death in a clear and unmistakable manner. It is also anexcellent example of a theme that frequently arises in Mishima's work:the resentment of the object of desire. Because this novel, arguablyMishima's best, reflects the author's suicidal tendencies, it also offers usinsight into one of the twentieth century's greatest and most complexliterary icons.