Chapter Five Summary

Chapter Five marks the end of Rodrigues' letters and the story is now told in the third-person narrative. Rodrigues is taken to a small hut on the outskirts of a village. Here he meets a small group of peasants who have also been captured. Rodrigues talks with the peasants and learns that they are Christians. One of the women offers the priest a cucumber to eat and tells him about each of the other prisoners.

A samurai arrives and questions the peasants before having them taken away by the guards. The samurai then turns to Rodrigues and tells the priest that the fate of the peasants rests with him. If Rodrigues will apostatize then the men and women will be set free; however, if the priest refuses, the prisoners will be tortured. Rodrigues is then pushed into the small hut that...