be there. She and Kafka have consummated their relationship, and he has unexpectedly fallen in love with her. Miss story is that of heartbreak and sadness. Having found true love at Saeki’s fifteen, she opened the entrance stone in order to prevent our perfect, private world “‘to from I lose him, so things from the outside destroy our collapsing…so wouldn’t wouldn’t of course I received my The punishment she receives is the world…And punishment.’” loss of both her lover and her identity. At twenty, her lover dies tragically and inanely while away in a university in Tokyo. He dies by the hands of student radicals during the uprisings of the 60s that occurred in Japan when students him for a leader of an “mistook death was totally Murakami is not only suggesting that opposing faction…His pointless.” his death was pointless, but the counterrevolution itself was meaningless for it accomplished nothing. When talks of of Ōshima “‘Narrow minds devoid off from reality, empty terminology, usurped imagination…Intolerance, theories cut Murakami is also speaking of the countercultural uprising, ideals, inflexible systems,’” which was nothing but empty words, and was no better than the governmental system it was trying to replace. Of course, the death of Miss lover due to the Saeki’s Zenkyōtō movement is no coincidence on part. He purposely inputs this movement Murakami’s – specific to the Japanese in order to emphasize the loss of identity that his generation – experienced because of its failure. Although Miss Saeki does not lose her identity (half of her shadow) because of the lost ideals of the counterrevolution, she is indirectly affected; at twenty her life stops and her identity disappears because of the death of her lover. In entering this other world, place beyond the flow of Kafka, too, risks “a time,” losing his identity forever. While hiding from the police at cabin, he decides to Ōshima’s
be there. She and Kafka have consummated their relationship, and he has unexpectedly fallen in love with her. Miss Saeki’s story is that of heartbreak and sadness. Having found true love at fifteen, she opened the entrance stone in order to “‘to prevent our perfect, private world from collapsing…so I wouldn’t lose him, so things from the outside wouldn’t destroy our world…And of course I received my punishment.’” The punishment she receives is the loss of both her lover and her identity. At twenty, her lover dies tragically and inanely while away in a university in Tokyo. He dies by the hands of student radicals during the uprisings of the 60s that occurred in Japan when students “mistook him for a leader of an opposing faction…His death was totally pointless.” Murakami is not only suggesting that his death was pointless, but the counterrevolution itself was meaningless for it accomplished nothing. When Ōshima talks of “‘Narrow minds devoid of imagination…Intolerance, theories cut off from reality, empty terminology, usurped ideals, inflexible systems,’” Murakami is also speaking of the countercultural uprising, which was nothing but empty words, and was no better than the governmental system it was trying to replace. Of course, the death of Miss Saeki’s lover due to the Zenkyōtō movement is no coincidence on Murakami’s part. He purposely inputs this movement – specific to the Japanese – in order to emphasize the loss of identity that his generation experienced because of its failure. Although Miss Saeki does not lose her identity (half of her shadow) because of the lost ideals of the counterrevolution, she is indirectly affected; at twenty her life stops and her identity disappears because of the death of her lover. In entering this other world, “a place beyond the flow of time,” Kafka, too, risks losing his identity forever. While hiding from the police at Ōshima’s cabin, he decides to