internal fate, which is referred to as a feels like been sandstorm: “‘…it everything’s decided in advance-that following a path somebody else has already mapped out for I’m me. It how much I think things I try, the more I lose my doesn’t matter over…the harder sense of who I am. like my an orbit that far away It’s identity’s I’ve strayed from.’” The internal map that Kafka feels somebody has etched in him refers not only to the omen; this is also metaphor for the identity that postmodern Japanese Murakami’s society tries to distribute to its citizens. Kafka is not alone in feeling that it is fate and not his actual self that is steering his life. Hoshino, too, feels similar like sentiments. “‘…it’s fate decided everything. The only one who had a clue has been In this case, me.’” hasn’t fate can be interpreted as societal constrictions, and therefore a criticism of the system. In addition to a harsh sprinkling of criticism of the Japanese police, to which Hoshino refers as gangsters who get paid by the there are several examples in which “just state,” Murakami writes of protagonists trying to break free from Japanese societal conventions. For example, Hoshino is described as man who became a truck driver because “…he knew he stand a regular company job, commuting to a dingy office every couldn’t morning only to have a boss watch his every move like a This counters the hawk.” conventional idea in Japanese culture that all men want to become a or サラリーマン, white-collar worker (Of course, this refusal to conform is also reflected in Murakami’s personal life.). Another example of a character living an unorthodox life is Sada, brother, who describes to Kafka how he changed his fate: was working at a Ōshima’s “‘I big ad agency in Tokyo. I stand it so I Both couldn’t quit…and started surfing.’” characters refused the ready-made identities handed to them by Japanese society, and instead chose their own paths. Through these examples, Murakami is advocating a life
internal fate, which is referred to as a sandstorm: “‘…it feels like everything’s been decided in advance-that I’m following a path somebody else has already mapped out for me. It doesn’t matter how much I think things over…the harder I try, the more I lose my sense of who I am. It’s like my identity’s an orbit that I’ve strayed far away from.’” The internal map that Kafka feels somebody has etched in him refers not only to the omen; this is also Murakami’s metaphor for the identity that postmodern Japanese society tries to distribute to its citizens. Kafka is not alone in feeling that it is fate and not his actual self that is steering his life. Hoshino, too, feels similar sentiments. “‘…it’s like fate decided everything. The only one who hasn’t had a clue has been me.’” In this case, fate can be interpreted as societal constrictions, and therefore a criticism of the system. In addition to a harsh sprinkling of criticism of the Japanese police, to which Hoshino refers as “just gangsters who get paid by the state,” there are several examples in which Murakami writes of protagonists trying to break free from Japanese societal conventions. For example, Hoshino is described as man who became a truck driver because “…he knew he couldn’t stand a regular company job, commuting to a dingy office every morning only to have a boss watch his every move like a hawk.” This counters the conventional idea in Japanese culture that all men want to become a サラリーマン, or white-collar worker (Of course, this refusal to conform is also reflected in Murakami’s personal life.). Another example of a character living an unorthodox life is Sada, Ōshima’s brother, who describes to Kafka how he changed his fate: “‘I was working at a big ad agency in Tokyo. I couldn’t stand it so I quit…and started surfing.’” Both characters refused the ready-made identities handed to them by Japanese society, and instead chose their own paths. Through these examples, Murakami is advocating a life
garguilo_thesis.docx