turned transparent, I put a hand on the table and watched it as I turned it over a few times.” The second time that checks the existence of his hand to confirm his Tōru existence is when he is in the well. were my hands and my cheeks. I see “There couldn’t them in the dark, but they were still here: my body still The darkness of the well existed.” swallows visibility of body and therefore swallows grip on existence. one’s one’s Tōru describes how strange it is to confirm existence without being able to see it: something’s was the strangest thing not to be able to see my own body with my own eyes, thought “It I knew it must be there. Staying very still in the darkness, I became less and less convinced of the fact that I existed.” Another reference to looking at his hands comes after being in the well for a night, completely shut in (which is May experiences the Kasahara’s doing). Tōru supernatural in which he passes through the walls of the well into a labyrinthine hotel. After this experience, he finds that he has a purple mark on his cheek that seems to pulse with a life of its own. This mark on his face is the first visible sign of the subconscious that can be seen in the conscious realm; for Murakami, the subconscious is something organic and alive. Days after the incident, states: seemed to be growing more Tōru “I distant from myself with each day that went by. If I stared at my hand for a while, I would begin to feel that I was looking through it.” Tateno Hideo suggests that it is through pain that these characters try to reassure themselves of their existence. His strongest example of this is when early on in the novel, goes to Hokkaido on a business trip. On the phone Kumiko tells him that she has Tōru had an abortion, the decision hers alone. The news he goes into a bar to try upsets Tōru;
turned transparent, I put a hand on the table and watched it as I turned it over a few times.” The second time that Tōru checks the existence of his hand to confirm his existence is when he is in the well. “There were my hands and my cheeks. I couldn’t see them in the dark, but they were still here: my body still existed.” The darkness of the well swallows visibility of one’s body and therefore swallows one’s grip on existence. Tōru describes how strange it is to confirm something’s existence without being able to see it: “It was the strangest thing not to be able to see my own body with my own eyes, thought I knew it must be there. Staying very still in the darkness, I became less and less convinced of the fact that I existed.” Another reference to looking at his hands comes after being in the well for a night, completely shut in (which is May Kasahara’s doing). Tōru experiences the supernatural in which he passes through the walls of the well into a labyrinthine hotel. After this experience, he finds that he has a purple mark on his cheek that seems to pulse with a life of its own. This mark on his face is the first visible sign of the subconscious that can be seen in the conscious realm; for Murakami, the subconscious is something organic and alive. Days after the incident, Tōru states: “I seemed to be growing more distant from myself with each day that went by. If I stared at my hand for a while, I would begin to feel that I was looking through it.” Tateno Hideo suggests that it is through pain that these characters try to reassure themselves of their existence. His strongest example of this is when early on in the novel, Tōru goes to Hokkaido on a business trip. On the phone Kumiko tells him that she has had an abortion, the decision hers alone. The news upsets Tōru; he goes into a bar to try
garguilo_thesis.docx