0 reactions
Analysis on Kafka on the Shore
I finished reading Kafka on the Shore the other day...and wow, never read a book like it! It's truly a work of art and I think trying to rationalize it takes away from the fluid interpretations we can all take from the story that very much feels like a riddle. Let me know if you guys agree / what your thoughts are!
1. Our Other Half - the one who frees our spirit: I believe this was a theme introduced early on in the story by Oshima when he talks about finding our other half or our lover. I think Murakami plays with this concept and expands on it in his own way. What if our other half was just a perfect match to fill the inner void that we feel in the physical world and liberate our spirits? I think it's a concept observed in the relationship between Kafka and Miss Saeki. Kafka and Miss Saeki, albeit being completely different stages of life, are very similar. They both shared the sentiment of wanting to desperately leave their physical bodies. And it's because they both have their own deeply rooted pains, desires, traumas that they are merely coping with in the physical reality, but not truly able to find closure or peace with. Kafka and the abandonment of his mother. Miss Saeki and the loss of her lover. There is a sense of feeling trapped in the physical body and wanting to get out because they want to find closure in themselves deep down, but can't. Trauma is a physical burden. And it is when they find each other, have sex, etc. that they are able to finally free each other. Miss Saeki was having sex not with Crow, but with her lover, and Kafka was having sex with, not necessarily Miss Saeki, but his mother who abandoned him. 2 different projections making love to each other. And ultimately, this symbiotic relationship culminates into their final scene when Kafka and Miss Saeki meet spiritually and Kafka finally gets closure and an apology from his mother. Remember - we're seeing things from Kafka's perspective, so just because in his eyes Miss Saeki is his mother, doesn't mean it's true. In this book, everything is a metaphor and everything is an ambiguous projection of what all the characters see. But ultimately, both of them are able to find closure in their traumas because they both enabled each other to do so.
2. Our perception of reality/fate is a projection of our experiences - There are 2 huge repeated concepts here: memories and fate. I think Murakami wanted each character to portray the nuances of both concepts in different ways. With Kafka, his memories serve as a means of projecting his inner enigmas onto his understanding of reality and his fate. Obviously, his past involves getting abandoned by his mother and sister, and ironically, it's a trauma he is trying to run away from all while letting his trauma guide his understanding of all that is happening to him. Miss Saeki and Sakura are characters that are never confirmed to be his mother and sister, but we are made to think so because we are reading from Kafka's perspective (the first perspective was very intentional), but the truth is, Murakami wants reality to be a continuous, ambiguous projection throughout the whole story. It's also why the death of Johnny Walker is also the death of Kafka's father. We don't know if he actually is, but we presume it to be because its Kafka's projection. But from Nakata's POV, it's Johnny Walker, a serial cat killer. Now what's interesting is Nakata is a juxtaposition of Kafka - he has no memories, no experiences to project onto his reality. That's why it's a bit funny that Johnny Walker is a serial cat killer. It's supposed to be Nakata's projection - the only meaning he really found in his lonely life was the companionship and ability to speak with cats. So he projects that when seeing Johnny Walker. And ultimately, fate plays out, again, as a messy, ambiguous projection of all the characters at the same time. I feel Murakami did this intentionally and there isn't much point trying to rationalize the plot and whether Johnny Walker is really Kafka's dad. There are always 2 realms - reality and our understanding of reality. I think that is the distinction Murakami wants to illustrate - and the convergence of the 2 are a common motif in the book.
3. Our memories tie us to the physical world and our projections - This is more of an elaboration from the last point. But again, I think there are a lot of illustrated nuances of what memories mean to us and our existence. A big theme here is memories are proof of our existence in the physical world; it's what ties us here and it influences our understanding of reality. There is another juxtaposition between Kafka and Nakata here. Nakata has no memories and he has a unique quality - he is one of the only characters able to find novelty in the complete simple things of life, experiencing them as they are (while Kafka poetically experiences the world through the lens of his feelings). Nakata's presence is espscially vivid in the scene where he sat on a bench and took in the ocean breeze. And it's because he lost his memories and has no concept of the world, he can truly live in the present moment and perceive reality as it is because there is no projection. And ironically, that makes him one of the most spiritual characters in the book. It's why he has no full shadow (he has spiritual, lacks physical aka his memories) and all these supernatural powers. It's all a metaphor to illustrate that it is our memories and our projections that are proof of our ties to the physical world. If you also notice, it's why Hoshino develops as a character after meeting Nakata - jazz becomes that thing that he can simply enjoy for what it is and find novelty in. I also believe it's why Kafka specifically mentions being able to see his shadow so clearly after finding closure around the abandonment of his mom - he is no longer living in the past because he has found peace in it, he isn't hollow anymore. No more projections onwards; he has found his full self, his physical and spiritual self. And it's also why Miss Saeki also mentioned how she couldn't see her shadow either when talking with Nakata (she was living in the past since losing her lover, hollow). Ultimately, it is all a metaphor to say - our memories tie us to the physical world and are proof of our existence - but if we depend on them too much, we lose touch with our spirituality and we are unable to experience the world for what it is rather than a mere projection. I think this theme is reaffirmed in the end when Oshima tells Kafka that everything in the world is a metaphor (a projection, a means of understanding), but the library is the library (appreciating it for exactly what it is and what it was). Perhaps our shadows are projections of our full selves the same way - our physical and our spiritual self.
4. Crow - a symbol for our inner monologue - So I believe Crow operates like Kafka's alter-ego, or perhaps an inner voice that keeps him grounded in the midst of all the tribulations he experiences with fate and lingering effects of the past. It is unique to Kafka in the story, but I think Murakami meant to suggest it as a universal element of being human with our own inner voice and monologues to make sense of our world. And that voice is shaped by our ego. Kafka's voice happened to consistently remind to be the strongest 15 year old boy because that's what matters to him most.
5. Living Spirits and our Cruelty - An interesting idea introduced by Oshima was the concept of living spirits and how different embodiments of a person exist while they're still alive. And how often living spirits can be birthed from negative emotions. When we observe the murder of Kafka's father / Johnny Walker, we're concurrently witnessing the living spirits of Kafka and Nakata manifesting. Both blindly commit this murder - Kafka wasn't physically there, but perhaps it was his living spirit that was. And Nakata does it blindly and wakes up out of nowhere all after doing it, as if he wasn't even conscious of it. I think this idea of living spirits is a metaphor for our inner shadows, parts of ourselves that we suppress and are afraid to confront because it means navigating past our own traumas and vulnerabilities to do so. That shadow self is a fragile part of ourselves that guide our actions and it embodies our deepest, unconscious desires. We especially get to see this with Kafka as he manifests his deepest, cruel desires - killing his father and deeply sexualizing his mother and sister. Our cruelty is born from our shadow selves, our living spirits.
6. The Cabin, the forest, and the spiritual word are a metaphor for healing - I really enjoyed the scenes of Kafka's solitude in the cabin. The cabin is a symbol of respite from the chaos of life and fate. Sometimes, it's important to pause and reflect and take in our surroundings. There was always an element of serenity when Kafka was in the cabin. And each time he was there, he was more in tune with himself and nature. I think it was all an intentional build up for Kafka to prepare for entering the spiritual world and confronting his deeper self. The cabin is a realistic symbol of the necessary solitude and respite needed to be ready for the real battle - going deep into our labyrinths and confronting our deeper self. And when Kafka is going deeper in the forest, he is going deeper within himself. And I think the soldiers were a fun little projection of his. Eventually, when Kafka is in the spiritual world, there is a reason why he imagined the 15 year old girl taking care of him. Ultimately, this is the world, the desire he was too scared of admitting underneath all the trauma. Underneath all the coping and desire to control his destiny by having sex with his mother and sister, was a boy who just wanted to be loved by a mother and sister. And he didn't age in this world because our deep rooted desires and traumas do not age like we do. They are always a part of us and we must live with them. They become a fundamental part of who we are. But we can still find peace in them and that Kafka did when seeing Miss Saeki (an embodiment of his mother) in that world and taking her blood, accepting her symbolic apology, full dramatic closure. Very Murakami.
7. Killing the Goo in Nakata is Closure Upon Death - I believe the goo was what made Nakata lose his memories, give him his supernatural powers, etc. And Hoshino was the one to kill it, because metaphorically, it signifies how Hoshino was the first person to liberate Nakata from his curse of feeling separated from humanity because of what happened to him. After Nakata experienced a real human connection with someone, and was able to die in peace after that, killing that supernatural goo was the last thing to add the cherry on top and put an end to Nakata's story. It's why the cat said he wouldn't be able to rest in peace if it wasn't killed. I believe it was Murakami's way of showing - as much as Nakata helped change Hoshino, Hoshino also did the same for Nakata by being the first to show him camaraderie, love, friendship. And in spite of him having no memories, he gave him some before he died. And in a way, that was enough to affirm Nakata's humanity and tie to the physical world, hence why the supernatural goo was killed. It's a beautiful irony. When people die, it's there entrance to the spiritual world. But for Nakata, it was his entrance to the human / physical world...because he was finally able to die with memories of his own :')
Alright thats it! That was a lot to write, but those were my personal takeaways. It was a lovely story meant to have a unique interpretation for each person. I believe Murakami wanted this book to be like a riddle so we all could project our own selves onto our understanding of the story...just like the characters did :)
#entertainment
source
I finished reading Kafka on the Shore the other day...and wow, never read a book like it! It's truly a work of art and I think trying to rationalize it takes away from the fluid interpretations we can all take from the story that very much feels like a riddle. Let me know if you guys agree / what your thoughts are!
1. Our Other Half - the one who frees our spirit: I believe this was a theme introduced early on in the story by Oshima when he talks about finding our other half or our lover. I think Murakami plays with this concept and expands on it in his own way. What if our other half was just a perfect match to fill the inner void that we feel in the physical world and liberate our spirits? I think it's a concept observed in the relationship between Kafka and Miss Saeki. Kafka and Miss Saeki, albeit being completely different stages of life, are very similar. They both shared the sentiment of wanting to desperately leave their physical bodies. And it's because they both have their own deeply rooted pains, desires, traumas that they are merely coping with in the physical reality, but not truly able to find closure or peace with. Kafka and the abandonment of his mother. Miss Saeki and the loss of her lover. There is a sense of feeling trapped in the physical body and wanting to get out because they want to find closure in themselves deep down, but can't. Trauma is a physical burden. And it is when they find each other, have sex, etc. that they are able to finally free each other. Miss Saeki was having sex not with Crow, but with her lover, and Kafka was having sex with, not necessarily Miss Saeki, but his mother who abandoned him. 2 different projections making love to each other. And ultimately, this symbiotic relationship culminates into their final scene when Kafka and Miss Saeki meet spiritually and Kafka finally gets closure and an apology from his mother. Remember - we're seeing things from Kafka's perspective, so just because in his eyes Miss Saeki is his mother, doesn't mean it's true. In this book, everything is a metaphor and everything is an ambiguous projection of what all the characters see. But ultimately, both of them are able to find closure in their traumas because they both enabled each other to do so.
2. Our perception of reality/fate is a projection of our experiences - There are 2 huge repeated concepts here: memories and fate. I think Murakami wanted each character to portray the nuances of both concepts in different ways. With Kafka, his memories serve as a means of projecting his inner enigmas onto his understanding of reality and his fate. Obviously, his past involves getting abandoned by his mother and sister, and ironically, it's a trauma he is trying to run away from all while letting his trauma guide his understanding of all that is happening to him. Miss Saeki and Sakura are characters that are never confirmed to be his mother and sister, but we are made to think so because we are reading from Kafka's perspective (the first perspective was very intentional), but the truth is, Murakami wants reality to be a continuous, ambiguous projection throughout the whole story. It's also why the death of Johnny Walker is also the death of Kafka's father. We don't know if he actually is, but we presume it to be because its Kafka's projection. But from Nakata's POV, it's Johnny Walker, a serial cat killer. Now what's interesting is Nakata is a juxtaposition of Kafka - he has no memories, no experiences to project onto his reality. That's why it's a bit funny that Johnny Walker is a serial cat killer. It's supposed to be Nakata's projection - the only meaning he really found in his lonely life was the companionship and ability to speak with cats. So he projects that when seeing Johnny Walker. And ultimately, fate plays out, again, as a messy, ambiguous projection of all the characters at the same time. I feel Murakami did this intentionally and there isn't much point trying to rationalize the plot and whether Johnny Walker is really Kafka's dad. There are always 2 realms - reality and our understanding of reality. I think that is the distinction Murakami wants to illustrate - and the convergence of the 2 are a common motif in the book.
3. Our memories tie us to the physical world and our projections - This is more of an elaboration from the last point. But again, I think there are a lot of illustrated nuances of what memories mean to us and our existence. A big theme here is memories are proof of our existence in the physical world; it's what ties us here and it influences our understanding of reality. There is another juxtaposition between Kafka and Nakata here. Nakata has no memories and he has a unique quality - he is one of the only characters able to find novelty in the complete simple things of life, experiencing them as they are (while Kafka poetically experiences the world through the lens of his feelings). Nakata's presence is espscially vivid in the scene where he sat on a bench and took in the ocean breeze. And it's because he lost his memories and has no concept of the world, he can truly live in the present moment and perceive reality as it is because there is no projection. And ironically, that makes him one of the most spiritual characters in the book. It's why he has no full shadow (he has spiritual, lacks physical aka his memories) and all these supernatural powers. It's all a metaphor to illustrate that it is our memories and our projections that are proof of our ties to the physical world. If you also notice, it's why Hoshino develops as a character after meeting Nakata - jazz becomes that thing that he can simply enjoy for what it is and find novelty in. I also believe it's why Kafka specifically mentions being able to see his shadow so clearly after finding closure around the abandonment of his mom - he is no longer living in the past because he has found peace in it, he isn't hollow anymore. No more projections onwards; he has found his full self, his physical and spiritual self. And it's also why Miss Saeki also mentioned how she couldn't see her shadow either when talking with Nakata (she was living in the past since losing her lover, hollow). Ultimately, it is all a metaphor to say - our memories tie us to the physical world and are proof of our existence - but if we depend on them too much, we lose touch with our spirituality and we are unable to experience the world for what it is rather than a mere projection. I think this theme is reaffirmed in the end when Oshima tells Kafka that everything in the world is a metaphor (a projection, a means of understanding), but the library is the library (appreciating it for exactly what it is and what it was). Perhaps our shadows are projections of our full selves the same way - our physical and our spiritual self.
4. Crow - a symbol for our inner monologue - So I believe Crow operates like Kafka's alter-ego, or perhaps an inner voice that keeps him grounded in the midst of all the tribulations he experiences with fate and lingering effects of the past. It is unique to Kafka in the story, but I think Murakami meant to suggest it as a universal element of being human with our own inner voice and monologues to make sense of our world. And that voice is shaped by our ego. Kafka's voice happened to consistently remind to be the strongest 15 year old boy because that's what matters to him most.
5. Living Spirits and our Cruelty - An interesting idea introduced by Oshima was the concept of living spirits and how different embodiments of a person exist while they're still alive. And how often living spirits can be birthed from negative emotions. When we observe the murder of Kafka's father / Johnny Walker, we're concurrently witnessing the living spirits of Kafka and Nakata manifesting. Both blindly commit this murder - Kafka wasn't physically there, but perhaps it was his living spirit that was. And Nakata does it blindly and wakes up out of nowhere all after doing it, as if he wasn't even conscious of it. I think this idea of living spirits is a metaphor for our inner shadows, parts of ourselves that we suppress and are afraid to confront because it means navigating past our own traumas and vulnerabilities to do so. That shadow self is a fragile part of ourselves that guide our actions and it embodies our deepest, unconscious desires. We especially get to see this with Kafka as he manifests his deepest, cruel desires - killing his father and deeply sexualizing his mother and sister. Our cruelty is born from our shadow selves, our living spirits.
6. The Cabin, the forest, and the spiritual word are a metaphor for healing - I really enjoyed the scenes of Kafka's solitude in the cabin. The cabin is a symbol of respite from the chaos of life and fate. Sometimes, it's important to pause and reflect and take in our surroundings. There was always an element of serenity when Kafka was in the cabin. And each time he was there, he was more in tune with himself and nature. I think it was all an intentional build up for Kafka to prepare for entering the spiritual world and confronting his deeper self. The cabin is a realistic symbol of the necessary solitude and respite needed to be ready for the real battle - going deep into our labyrinths and confronting our deeper self. And when Kafka is going deeper in the forest, he is going deeper within himself. And I think the soldiers were a fun little projection of his. Eventually, when Kafka is in the spiritual world, there is a reason why he imagined the 15 year old girl taking care of him. Ultimately, this is the world, the desire he was too scared of admitting underneath all the trauma. Underneath all the coping and desire to control his destiny by having sex with his mother and sister, was a boy who just wanted to be loved by a mother and sister. And he didn't age in this world because our deep rooted desires and traumas do not age like we do. They are always a part of us and we must live with them. They become a fundamental part of who we are. But we can still find peace in them and that Kafka did when seeing Miss Saeki (an embodiment of his mother) in that world and taking her blood, accepting her symbolic apology, full dramatic closure. Very Murakami.
7. Killing the Goo in Nakata is Closure Upon Death - I believe the goo was what made Nakata lose his memories, give him his supernatural powers, etc. And Hoshino was the one to kill it, because metaphorically, it signifies how Hoshino was the first person to liberate Nakata from his curse of feeling separated from humanity because of what happened to him. After Nakata experienced a real human connection with someone, and was able to die in peace after that, killing that supernatural goo was the last thing to add the cherry on top and put an end to Nakata's story. It's why the cat said he wouldn't be able to rest in peace if it wasn't killed. I believe it was Murakami's way of showing - as much as Nakata helped change Hoshino, Hoshino also did the same for Nakata by being the first to show him camaraderie, love, friendship. And in spite of him having no memories, he gave him some before he died. And in a way, that was enough to affirm Nakata's humanity and tie to the physical world, hence why the supernatural goo was killed. It's a beautiful irony. When people die, it's there entrance to the spiritual world. But for Nakata, it was his entrance to the human / physical world...because he was finally able to die with memories of his own :')
Alright thats it! That was a lot to write, but those were my personal takeaways. It was a lovely story meant to have a unique interpretation for each person. I believe Murakami wanted this book to be like a riddle so we all could project our own selves onto our understanding of the story...just like the characters did :)
#entertainment
source
| 16,000 mlx | |
| 18 | |
| 0 |