What Is Kafka on the Shore About

Categories: Haruki Murakami Kafka On The Shore

Essay, Pages 6 (1364 words)

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Kafka on the Shore is a novel set in Japan in which home plays a crucial role. The stereotypical and traditional culture of Japan plays a prevalent role throughout the novel and is a major influence on the characters and their actions. Saturo Nakata has endured many tribulations in his lifetime and the consequences of his home life and the circumstances of his upbringing constantly follow him for the rest of his life until he dies. Murakami defines home as the situation you are brought up in, your upbringing, and one’s home has a continuous impact on an individual, despite whatever the distance may be.

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In Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, Nakata is constantly bombarded and affected by the circumstances of his upbringing which Murakami utilizes in order to exemplify the message of the work through the incompleteness that Nakata experiences: that the lives people live as developed people are a result of their home or the environment in which they grew up, and the home has a great effect on the sense of completeness that someone feels in their life.

Saturo Nakata has accommodated to his lack of contentment in his life, stemming from his childhood trauma, until his eventual death. He has faced much adversity in his life especially as a child which has caused him to constantly search for completeness to fill the gap that was created in his life when he was a child, growing up at his home. Nakata’s home is defined by his upbringing when he is a child, and his home was one that was full of abuse and misfortune which will alter his later life.

He is aware of his circumstances and his inability to do simple things, like when he tells Hoshino “‘Mr. Nakata said he’s empty. Maybe he is, for all I know. … He said an accident when he was little made him that way - empty.’” (Murakami 325). This emptiness that Nakata is experiencing is not a total surprise to him, he is aware of it which is the reasoning behind his quest to find the entrance stone. Nakata believes that by finding the entrance stone, he will finally be sated with his life because he will be complete. The half of his soul that is missing will finally be reunited with the other half of his current body. He has had to live almost his entire life without half of his soul which degraded the quality of his life. Only when he has a complete soul will Nakata be able to live a full life not only because his soul will be physically complete but because Nakata will no longer have to live with the constant reminder of his incompleteness.

Nakata is both spiritually and physically incomplete, with little ability to communicate, and with his inability to read, he lives an arduous life. He is unable to communicate and “Nakata was at a complete loss. He sat there, muttering occasionally, rubbing the top of his close-cropped head. There wasn’t a cat to be seen in the park” (Murakami 184). Nakata’s inability to communicate with people only furthers his sense of incompleteness in his life. This inability to communicate stems from his home, it is due to the accident he had as a young child where after he lived a life where he was alone. Nakata could not deal with all of the hardship present in his life and without a way to express himself, he felt even more incomplete. The ease of life that Nakata once experienced was greatly diminished because of circumstances that took place at his home. Nakata is dependent on his ability to talk to cats because the cats are accepting of Nakata unlike the rest of society that views Nakata as a monster who is unable to fit into the societal mold.

His ability to communicate with cats gives him some feelings of fulfillment and completeness which is why he has somewhat of an attachment to his ability to communicate with cats. Not only is Nakata’s incompleteness a constant part of his life but he is constantly reminded of his home and his upbringing. Nakata, as a child was known for being a bright kid with a tenacity for learning and he was on the path to becoming a successful adult until his accident. When his home life is altered because of the accident, his sense of completeness is taken away. His life was determined by that accident and after he knew that “‘Nakata doesn’t have anybody. Nothing. I’m not connected at all. I can’t read. And my shadow’s only half of what it should be.’” (Murakami 307). His parents tossed him aside when he lost his potential to be the success of the family and they went on to focus on his siblings and their development. Later on in his life, he was discarded even more when his own siblings didn’t look after him and he was alone with no family or friends because of the circumstances of his home and his childhood2. His home, or what was once his home caused the misfortune he experienced and cause the incompleteness he felt in his life.

Nakata is not sated until his death. During is life, he never could find the completeness he so desired even after finding the entrance stone, this is due to his home and his upbringing that would always be a part of him, influencing him in all aspects of life. When he died then he could rest peacefully “ Nakata had passed away calmly in his sleep.” (Murakami 408). Only after his death, could he finally be complete and live the life he desired while he was alive. Death allowed Nakata to be complete so he could forget the circumstances of his childhood and his home. Before in his living life, Nakata was never described in a calm manner. He was always somewhat obsessed with details and the tasks he needed to accomplish which is why his occupation making furniture fit him so well. His childlike mind could not handle too much stimulus and making furniture gave Nakata the opportunity to hone his craft.

One of Nakata’s only companions made the realization of the completeness Nakata felt once the circumstances of his home were gone, Hoshino said “Maybe death would take Nakata back to the way he used to be. When he was alive, he was…. a not-so-bright… Maybe death was the only road back to being the ‘normal Nakata’ he’d always talked about” (Murakami 408). Nakata wanted to be the normal Nakata, the Nakata that was complete and not empty and disregarded by society. When Nakata isn’t constantly bombarded by the negative circumstances of his life, his home, he is able to finally be complete. This sense of completeness was not able to come to him until he could no longer breathe another breath, however, Nakata will be able to finally be whole again. Death was the ultimate solution to Nakata’s problem of incompleteness, he would have never felt the completeness he wanted to because he had lived his whole life never feeling complete. He could never get the time back that he lost.

Nakata has faced trials upon trials until his eventual death. He is continuously reminded of his home life and was affected by it every day which causes him to feel incomplete. This is due to his lack. His lack of social skills, comprehension, reading, etc. Nakata never felt completed and lived the whole latter part of his life searching for completeness because his satisfaction with his life was stripped away from him when he has his accident as a child. This is a constant part of modern day culture, the actions as a child and the circumstances of your home life have a tremendous effect on you as you grow up and develop. It is hard to escape your circumstances, however, when accomplished the real part of life does begin. The life in which you can begin to truly live. It is important to always strive to feel complete and to search for that completeness in life.