A Protagonist Sequested - Isabella

 Hello Class, 

In this post I will be discussing some parallels between A Wild Sheep Chase, Kafka on the Shore, and IQ84, so please do not continue if you don't want any spoilers! If you have read these books, I would love to hear your thoughts. 

I feel like Murakami has a tendency to sequester his protagonist in the third act of his novels, typically before the big revelation or emotional resolution. In A Wild Sheep Chase, Murakami sequesters Boku in the cabin owned by the Rat, where, not much explicitly or explosively happens, rather, there are small moments, thoughts, or habits but which we are supposed to understand change or growth. For Boku, I think an intense representation of this could be the cleaning of the mirror, in which he is now able to see himself and not the Sheep Man (anyone else a big fan of the sheep man? I get a kick out of him.). I feel as though these periods of time are often characterized by really mundane habits like eating, cleaning, cooking and reading that often have insights to the story, or even, provide allusions to real life inspirations for the work. In both Kafka on the Shore and 1Q84 we spend considerable amount of time with our protagonists in isolation: for Kafka, he spends time in a cabin in the forest (another forrest of temporal anomaly) and Aomame, who spends a considerable amount of time in her safe house. All three of the characters read while in insolation. Aomame in particular, makes it a point to meditate on what she is reading, In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. I think she is able to get through all seven volumes if I am not mistaken! I cannot think of a more poignant novel for her character to be reading, especially considering the events of the novel (which I will not get into here). I personally just love this trend in his novels. It doesn't ever really feel stale to me, even though all three of these characters go through, ostensibly, the same thing. These periods really showcase these characters in a vacuum, almost without the context or events of the story themselves, reminding the audience that the characters in these stories are just people. Even in the midst of trying to find a sheep, or trying to evade a prophecy or running after getting mixed up in destroying a cult, these characters still need to eat. Murakami zooms in and out like an accordion to show us the range in his characters and makes the implicit, explicit, which I always love. 

Lots of Murakami protagonists experience extreme isolation and loneliness, I think of K and Tsukuru, (Sputnik Sweetheart and Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage) predominantly when I think of an almost palpable loneliness, that is more akin to Philip Marlowe's isolation maybe. These forms of isolation are different from this transformational phase of isolation we see in the books I have mentioned above, though I am sure there is some overlap. 

I would love to hear if anyone could think of other examples where Murakami protagonists are sequestered before the end of a novel. Thanks!