Post 3

Recently in class we talked about Boku having qualities of some mental disorder.  Whenever he feels confused or nervous about something he resorts to cleaning or ironing as a way of coping with these feelings.  Although doing something familiar can help anyone cope with something confusing, the way that Boku does the cleaning is what makes it seem like he has a mental disorder.  He puts more effort than necessary to do the cleaning or ironing, like the twelve step process that he has in The Wind Up Bird Chronicle. Boku does not only exhibit this characteristic in that novel either.  In The Wild Sheep Chase he completely cleans the house while waiting for the Rat or the Sheepman to show up.  When he realizes that he missed cleaning the mirror, it upsets him and is more than a minor annoyance.  It seems like he uses the cleaning as a way of maintaining mental stability during scenes where he is becoming stressed.  These type of actions are common with people who are on the autism spectrum.  The use of something familiar to comfort oneself and the keen attention to the process of actions is common among people on the autism spectrum.