krystal blog post #5

It’s not until I read Kokoro that I found out A LOT OF characters commit suicide in Murakami’s works, for example, Hatusumi and Naoko, Naoko’s sister in Norwegian Wood, Rat in A Wild Sheep Chase, K and the narrator in Kokoro.  I knew that Japan is a country with a high suicide rate. It’s been a severe problem in Japan. And the problem is reflected on literature.

In Seiko, K and the narrator both fell in love with the daughter of their landlord. The narrator was afraid that he would lose the girl to K, so he used a stratagram to ask his landlord to marry her daughter before K. K was so said that he committed suicide. The narrator felt guilty about K’s death. He was tortured and he eventually committed suicide as well.  I think they are both too extreme and are really fragile. The narrator is a very negative person. After marrying his landlord’s daughter, he was guilty everyone. He was living under the shadow the K’s death. He kept expressing his remorse. He represents Japanese at that time of being lost, decadent, confused.    

Japanese’s value of death was effect by Buddhism where it advocates people to leave the dirty world and get into the land of ultimate bliss. This makes Japanese think death is the end of everything and death can solve every problem. I think this is a morbid mentality, which makes them not willing to face the problem, rather choose to avoid it by suicide.  I think their suicide in fact is a refusal to face the responsibility, is a negative attitude.