From Kenza: Desire

Murakami elaborates on a range of human desires and each character’s attempts to obtain the power to control what they need in life. One route followed is the path of sexual development often linked to each character's journey of self discovery. Some characters in the novel are portrayed as victims of desire, whether their own or that of others. These characters include Toru, Kumiko, Noburo Wataya and Creta Kano. Of these, Kumiko is the one that suffers the most from the things she does in order to deal with her restlessness and unhappiness by attempting fill the vacuum by transposing her inexpressible desires through a sexual outlet. Her desire leads her to commit adultery with another man, but results only in abysmal self-hatred and frustration. She abandons everything she has worked for and put up with in the last six years and moves away from her home. May Kasahara’s desire is portrayed differently. Her part in the motorcycle accident that killed her boyfriend can be seen as her desire to indulge some uncontrollable part of herself. It is almost as if she can’t help herself from testing her limits until she proves the control she can have over herself. Noburo Wataya is another character that is a victim of desire. The desire he feels has to do with his growing thirst for power. The many and various forms of desire expressed by the characters imply how we are often victims of impulses we do not understand and have difficulty controlling.

From Kenza: Why so much violence?

Violence is omnipresent in this novel. It is both vivid and surreal.  Creta's experience growing up with intense physical pain is conveyed through intense descriptions so we become aware of the different levels of pain that a human being is able to feel. This horrifying pain is portrayed as a form of violence because it is uncontrollable, unpredictable and unstoppable. Murakami uses this violence to steep the reader into the lives of his characters and to emphasize how each suffers differently from an other. Furthermore, we find suffering in the context and the aftermath of war.  The Manchurian war has a lasting effect on the soldiers that fought in it. It is portrayed as another type of violence and pain. Lieutenant Mamiya, is forever cursed by the events of the war and his personal experiences. He continues to feel a constant void in his life and is frustrated by his inability to die, regardless of the horrifying conditions he has endured. Violence surrounds every character and is omnipresent in the novel. Descriptions such as that of a man being skinned alive by Mongol bandits who then finish the event by talking about skinning techniques are shocking for the reader. By including unconventional violence through out the novel, Murakami emphasizes its omnipresence in human experience.

From Kenza: Parallels - Creta and Kumiko

Throughout Book 2 Murakami makes us believe that there is a definitive connection between Creta Kano and Kumiko. Although expressed differently, Murakami focuses on the pain felt by both characters. Kumiko undergoes inner damage that she is unable to confess to Toru, her husband. This agony is revealed through flashbacks when Toru recalls certain events in the first six years of their marriage, especially in relation to the abortion, and Kumiko's inability to express her sentiments or explain what she is struggling with. Creta Kano also experiences tremendous pain. Creta Kano's pain is described differently. She undergoes three stages of intense physical pain but unlike Kumiko, Creta succeeds in finding herself close to the final stage of pain. The parallel created between Creta Kano and Kumiko is best noticed through Toru's point of view during his supernatural dreams which he discovers, were controlled by Creta. Creta slowly impersonates Kumiko as she becomes more present during Toru's life at the same time Kumiko and Toru's marriage starts to fall apart and the distance between them becomes more evident. Toru also experiences a change in his inner self and his daily routines. He strives to create his identity and constantly searches for himself. Toru then becomes less mundane and crosses the line between reality and the supernatural partly because of Creta's growing presence in his life. Kumiko, May Kasahara and Creta are the women who seem to effect Toru's life the most. However, Kumiko and Creta's combined effect on the protagonist's life is profound and because of this Toru seems to find himself on another level that defies normality as we know it.