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.