Week Three: A Wild Sheep Chase

 

  This week, we are focusing on Asian horror. I read  A Wild Sheep Chase written by Haruki Murakami. The book is part mystery and part magical realism with a postmodern twist. I did some research when I was reading it, and learned about that this book is one of the trilogies of Rat, who is the narrator of the story. I would say this is not a horror story, but the adventure of Rat and the metaphor in this book impressed me.

  The story is based on the narrator whose name is Rat. He is contacted by a Boss' secretary, he told Rat that a strange sheep with a star-shaped birthmark, pictured in the advertisement, was in some way the secret source of the Boss' power and that he has two months to find that sheep or his career and life will be ruined. Rat and his girlfriend, who has charming ears, traveled to the north of Japan to find that sheep. He finally encountered figures from his own past, unusual characters, and those who have encountered the sheep before.

  The story is not so dramatic in the beginning, it spends three chapters to demonstrate the decadent life of Rat. He does not have a certain goal for his career; he has sex with many young women; he even does not care when he got divorced. It seems that Rat is just a normal person who will never get involved in any troubles; if he does, he is not that person who would to sacrify something. However, it turns out that he decided to perish with evil power.

  I believe this story somehow related to some events happen around the 1970s in Japan. The first event is the student activism at Tokyo University, in opposition to the Anpo treaty. During that time, students were disappointed to the policy, they also felt confused about the future. Rat probably is the reflection of most of the students at that time: they do not have a goal and plan for the future. Some of Rat's university life depicted by Haruki Murakami also reflect their negative attitude. The other event that influenced Japanese very much is the suicide of Yukio Mishima who used to be a talented writer. He was attempting to reunite the Japanese military after the World War II, but he failed and performed seppuku eventually. This event kind of makes Japanese consider the dark side of the right-wing politics. The sheep is obviously the metaphor for power, and the man who signed with the devil is somehow the metaphor for the right-wing politics of Japan. I assume that the writer is Rat, who is a normal spectator most of the time, though he would like to sacrify himself if the dark side of power is trying to occupy the social justice. He also hopes to encourage the students who were struggling with the confusion due to the some unstable society elements. He wants to cheer them up to feel confident about themselves and this country.

  It is interesting to read Japanese literature, in which I have learned many their cultures, even though I watched plenty Japanese dramas, animations and mangas, studying the literature is an effective way to read their thoughts.