Kafka on the Shore

Kafka says that he choose the name “kafka” because it means “crow in Czech.” What does a crow signify in the novel and in term of Kafka’s life? Other character’s names are significant in his storyline as well, including his father alias, Johnnie Walker, and Colonel Sanders. Explore the ways in which Murakami’s character names explicate the events, symbols, and themes in the novel. 

Early in the novel Kafka discusses his favorite Franz Kafka story with Oshima: “In the Penal Colony.” He says that he feels like he’s living in Kafka’s execution device. What does it mean that Kafka chooses the name he does? Why does he choose it? Further, what is the significance, of Kafka choosing that name in terms of him resembling a “Kafkaesque” character or living in a Kafkaesque universe? Compare and contrast this novel to characters and elements in Franz Kafka’s “In the Penal Colony.”

The post-World War II occupation of Japan by American forces lies in the background of the Nakata story line. Yet the young driver, Hoshino, denies that Japan was ever occupied by the Americans. The Rice Bowl Hill incident reports contain information about the relationship between Japan and the U.S. at the time of the occupation. How does that historical background inform this novel? For example, Colonel Sanders comments that Japanese gods are malleable and changeable concepts, because McArthur forced the Emperor to announce that he wasn’t actually a god, just a regular man. With that announcement, the Emperor was no longer a god. What does this event, or others from your own historical research, signify about Japanese culture and its relationship to its own history and cultural memory? What is Murakami saying about post-World War II generations, exemplified by Hoshino’s ignorance and complete lack of interest in history? What are the possible consequences of a lack of historical memory?

The two characters Nakata and Miss Saeki share the experience of having gone to the other world and come back, and they both have shadows that are half of what they should be. As a result of his trip, Nakata has lost all of his memory. Alternately, Miss Saeki says that all she has is memories. What are the differences and similarities between these two characters? How does the presence or absence of memory shape their experiences and their outcomes? What does it signify that they each have half a shadow?

Nakata says: “’I’d like to be a normal Nakata. Up until now there was never anything in particular I wanted to do. I always did what people told me as best I could. Maybe that just became a habit. But now I want to go back to being normal. I want to be a Nakata with his own ideas, his own meaning’” (Chapter 32, p. 307). What does he mean by being a “normal Nakata”? For example, does Kafka get to be a “normal Kafka” using this definition? Compare and contrast the ways in which three or more characters in the novel create their own sense of identity, using Nakata’s definition as a starting point.

What is the function and meaning of both the painting and the song called Kafka on the Shore? Why does Miss Saeki tell Kafka to look at the painting in order to discover how to live (Chapter 47, p. 442)? How can the painting show Kafka how to live?

Johnnie Walker says that he’s beyond good and evil, and that he’s just a “concept.” What does this mean? Is morality itself a fragile or a durable concept? Think particularly in terms of the ancient Greek philosophy underpinning the plot of the novel. Fate is inextricably tied to morality and what is right in Greek tragedy. What is Murakami saying in this novel about doing “what is right”? Explain. 

Hoshino undergoes a significant transformation, perhaps the most drastic transformation of any character in the novel. How does Hoshino develop from the nice but superficial guy who agrees to drive Nakata into the young man who patiently waits up half the night to honor the memory of his dead friend and complete his task—courageously protecting the world from something unspeakably evil?