Murakami’s descriptions of characters do not go much deeper than the most basic information required to outline a character. Metz’s reasoning explains why Murakami was intentionally vague with his characters’ identities, offering titles and labels rather than names.įor instance, Murakami labels his characters as the Librarian, the Scientist, the Colonel, the Semiotecs, The Calcutecs, and so on, rendering even the Narrator and protagonist innominate. Jeremy Metz suggests that the pressure of this ethical dilemma has warped the quality and truth of Holocaust literature because of the psychosocial demands that writers of genocide or trauma-related literature face (Metz). As some observers note, writers of Holocaust literature can be torn between the desire to create deep characters out of the perpetrators and the fear that in so doing, readers might find unintended shreds of sympathy for true villains. Holocaust literature is both a delicate and powerful subject for many to read, but the confines of writing such literature are perhaps even more uncomfortable. One of the clearest indicators of this work’s allegorical representation of the Holocaust is Murakami’s careful use of vagueness.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |