Kafka on the Shore

Memory is an important concept in this novel, as well as a significant theme. Murakami explores many different ways in which memory is both a positive force in shaping human behavior and a painful curse that may be burden to a person. Memory permeates both storylines, which makes it one of the novel’s unifying themes. Some characters, such as Kafka and Miss Saeki, are haunted by their memories. For example, Kafka cannot ignore the curse his father put on him, because that curse is embedded in Kafka’s memory.

Indeed, in many ways identity is memory, as demonstrated by Nakata. With no memories, he has virtually no identity. He calls himself a “cat” because he has a memory like a cat. Similarly, Hoshino lacks historical memory and has chosen not to think too much. Through his experiences with Nakata, Hoshino is forever changed, for the better. The memories he has of helping Nakata return reality to the way it should be will define him for the rest of his life.

Each character’s relationship to memory is different, though having a memory and using it to understand one’s self and others is a common thread for the characters, who grow and develop during the novel.

At times, dreams are indistinguishable from reality for the characters in this novel. Dreams are both a powerful mirror of reality—used to penetrate the meaning of true life experiences—and a surreal subversion of reality, which can confuse and even manipulate a character’s understanding of self and what is true or not true. However, in general, dreams are used as a metaphor for experiences that exist beyond the boundaries of “reality”, by slipping past restrictions on time and space.

Murakami uses dreams to allow him to express ideas about worlds other than the one most people typically inhabit. He also uses dreams to act as a different world in themselves, and as a portal to a different reality or world. For example, in dreams, Miss Saeki is a fifteen-year-old girl who visits Kafka’s room to gaze at the painting “Kafka at the Shore.” She and Kafka visit the same dream world together, and in this dream world, Kafka also becomes Miss Saeki’s dead lover.

This coexistence of dreams and reality in partially overlapping worlds is a literary conceit that allows Murakami to explain that, with just one more step, anyone could enter his “other world.” He uses his reader’s common experience of dreams and takes it one magical step further. The shared experience with dreams allows his readers to understand that dreams are a real experience that often feel as if they are actually happening in the world, because that’s the way dreams are experienced by the dreamer. 

As a city child, Kafka does not really experience nature until he arrives at Oshima’s cabin. His experiences in the forest there, particularly after his realization that the forest is a living thing, expose nature’s ability to lead people to self-knowledge and wisdom. Kafka knows that he has to treat the forest with respect or it will pounce on him and destroy him. The forest also becomes a labyrinth, symbolizing both the labyrinth within Kafka and the labyrinth or maze that he must navigate to find the heart of the forest, the entrance to the “other world.”