Love Your Imperfect Life Have you ever read a text or watched a movie about the underworld? Yes, the place beneath the surface where the dead worship Hades. Or perhaps you are familiar with the labyrinths that appear in Greek myths all the way to Jorge Luis Borges’ writing? If you have answered all the previous questions with a shaking head, then maybe you have watched The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? Now, you may be wondering, what is the connection between all these references? In Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Haruki Murakami uses several genre conventions to argue that, in life, it is necessary to experience trial and tribulation in order to have the opposites such as joy and happiness. By doing so, Murakami instills …show more content…
The shadow instructs the narrator to value reality over fantasy. He upfront explains to the narrator that without the struggles, we would not have the capacity to fully appreciate the joyous times. Because how can we really decipher what happiness is if we have never experienced sorrow? It is when we are in our lowest lows that we so desperately crave the highest highs. Only through this do we learn to genuinely appreciate every good day and count our blessings. A balance between good and bad days is necessary for growing in life. The truth is life is not perfect, but love it that way. Therefore, in Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Haruki Murakami defends the claim that we must find an appreciation for the hardships in life. Using several genre conventions, he argues that, in life, it is necessary to experience trial and tribulation in order to have the opposites such as joy and happiness. In this text, Murakami has his narrator take agency over his life in the toughest times: when he is in INKlings lair; when he is in the End of the World or, more specifically, inside the