Murakami as an Existential Writer

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Existentialism is a 20th century philosophy and school of literature that holds that life is meaningless and chaotic, and any abstract theories about it are useless. All that exists is the world of phenomena as perceived by our senses. Whatever metaphysical concept that lies behind this world is not only impossible to know and understand, but also holds no significant value. The only choice we have to make in life is to accept this world with a kind of determined joy, to discipline ourselves, and to defy the emptiness and the chaos by finding our own meaning in life (“Friedrich Nietzsche Part 4”). Although Haruki Murakami does not directly express any existential views in What I Talk about When I Talk about Running and Norwegian Wood, he is a quintessential existential writer because so much of existentialism involves the working out of private dilemmas. There is much focus on introversion in existentialism, and it can be seen in the lives of Murakami’s characters.

In What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, Murakami was facing the dilemma of participating in a 62-mile ultramarathon that took place every June at Lake Saroma in Hokkaido, Japan (104). According to Murakami, “The runners run around the shores of Lake Saroma, which faces the Sea of Okhotsk. Only once you actually run the course do you realize how ridiculously huge Lake Saroma is” (105). The weather gradually changed from being freezing to being too warm for heavy clothes during the ultramarathon (105). While Murakami was running, he began feeling intense pain in different parts of his body (109). Even so, he felt very happy upon reaching the finish line, not so much pride as a sense of completion (115). Through running, Murakami finds his own meaning...

... middle of paper ...

... Through perseverance, we overcome obstacles and find happiness in this chaotic world of ours. We find our own reasons to live and we choose to hold our own values. All of these things are tenets of existentialism. There is no purpose in life but what we make for ourselves.

Works Cited

"Friedrich Nietzsche Part 4 - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 25 Sept. 2011.

.

Murakami, Haruki. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. New York: Vintage, 2007.

Print.

Murakami, Haruki. Norwegian Wood. New York: Vintage International, 1987. Print.

"Island of Freedom - Søren Kierkegaard." RobertHSarkissian.com. Web. 27 Nov. 2011.

.

Murakami, Haruki, Alfred Birnbaum, and Jay Rubin. The Elephant Vanishes: Stories. (TEV)New

York: Knopf, 1993. Print.

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