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“The Seventh Man” Essay
Fear is a part of everyone’s life, but it is how it is handled that makes all the difference. In the story “The Seventh Man” by Haruki Murakami, a tragedy consumes a young boy and stays with him for many years. As the story continues, the narrator eventually realizes that he has to face his fear in order to lead a normal life. In “The Seventh Man”, Murakami develops the theme that one should face his or her fear with the use of similes, imagery, and symbolism.
One way that the author develops the theme is with the use of similes. Murakami writes: “A wave like a huge snake…”(362). This quote is describing the huge wave that is about to strike the beach. The purpose of this simile is to make the wave seem alive
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and ready to attack at any moment. This progresses the theme because this moment builds up the fear that the narrator will later have to face. Murakami portrays the wave’s falling by writing, “From far above my head it began to fall, losing its shape, like a brick wall slowly crumbling”(364). In this quote the narrator vividly describes the slow falling of the wave onto the beach. Murakami also uses this simile to progress the theme by detailing the events that will become fear and trauma for him as the story continues. One might say that Murakami’s use of similes has no connection to the theme and that they are solely used to make the story more interesting. However, without the use of similes, it would be difficult for the reader to understand the true fear that the narrator is going through, thus making the story less relatable. All in all, the similes that are used to progress the theme that one should face his or her fear. Secondly, the author uses imagery as a way to vividly progress the theme. The author describes the wave using detailed descriptions when he writes, “The wave crashed on the beach, shattering into a million leaping waves that flew through the air and plunged over the dyke where i stood”(362). This quote allows the reader to visualize what the author is experiencing as the wave crashes onto the beach. The imagery here progresses the theme by letting the reader create a highly detailed picture of the fear the narrator is experiencing. As the second wave approaches, Murakami describes it by writing, “It towered before me, blocking out the sky, like a deadly cliff”(362). In this quote the main character is depicting the second wave as it blocks out the sky like a deadly cliff. The use of imagery here allows the reader to understand how large the wave is and the fear that comes from it. One might say that the imagery used here is not necessary to the theme, but without the imagery it would be extremely difficult for the reader to understand the exact fear that is beginning to consume the main character. Ultimately, the imagery used throughout the story helps progress the theme. Finally, the author develops the theme by using symbolism.
Murakami portrays the wave as a symbol for his fear when he writes, “In my case, it was a wave”(356). The narrator explains that his fear has taken the shape of a wave. The reason that the author uses this symbol is so that the main character has a physical object that he can face to get rid of his fears. The narrator describes his friend’s pictures as a symbol for the memories that they had together, “I found myself steeped in warm memories. The deep feelings of the boy K. were there in his pictures…”(367). When he sees the pictures K. drew, the author vividly remembers all of the great memories that he and K. had. It is through these drawings that the narrator ultimately realizes that he must face his fear in order to put his life back together. Some might say that these examples are not symbols, but are meant to be taken literally. These examples are symbols because the wave was not literally the narrator’s fear, but it was the fact that his friend died from a wave that haunted him. Also, the pictures that K. drew are not a literal memory of their relationship, but they connect the narrator to those memories. Overall, the use of symbolism furthers the theme of facing one’s
fears. In conclusion, Murakami’s use of similes, imagery, and symbolism help further the theme that one should face his or her fears. The figurative language in this story proves to be a necessary attribute to progressing the story and the theme. It also helps the reader understand what the narrator is going through on a more personal level. Although fear consumes some part of everyone’s life, it is how it is handled that will make the difference in the end.
In the short story “Touching Bottom”, the author Kari Strutt uses a variety of examples of symbolism as a way to emphasize important traits about the narrator to the reader. First of all, Strutt uses the yellow towel as a symbol for the narrator’s feeling of comfort and security. For example, when the narrator opens her eyes for the first time underwater as a young girl “[she] [is] afraid”(124), but when her father greets her with a yellow towel after she surfaces “the fear, what [is] left of it, [evaporates]”(124). This shows the reader how the narrator finds safety in her yellow towel since all of the fear that she has trapped in her body is released when she is wrapped in the yellow towel. Furthermore, Strutt uses the contrast between murky
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