A Wild Sheep Chase is a novel about isolation,
authority, and the duality of good and evil, as well as the story of one man's
journey to find himself. Along the way, the protagonist learns that not
everyone is as they appear. There are forces beyond one's control, and even the
weakest person can be a hero. In the end, he finds it is his own indifference
and selfish view of life that is responsible for much of his downfall.
I interpreted the novel to be a story of an emotional
journey. There was an actual journey involved as the main character went in
search of the mythical sheep, but the true focus of the book was on the
character's emotions. The author, Haruki Murakami, didn't even give the
protagonist, or many of the other characters in the novel, a name. I feel
unnamed characters is a way to portray the protagonist's detachment from
everyone. Our hero shows a tendency to avoid emotional connections. Not even
his cat has a name until a secondary character gives it one. What's more, there
is a constant uncertainty throughout the book of what is real and what is not. There
is even a point toward the end where the main protagonist is unsure of who he
really is and why he does what he does.
He’s also got quite the “fetish” for his new
girlfriend’s ears.
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