Murakami and Women

Very original topic, I know. Coming into this class, I haven’t read any of Murakami’s work, but this was always a common criticism of his that I’ve seen online. Because of that, I was hyper fixated (more than other novels or authors) on how women are discussed and shown in his novels to suss out if I agree or disagree with the critique. Unfortunately, taking one feminist theory class does not make me a scholar on this topic, so I will be talking more about the experience and effect it has on ‘everyday’ readers. 

I do feel like a majority of the female characters in his novels could potentially fall into the ‘manic pixie dream girl’ trope. Film critic Nathan Rabin, who first coined the term, describes these women as someone who “exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures.” The discussions surrounding this trope, as well as its depictions in media, have continued to evolve, I do believe certain female characters could fall into this category. They are always described as different from other women and there’s something intangible that draws the male MC to her. Most of the time, the women in the story are there to comfort men, bring them on a whirlwind adventure, have sex with him, then die or disappear. 

That being said, these characters also do not neatly fall into this characterization. I don’t think it’s fair to say Naoko or Reiko’s personal struggles are all in service to Watanabe and his character growth. Additionally, Midori’s declaration that she will not wait for Watanabe, clearly displays her personal autonomy, and thus, breaks away from this trope. 

From this, it is clear that I have not quite reached a definitive conclusion yet. I thought Max brought up a wonderful point in his post, that Murakami does not necessarily condone the attitudes of his male characters towards women. I’m writing this post mainly because it was the main concern I had while reading this book; I couldn’t discern if I was disturbed or not. I believe this is a topic I will need more time with, and hear other people’s thoughts, so I am looking forward to any comments and class discussions on this topic.

- Jayde Wang