Tsukuru Tazaki is an ordinary man living an ordinary life
day after day. Tsukuru, after experiencing a painful event from his teenage
years, slowly learns how to move on and live his adult life—but as much as he
tries to get past this event, something keeps bringing him back. Much of the
narration revolves around that single event in his teenage years, when he is
part of a five person group. His four friends are described vibrantly and named
“the colors”, and although Tsukuru feels colorless, little does he know that he
is a vital member of the group. The rejection damages what little sense of self
he has and validates his thoughts about being colorless, and he “becomes
already dead without knowing it”, entertaining suicidal ideation for much of
his twenties.
Though much of this world that Murakami has created is real,
a lot of aspects of the story also become surreal. Tsukuru’s life is pretty
mundane in how he decides to live it, while his dreams become more vivid and
fantastical. These dreams symbolize the protagonist’s main desires and give the
story more of a spiritual tap and how we can relate towards these experiences.
Because Tsukuru is so colorless, this makes it easier for the reader to relate
to him and see ourselves within this character whether he is 35 or a teenager. Murakami
blurs the lines between adulthood and adolescence, to show how carrying around
the scars of our youth can hinder us.
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