Lit Analyses #1

1) The first novel I decided to read was Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, The plot primarily focuses on two main characters, Kafka Tamura, A fifteen-year-old boy from Tokyo running away from home because of hi abusive father. The second main character is Nakata an older man that can communicate with cats. Throughout the story the our setting is in the south of Japan where their main objective is to reach a spiritual realm. I addition to Kafka running away from home, He is also faced with the prophecy that his father told him. We find Nakata making friends with a truck driver and becoming somewhat attached to him.
2)The theme from the novel I would say is the idea of transformation, This theme primarily has to do with Kafka. In the beginning of the story we find him running away from home plagued with his fathers prophecy. He has nowhere to go and very little money. But as each chapter progresses we see him transforming and becoming more and more self-dependent, creating a schedule for himself. In addition to change in his outside world we also see a transformation in character, Forgetting about his own father and ultimately becoming his own man.
3)The tone of the book I would say is a blend of confusion and assertiveness, Primarily for the fact how the plot is presented to the reader and the different events that take place because of it. Many times throughout the novel you find yourself confused having to think about what happened in the previous section. "Fate is like a sandstorm which keeps changing directions", "There is no moon no sense of time", and "Fate will cut your flesh like a thousand razor blades".
4) In the novel we had a sense of Surrealism, An example of surrealism is throughout the story where Kafka's dreams almost seem real but they turn out to actually be real. The second element is Foreshadowing, We see this in Nakata's dad prophecy basically pointing out to the reader what ultimately is going to happen. The third element is the authors diction which adds to the readers confusion throughout the story.