The main character of A Wild Sheep Chase has no name and credits himself with being "utterly ordinary". It seems obvious that throughout this story he will discover what it is about himself that makes him strong and unique, which may seem corny for a moment, but somehow in this book, it works for me. Already there are certain things about him which make him special. One is that he is a copywriter, which means he must have some small amounts of creativity. Another is that he becomes totally enamored of the "ear girl" because of the perfect beauty of those protruding structures of cartilage. I think that his ability to recognize and embrace beauty is a great step towards becoming a fully-living human being. And finally and most importantly, he recognizes his own boringness. He realizes with a melancholy hopelessness that it was perhaps his utterly ordinary life that drove his wife away. His mentions of drinking heavily, his familiarity with whisky point towards a dissatisfaction in his life, and if this book makes any progress at all, hopefully he will take steps towards living the kind of life that he can be proud of. A bit later in the book, someone describes him as a "mediocre dreamer" which does sum him up quite perfectly. (Darn it, I wish I had Murakami's eloquence with words, and don't get me started on those similes. They're pretty hilarious and quite creative.) Our protagonist has interesting thoughts that are shared with us through this first-person narrative, but he does not break any especially revolutionary ground with them. They are quirky and amusing and that is all.
He is incredibly relatable because he basically sums up the modern man/woman. We are over-informed, we are smart, we think interesting things, but somehow we can't make our lives anything other than mundane.
I don't know what exactly he's supposed to learn. If I knew the secret to realizing the true importance in every seemingly-insignificant little life, I'd not need to keep a diary.
He's not influenced very much by family a friends. They're too ordinary to have much of an effect on him.
Very enjoyable book, though. I look forward to discussing it with all of you.
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I agree completely. I really like how he is nameless- odd as that sounds. I think your right about his average character. Without a name even, it adds the the fact that he truly is just a man. He's no character we can lift up onto a pedestal out of our reach. He's a man that we could pass on the street everyday and not know it. I like that.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your comment that his recognition of his own boringness proves that he is not all that boring. The average boring person would not admit to this and the first step to recovery is acknowledging your problem, so he is moving in the right direction. He sounds as though he wants to get out of his boredom rut, so hopefully that will happen.
ReplyDeleteDo you guys wonder if his name will be revealed at the end of the book? I'm starting to think that it will as a sort of confirmation of the uniqueness and importance of him as a person.
ReplyDeleteI liked your statement about how "we can't make our lives anything other than mundane". I agree that most people take everyday experiences for granted. I hope that this might be part of the overall message of the book.
ReplyDeleteDo you think it's a unique trait that he recognizes that he's unhappily boring? Because he seems sophisticated enough in his thoughts that it doesn't surprise me that he'd notice how mediocre he really is. Maybe it’s just what happens when people with potential hit a dead end.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with his hints of creativity. This characteristic allows us to hope that he'll figure out a way to get out of this mundane place he's in.
That's a good question Athena. I don't think his name will be revealed because I think the fact that he is nameless actually adds to the individuality of his character. His character and personality (or lack there of) is enough to keep us intrigued...I think that it would be pointless for the author to mention his name because we each develop our own idea of who he is and what his name should be.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely that "He's not influenced very much by family and friends". I found it interesting that, despite complaints about his partner's drinking habits, his drinking seems to be mentioned a lot. Now I'm not saying that he's an alcoholic or anything, but it just seemed strange. If his friend's drinking was such a bother to him, why did he go out drinking so often?
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point about the drinking thing. But maybe it’s the whole dead-end denial thing. In his mind his drinking could be completely different than his partner's.
ReplyDeleteI agree about most of your statement that his life is mundane and he drinks and etc. but I want to add that he has really bad luck with women. One dies young, the other divorces him while being in love with him... It should really be a hint!
ReplyDelete~Irini