Murakami and His Male Gaze - The RCHK Truth

1/26/24, 12:59 PM Murakami and his male gaze — The RCHK Truth
The RCHK Truth April 3, 2022 · Culture & Arts
Murakami and his
male gaze
By Niall Cotton
Haruki Murakami is one of my
favourite authors. Revered
worldwide, his oeuvre is
extensive, including legendary
books such as Norwegian Wood,
Kafka on the Shore, The Wind-Up
Bird Chronicle and IQ84. His
stories are intoxicating, often
containing images and motifs
that would be otherwise
mundane and monotonous if not
for his writing. With Murakami
weaving his magical realist style
of writing into the story with
ease, it sets a mysterious and
existential tone, making the
books have a dreamy effect to
them. His writing is truly a
pleasure to read. However, there
is an aspect in his writing that has
always caused a split in my
opinion: his portrayal and
depiction of women.
https://www.therchktruth.org/culture-arts/2022/4/3/murakami-and-his-male-gaze 1/6
The RCHK Truth

Many of his books have female
characters, as well as male
protagonists, and his books are
written from a male perspective,
a male gaze. Murakami’s female
characters are rarely
independently thinking, driven,
self-conf ident women; rather they
are broken, frail, and lonely.
These women seek out the male
protagonist, painting them as
creatures whose purpose is given
to them by a man. Women are
depicted as experiences that open
up the male protagonist's mind,
the male has sex with these
women and reaches an existential
apex, an epiphany of his
existence and purpose. This was
seen in Kafka on the Shore when
Kafka Tamura and Miss Saeki
get intimate. As said by journalist
Chris K incaid, these women are
‘vessels of liberation for male
characters.’
Murakami himself also said in an
interview in 2004, ‘If the sex is
good… your injury will be
healed, your imagination will be
invigorated… In that sense, in
my stories, women are mediums
– harbingers of the coming
world. That’s why they always
come to my protagonist; he
The RCHK Truth

doesn’t go to them.’ Murakami’s
female characters are not potent,
self-governing individuals, but
instead, they serve the male
protagonist's desires and allow for
his development throughout the
novel.
The most problematic passages
are where male narrators have
sex with women in their dreams,
without their realisation, not
their consent. These dreams
happen in Killing Commendatore,
Kafka on the Shore and IQ84. The
descriptions of the narrator's
imagination feel ugly, dirty even.
When coupled with this quote, he
said, ‘‘Writing a novel lets me
intentionally dream while I’m still
awake… for me, the dream-like is
very real,” making these passages
incredibly uncomfortable to read.
While the points mentioned
above are more veiled in their
anti-feminist message, there are
some directly misogynistic quotes
and incidences that paint
Murakami in an unforgiving
light. Sentences like ‘Very few
women can sharpen knives
properly.\’ and ‘Women with
their clothes off have a
frightening similarity’, from Hard-
Boiled Wonderland and The End Of
The RCHK Truth

The World and A Wild-Sheep Chase,
respectively, are hard to ignore.
Part of me thinks as f iction, it
should be read, enjoyed, and
learned from. But should f iction
have a responsibility to be
socially aware? At what point do
authors need to stop writing their
books? Murakami is not writing a
manifesto spelling out his most
profound and most reckless views
on women and their role in
society. Nor is he saying that
those who read these books have
to emulate what is done in his
stories. Should his seemingly
degrading messages of women be
taken seriously?
Fiction is an opportunity to grow.
Stories that make you raise your
eyebrow at a questionable
passage, or make you feel
uncomfortable due to the
sensitive nature of the book, is
why reading is so essential.
Novels allow you to recognise
social, racial, gender, class
inequalities that you can take
with you as you develop your
character and being. Without
exposure to uncomfortable and
adverse ideas, we can’t grow as
individuals or collectively.
The RCHK Truth

I found that many of the articles
and interviews bashing
Murakami were isolated snippets
of the story, taken out of context,
viewed with a hypercritical lens.
In an interview in 2017,
Murakami said the following: “…
In my case, I can only tackle
these complicated questions
through f iction. Without
demanding it be positive or
negative, the best that I can do is
approach these stories, as they
are, inside of me. I’m not a
thinker, critic, or social activist.
I’m just a novelist. If someone
tells me that my work is f lawed
when viewed through a
particular ism or could have used
a bit more thought, all that I can
do is offer a sincere apology and
say, “I’m sorry.” I’ll be the f irst
guy to apologise.”
It is important to note that I don’t
believe everything Murakami has
written is correct or justif iable.
Some of the content in his books
is distasteful, but that is part of
the experience that he has chosen
to take readers through via his
storytelling. Does the fact
Murakami has written about
rape and writes with
subconscious degradation of
The RCHK Truth

women make him a closeted
offender and vile sexist? No.
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1/26/24, 12:59 PM Murakami and his male gaze — The RCHK Truth

The RCHK Truth April 3, 2022 · Culture & Arts

Murakami and his

Haruki Murakami is one of my

favourite authors. Revered

worldwide, his oeuvre is

extensive, including legendary

books such as Norwegian Wood,

Kafka on the Shore, The Wind-Up

Bird Chronicle and IQ84. His

stories are intoxicating, often

containing images and motifs

that would be otherwise

mundane and monotonous if not

for his writing. With Murakami

weaving his magical realist style

of writing into the story with

ease, it sets a mysterious and

existential tone, making the

books have a dreamy effect to

them. His writing is truly a

pleasure to read. However, there

is an aspect in his writing that has

always caused a split in my

opinion: his portrayal and

The RCHK Truth

characters, as well as male

protagonists, and his books are

written from a male perspective,

a male gaze. Murakami’s female

characters are rarely

independently thinking, driven,

self-conf ident women; rather they

are broken, frail, and lonely.

These women seek out the male

protagonist, painting them as

creatures whose purpose is given

to them by a man. Women are

depicted as experiences that open

up the male protagonist's mind,

the male has sex with these

women and reaches an existential

apex, an epiphany of his

existence and purpose. This was

seen in Kafka on the Shore when

Kafka Tamura and Miss Saeki

get intimate. As said by journalist

Chris K incaid, these women are

‘vessels of liberation for male

Murakami himself also said in an

interview in 2004, ‘If the sex is

good… your injury will be

healed, your imagination will be

invigorated… In that sense, in

my stories, women are mediums

– harbingers of the coming

world. That’s why they always

The RCHK Truth

female characters are not potent,

self-governing individuals, but

instead, they serve the male

protagonist's desires and allow for

his development throughout the