Conversion as Initiation: Literary representation of conversion in Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Beach
2010
Abstract
This paper discusses the literary representation of conversion, using a particular case study of the H. Murakami’s novel Kafka on the Beach.
The novel as a whole can be interpreted as a process of conversion of the main character, a 15-year-old boy called Kafka Tamura. He needs to be liberated from the shackles of the Oedipal curse, break free from the yoke of the burdening past, and face a new life, towards the future and challenges which his existence in time bring about.
The paper shows that such an interpretation gives the novel special dynamics. It argues that Kafka’s conversion has a profound existential dimension; it concerns Kafka’s self-awareness and fuller realization of his humanity.