Kafka on the Shore

The labyrinth is the most fully realized and elaborate symbol in the novel. Oshima describes the origin of the Greek labyrinth in the fortune telling technique of spilling the guts, or entrails of animals, and reading their pattern. Significantly, Kafka’s father, a sculptor, is most famous for his series of works entitled Labyrinth, which explore the human sub-conscious, suggesting that the knowledge being sought in the various labyrinths in the novel is, ultimately, knowledge of one’s self. The mountain forest near Oshima’s cabin is a key instance of this motif. At first, it is a mysterious maze that Kafka fears to enter for fear of getting lost. Later, the labyrinth becomes a reciprocal metaphor where the forest labyrinth mirrors the labyrinth within Kafka, and every step Kafka takes in the forest brings him closer to the center of his own psyche. Thus, the journey to the heart of the forest becomes Kafka’s journey to the center of his own heart.

Kafka’s journey into the forest labyrinth also echoes the heroic journey of Greek myth,  such as Theseus and the Minotaur. The Minotaur was the monster—half-bull, half-man—at the center of the labyrinth in Crete. Theseus kills the Minotaur and makes it out of the impossible labyrinth alive. However, Theseus is only able to make it out of the labyrinth because the princess Ariadne provides him with thread that he can unravel to find his way. Similarly, Kafka receives assistance to help him through his labyrinth from several sources, most significantly his mother, Miss Saeki. The monster at the heart of the labyrinth that Kafka must defeat is own dark side.

Blood appears as a sign of violence and death, most notably in the scenes depicting the murder of the cats and Johnnie Walker. Johnnie Walker’s blood appears mysteriously on Kafka, although he has not stabbed anyone, and it magically disappears from Nakata, who has. In this way, Murakami suggests that Kafka is actually responsible for his father’s murder, even though he did not commit the act himself. 

Blood also symbolizes life, as when Kafka drinks Miss Saeki’s blood and it heals his heart. Blood is also the trigger for the children falling into mass unconscious and for Nakata waking up from his coma.

Furthermore, blood ties in with the novel’s interest in Japan’s involvement in World War II. This interest is suggested by the Japanese soldiers that Kafka encounters guarding the doorway to the “other” world. These men ran away from World War II because they didn’t want to kill or be killed—they do not want to stick their bayonets into someone’s guts and twist the knife to ensure their enemy dies. In his confrontation with Nakata, Johnnie Walker tells him that “this is war” before he spills the cats’ blood. Johnnie Walker also provides the manner of his own execution—a knife—ensuring that his own blood will be spilled. After he spills Johnnie Walker’s blood, Nakata can no longer talk to cats.

Blood ultimately is a sign of life experience, violence, and a loss of innocence. 

As well as drawing on Greek myth, Murakami uses Japanese folktales, such as The Tale of Genji, to introduce the concept that a soul or spirit can, through an act of will, leave the body and perform acts in dreams that will impact the real world. Oshima describes one of these tales in detail, in which a jealous concubine attacks and kills another of her husband’s wives. In this way, Kafka believes that he may have used a “dream circuit” to travel back to Tokyo from Takamatsu to kill his father. He also believes that Miss Saeki may be a “living spirit” as her 15 year-old self appears in his room to sit at the desk and look at the painting, Kafka on the Shore.

Crows, including the boy named Crow, symbolize protective guardians in Kafka’s storyline. The boy named Crow is the protective guardian of Kafka’s consciousness and conscience, and the name Kafka means “crow” in Czech. When the boy named Crow is not in evidence, wild crows frequently act as his proxies, appearing on the side of the road as Kafka passes by or sounding warnings as he explores the mysterious forest outside Oshima’s mountain cabin.

As a city child, Kafka is not comfortable or familiar with the sounds, smells, and sights of the mountain forest. As natural creatures, crows act as a familiar touchstone for Kafka in his forest forays. Crows caw to guide him and to warn him of danger. The boy named Crow, in crow form, goes so far as to seek out and attack the evil entity known as Johnnie Walker in order to protect both Kafka and the “real” world. 

In Greek mythology, among other spiritual and symbolic traditions, the crow is a messenger and a symbol of prophecy. As a boy torn apart by his father’s prophecy, the crow is a particularly apt symbol for Murakami to employ. Ultimately, Crow does indeed guide Kafka successfully through his fateful trials.