A Critical Analysis of The Boy Named Crow

The Boy Named Crow

An Excerpt from Kafka on the Shore

By: Haruki Murakami

About the Author

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese novelist, short-story writer, essayist and translator born on January 12, 1949 in Kyoto, Japan.  He was known for his notable works which include "A Wild Sheep Chase" (1982), "Norwegian Wood" (1987), "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" (1995) and "Kafka on the Shore" (2002). His works are being translated into 50 different languages.  His books and stories have been bestsellers not just in Japan, but also in other countries across the world. His books have millions of copies outside his native country. His work has received numerous awards internationally, and these include the World Fantasy Award, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, and the Jerusalem Prize.

Summary of the Excerpt

The boy named Kafka wanted to run away from home due to some conflicts with his father. At the same time, he also wanted to find his mother and sister that left their home a long time ago. While Kafka was getting ready for his escape, he found the boy named Crow at the office of his dad. Crow questioned him if he was really ready to start a life on his own. Subsequently, Crow tried to open Kafka's mind from the possible and unexpected things that might happen when he run away. He also made Kafka realize that he is only 15 years old and he has still a lot to know about the world. However, Kafka's eagerness to find his mother and sister and to attain independence from his father prevailed. Thus, he neglected the words of Crow and continued his plan.

Formalist Criticism

Since the excerpt was written in a first person point of view, the story revolves not just to Kafka but also to the readers. The writer chose this to let the readers view themselves in the story and put them in Kafka's shoes.

The writer used different figures of speech and symbolism in writing the story. The name Kafka means "bird" in Czechoslovakia. Therefore, it has the same meaning with the name Crow. The writer used this symbolism to implicitly show that Crow was Kafka's alter ego. Meaning, he was talking to himself because maybe he had no one to talk to. This also depicted the loneliness of Kafka while he was inside his father's house.

The name of Kafka also symbolized his fate since birds love to migrate in different places and to seek adventure. Moreover, Crow is symbolized as bad luck or death, but it doesn't always mean that way. It could also mean mystery and magic which what I think is implicitly showed in the story since Crow is Kafka's alter ego.

In the statement, "Money isn't like mushrooms in a forest" the writer contrasted money from mushrooms since mushrooms grow back easily, while money doesn't. The writer used this figure of speech to help Kafka realize that life outside our comfort zone is really hard to survive. Furthermore, a metaphor of sandstorm was used to decribe Kafka's fate. The writer also used idioms like "set the wheels in motion" and "rain on your parade" to the conversation between Kafka and Crow. These techniques used by the author enhanced the message of the story making it interesting for the readers to read.

Overall Critical Analysis

Life is full of storms that would haunt us wherever we are. In the excerpt, Kafka wanted to run away from these storms and planned to survive on his own. However, the author pointed out that Kafka wouldn't be able to run away from the storm since that storm is he, himself. This means that our life is embedded with problems that we consider as the storm of our life. If we choose to run away from it, then the storm would chase us until we give in.

The story started with Kafka's conversation with Crow about him being ready to run away from his father. However, Crow pointed out Kafka's doubts and insecurities; he explained to Kafka the what if's of life when he choose to be independent. 

Crow was the representation of Kafka's wiser self. He was warning him from every decisions he was trying to make, which was actually what the crow (a bird) does when there was something bad that would happen. Also, he gave advices to Kafka like what a real friend does. However, he was neither opposing nor agreeing to Kafka's decisions; he was just there.

The excerpt could be connected to the lives of every teenager. Since youths of today are more driven by their emotions, they tend to forget how to make accurate decisions. Running away from home doesn't make us less of a person, but everyone should consider the outcomes. Life is indeed tough and hard, but trying to escape from its challenges won't make us succeed; it would just draw us near to vanquishment.

Review

By looking at the text alone, I wasn't able to capture the overall message of the excerpt. Critical analysis helped me in analyzing the real meaning of every symbolism the writer was trying to imply in the story. In my own judgements, I love how the author used different metaphors in creating the story. The choice of words diverted the story into surrealism that made the story more exciting. Overall, the story was worth-reading; it was a big thumbs up for me!!