By: Haruki Murakami “The Seventh Man” Copyright @ Yunbo Gu

The Author’s Introduction: Huruki Murakami was born to parents of literature in 1949. He grew up in two Japanese cities named Kyoto and Kobe. These cities were known for their educational and cultural resources. Murakami was born an only child. To escape his loneliness, he would read. He then began to develop a taste for Western Literature. Today, he is a best-selling author who is well known for the way his novels combine Eastern and Western literature and influences.

Background of “The Seventh Man” Murakami wrote this story in the year of 1996. His inspiration for it was a daydream he had while he was surfing. The story deals with childhood trauma and its consequences during adulthood. http://illiteratiuk.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/the-seventh-man-haruki-murakami/

Author’s Purpose: I believe the author’s purpose is to instruct us that the best way to eliminate fear is to face it instead of letting it overtake us.

Introduction: The narrator grew up in a seaside town known as S. Province. His father was the local doctor so he lived comfortably. His best friend was a boy named K. They seemed to be more like brothers than friends. But one day, something terrible happens. A typhoon hits the town . After a few hours of waiting, the town is in the eye of the storm. The narrator decides to go outside and there, he meets K. They go down to the beach where K is horribly swallowed by a huge wave. The narrator could have saved him, but he didn’t. This blame and grief stays with him for the rest of his childhood and some of his adulthood.

The Middle: It took the narrator a long time to recover from the emotional shock. He didn’t go to school for quite a while, he hardly ate, and spent his days in bed. He also had nightmares about the tragedy. Because of all this, he made the decision to move away from his hometown which he stayed away from for almost forty years. He also became afraid of any large body of water. He was afraid he would drown just like K. Also, he never came close to marrying.

The Conclusion: Finally, the narrator’s father gave him paintings that K had given him. He forces himself to look at them and makes it a habit. In them, he finds K’s gentle, innocent spirit. After arguing with himself, he goes back to his hometown and visits the beach. He realizes that the “deep darkness” inside of him had disappeared. He falls into the waves, but he is no longer afraid. His nightmares stop and the fear vanishes. He learns that the best way to overcome fear, is to face fear itself.

Protagonist & Antagonist: The antagonist in the story is his fear of ocean and water. Since he lost his friend K during a typhoon, he moved to an inland city in Japan and never went back to his home town until he turned fifties. The protagonist in “The Seventh Man” is the narrator himself. He is described as thin, tall with a moustache. He has a small scar by his right eye and has patches of white hair. He is believed to be in his mid-fifties. In the story the narrator tells, he describes himself as a ten year old, protective, and athletic.

Setting: The setting is the time and place in which a story takes place. The story of “The Seventh Man” takes place in the town of S. Province on a September afternoon.

Situation/Climate: In Japanese culture, neighbors not only live close to one another, but are very good friends. In “The Seventh Man”, K and the narrator were very close. “I did have a brother, six years older, but what with the age difference and differences in our personalities, we were never very close. My real brotherly affection went to my friend K.” After K’s death, K’s parents never blamed the seventh man for the death of their son. “As great a blow this had been for them, though, K.’s parents never chided me for having taken their son down to the shore in the midst of a typhoon.” This once again illustrates how close neighbors are in Japan.

Plot: Climax: K is swallowed by the wave. The plot is the story that is told in the novel, play, movie etc. Resolution: Finally, he overcomes his tragic experience by staring at K’s paintings and revisiting his hometown. He is finally at peace. Conflict: K, the narrator’s best friend is swallowed by a wave and because of this, the narrator is overwhelmed with grief and blame.

Symbolism: Symbolism is an object, person, or idea that represents something beyond itself. For example, in the story the ocean not only symbolizes pain, but peace itself.

Tone: The tone of the story is the attitude the writer takes toward a subject. The tone of the story is somber and never does it become lighter. “Just after noon the color of the sky began to change all of a sudden. There was something strange and surreal about it.”

Mood: The mood is the feeling the author tries to create. The mood in “The Seventh Man” plays an important role. The seventh man tells his story with a deep, sad mood that is constantly there. “It just barely missed me, but in my place, it swallowed everything that mattered most to me and swept it off to another world.” The mood was also quite tense especially during the climax. “The moment the wave came before me, however, it stopped. All at once it seemed to run out of energy, to lose its forward motion and simply hover there, in space, crumbling in stillness. And in its crest, inside its cruel, transparent tongue, what I saw was K.”

Theme: The theme is a moral, insight or lesson that the author suggests in the story. The theme of the story is to face and overcome our fears rather than to turn our backs on it. “They tell us that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself; but I don’t believe that. Oh, the fear is there, all right. It comes to us in many different forms, at different times, and overwhelms us. But the most frightening thing we can do at such times is to turn our backs on it, to close our eyes. For then we take the most precious thing inside us and surrender it to something else.”

DONE BY MOHAB OLAYAN PRESENTED BY ABDULRAHMAN MALALLAH