I went book shopping and I ran into a short story that I read once for a literature class in college. It was one that I really enjoyed, so I decided to do a little analysis of it. Here's the story...
On seeing the 100% perfect girl one beautiful April morning
by Haruki Murakami
One beautiful April morning, on a narrow side street in Tokyo's fashionable Harujuku neighborhood, I walked past the 100% perfect girl.
Tell you the truth, she's not that goodlooking. She doesn't stand out in any way. Her clothes are nothing special. The back of her hair is still bent out of shape from sleep. She isn't young, either - must be near thirty, not even close to a "girl," properly speaking. But still, I know from fifty yards away: She's the 100% perfect girl for me. The moment I see her, there's a rumbling in my chest, and my mouth is as dry as a desert.
Maybe you have your own particular favorite type of girl - one with slim ankles, say, or big eyes, or graceful fingers, or you're drawn for no good reason to girls who take their time with every meal. I have my own preferences, of course. Sometimes in a restaurant I'll catch myself staring at the girl at the next table to mine because I like the shape of her nose.
But no one can insist that his 100% perfect girl correspond to some preconceived type. Much as I like noses, I can't recall the shape of hers - or even if she had one. All I can remember for sure is that she was no great beauty. It's weird.
"Yesterday on the street I passed the 100% girl," I tell someone.
"Yeah?" he says. "Good-looking?"
"Not really."
"Your favorite type, then?"
"I don't know. I can't seem to remember anything about her - the shape of her eyes or the size of her breasts."
"Strange."
"Yeah. Strange."
"So anyhow," he says, already bored, "what did you do? Talk to her? Follow her?"
"Nah. Just passed her on the street."
She's walking east to west, and I west to east. It's a really nice April morning.
Wish I could talk to her. Half an hour would be plenty: just ask her about herself, tell her about myself, and - what I'd really like to do - explain to her the complexities of fate that have led to our passing each other on a side street in Harajuku on a beautiful April morning in 1981. This was something sure to be crammed full of warm secrets, like an antique clock build when peace filled the world.
After talking, we'd have lunch somewhere, maybe see a Woody Allen movie, stop by a hotel bar for cocktails. With any kind of luck, we might end up in bed.
Potentiality knocks on the door of my heart.
Now the distance between us has narrowed to fifteen yards.
How can I approach her? What should I say?
"Good morning, miss. Do you think you could spare half an hour for a little conversation?"
Ridiculous. I'd sound like an insurance salesman.
"Pardon me, but would you happen to know if there is an all-night cleaners in the neighborhood?"
No, this is just as ridiculous. I'm not carrying any laundry, for one thing. Who's going to buy a line like that?
Maybe the simple truth would do. "Good morning. You are the 100% perfect girl for me."
No, she wouldn't believe it. Or even if she did, she might not want to talk to me. Sorry, she could say, I might be the 100% perfect girl for you, but you're not the 100% boy for me. It could happen. And if I found myself in that situation, I'd probably go to pieces. I'd never recover from the shock. I'm thirty-two, and that's what growing older is all about.
We pass in front of a flower shop. A small, warm air mass touches my skin. The asphalt is damp, and I catch the scent of roses. I can't bring myself to speak to her. She wears a white sweater, and in her right hand she holds a crisp white envelope lacking only a stamp. So: She's written somebody a letter, maybe spent the whole night writing, to judge from the sleepy look in her eyes. The envelope could contain every secret she's ever had.
I take a few more strides and turn: She's lost in the crowd.
Now, of course, I know exactly what I should have said to her. It would have been a long speech, though, far too long for me to have delivered it properly. The ideas I come up with are never very practical.
Oh, well. It would have started "Once upon a time" and ended "A sad story, don't you think?"
Once upon a time, there lived a boy and a girl. The boy was eighteen and the girl sixteen. He was not unusually handsome, and she was not especially beautiful. They were just an ordinary lonely boy and an ordinary lonely girl, like all the others. But they believed with their whole hearts that somewhere in the world there lived the 100% perfect boy and the 100% perfect girl for them. Yes, they believed in a miracle. And that miracle actually happened.
One day the two came upon each other on the corner of a street.
"This is amazing," he said. "I've been looking for you all my life. You may not believe this, but you're the 100% perfect girl for me."
"And you," she said to him, "are the 100% perfect boy for me, exactly as I'd pictured you in every detail. It's like a dream."
They sat on a park bench, held hands, and told each other their stories hour after hour. They were not lonely anymore. They had found and been found by their 100% perfect other. What a wonderful thing it is to find and be found by your 100% perfect other. It's a miracle, a cosmic miracle.
As they sat and talked, however, a tiny, tiny sliver of doubt took root in their hearts: Was it really all right for one's dreams to come true so easily?
And so, when there came a momentary lull in their conversation, the boy said to the girl, "Let's test ourselves - just once. If we really are each other's 100% perfect lovers, then sometime, somewhere, we will meet again without fail. And when that happens, and we know that we are the 100% perfect ones, we'll marry then and there. What do you think?"
"Yes," she said, "that is exactly what we should do."
And so they parted, she to the east, and he to the west.
The test they had agreed upon, however, was utterly unnecessary. They should never have undertaken it, because they really and truly were each other's 100% perfect lovers, and it was a miracle that they had ever met. But it was impossible for them to know this, young as they were. The cold, indifferent waves of fate proceeded to toss them unmercifully.
One winter, both the boy and the girl came down with the season's terrible influenza, and after drifting for weeks between life and death they lost all memory of their earlier years. When they awoke, their heads were as empty as the young D. H. Lawrence's piggy bank.
They were two bright, determined young people, however, and through their unremitting efforts they were able to acquire once again the knowledge and feeling that qualified them to return as full fledged members of society. Heaven be praised, they became truly upstanding citizens who knew how to transfer from one subway line to another, who were fully capable of sending a special-delivery letter at the post office. Indeed, they even experienced love again, sometimes as much as 75% or even 85% love.
Time passed with shocking swiftness, and soon the boy was thirty-two, the girl thirty.
One beautiful April morning, in search of a cup of coffee to start the day, the boy was walking from west to east, while the girl, intending to send a special-delivery letter, was walking from east to west, but along the same narrow street in the Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo. They passed each other in the very center of the street. The faintest gleam of their lost memories glimmered for the briefest moment in their hearts. Each felt a rumbling in their chest. And they knew:
She is the 100% perfect girl for me.
He is the 100% perfect boy for me.
But the glow of their memories was far too weak, and their thoughts no longer had the clarity of fourteen years earlier. Without a word, they passed each other, disappearing into the crowd. Forever.
A sad story, don't you think?
Yes, that's it, that is what I should have said to her.
Murakami, Haruki. "On Seeing The 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning." Exploring Literature. By Frank Madden. Trans. Jay Robin. 4th ed. New York: Longman, 2009. 470-473. Print.
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| http://www.haruki-murakami.com/post/39824135526/on-seeing-the-100-perfect-girl-one-beautiful |
So now that you've read the story, what was it? True love or infatuation? Or both?
Haruki Murakami uses literary devices to effectively deliver the theme of his work: true love always finds its way; if it fails to do so, it's not true love. The narrator, whose name is not revealed, meets a girl during his youth whom he believes to be his 100% perfect girl. Both doubting the possibility of love at first sight, they say goodbye hoping that if they are meant for each other love will bring them back together. Fourteen years later, suffering of memory loss, they meet again on the street but unlike their first encounter, they walk past each other without saying a word. Yes, destiny physically crossed their lives again, but emotionally they remained forever strangers. The setting – geographical, historical, physical location, and atmosphere – and symbolism – indirect representations – play a crucial role in helping to see beyond words and understanding the theme by allowing the reader to feel present in the story.
The physical setting in which the boy and the girl meet for the first time helps the reader visualize a casual encounter in a romantic atmosphere, filled with joy. They do not meet in any random place, but specifically on "the corner of a street" (472). Corners result from perpendicular lines, which by definition, always intersect in a perfect ninety degree angle. In other words, the young boy and girl were destined to meet each other at the intersection, trapped in an emotion that made the very moment seem perfect; love. As they confess what their young hearts believe is true, that they are each other's true love, they move to an equally romantic setting. They do not sit on a bench by a bus stop, for instance. They sit on a park bench where they unite holding hands (472). A park is where many couples like to spend time because it is a simple, yet relaxing interaction with nature and with each other. Sitting at a coffee shop would not create the same romantic ambience that a park, a lake, or any other natural setting would. A coffee shop would be a better place for two friends with solely friendship intentions to meet and have a talk.
When the boy and the girl meet again fourteen years later as adults, geographical, historical, and physical setting work together to evoke the reader's imagination into why the moment seems ideal, but still fails to reunite their hearts. Setting is important because it is repeated throughout the story. The three types of setting are expressed in the very first sentence, "One beautiful April morning, on a narrow side street in Tokyo's fashionable Harajuku neighborhood, I walk past the 100% perfect girl" (470). In order to understand the theme, the author finds it vital that the reader is provided with this information as early as the first sentence and even the title of the story. The time of the year and day could completely change the response a reader has of the story. Specifically, the encounter takes place on an April morning; the heart of Spring. This season brings warmer days that produce sprouts in previously dried plants and trees. It's the season in which colorful flowers grow, the skies are clear, and birds sing louder creating a sense of joy and happiness. The morning creates an image of a sunrise which shapes a feeling of romance and new beginnings. The neighborhood in Japan is described as fashionable. One way of picturing this is a street full of people wearing different, colorful, costumes that make it hard for them to stand out from one another. The girl doesn't look especially different from them. The moment when they pass each other again occurs "in front of a flower shop" (471). Why not a coffee shop? Because the flowers represent their love. However, the flowers are no longer growing; they are cut just like their fantasy love. Even though in their youth they felt the strongest kind of love they had ever felt, fourteen years later they walk by each other without saying a word. They are no longer each other's 100% perfect boy and girl.
In order to make the reader believe how strongly the boy felt that the girl was 100% perfect for him, symbolism comes in play. What the symbols represent varies on the background and personal experiences of each reader. For example, thorns of a rose might symbolize the hardships and pain to some, but protection to others. The narrator of this story puts an emphasis on how, despite his attraction to girls' noses, he cannot even recall if this 100% perfect girl had one (471). The nose is one of the most noticeable features of a face. In a girl, it contributes to her level of beauty; a big or small nose, relative to the face, makes her more or less physically attractive. Usually first attraction of the opposite sex is that of physical characteristics; however, the boy in the story makes it clear that his feelings for the girl were not physical. The feeling of true love he felt without having talked to her before was incredibly strong that he did not notice the one thing he likes the most on girls; her nose. When they find each other again in adulthood, he notices that she carries a "white envelope lacking only a stamp" and then assumes it contains a letter (471). A letter is generally longer than a note, which in this case represents the long time that has passed and her story – the experiences that shaped her life. It's in a white envelope because her life is unknown to the boy. He wishes to know its content by talking to her, but afraid that his memories will be destroyed by reality, he chooses not to. Even though he is ignorant of what her current feelings are, he believes that he is the missing stamp to complete her letter; her life story. If he truly was, they both would have stopped to talk about their true love.
Although the narrator mostly focuses on the romantic, almost unrealistic, side, the story transitions to reality and the overall theme with the help of symbolism. Just like the setting, there is an emphasis through repetition of the fact that she walks to the east and he walks to the west (471). Even though they both believe they are each other's true love and eventually will be brought together by destiny, both times (when they first say goodbye and when they meet again on the street) they walk in opposite directions. This foreshadows that their lives are not going, and will not end, on the same path. It is significant when they walk past each other because, unlike their very first encounter, they walk on parallel lines in opposite direction. By definition parallel lines never intersect; they were not meant to cross their lives a second time. This could be a reason why even when he felt the strong need to talk to her, he remained quiet and walked away. It was the work of destiny. After showing the cruel reality, he ends his story by referring to it as a sad one (473). A first impression could be that he is regretful of letting the love of his life go, after destiny did bring them together, for fear that he will be rejected. However, he calls it a sad story because even though in their youth they truly believed in a love fantasy, the reality of fourteen years later is that they are not each other's 100% perfect lovers, and they know this. Yes, he blames their failure on the loss of memory they suffered, but in reality this incident would not matter when it comes to true love. They did not know, or had any memory of, each other when they first met to begin with. If it had been true love, they would have felt the love at first sight again despite of unfamiliarity with each other.
In order to have a better understanding of the theme of a story, the reader must be able to fully engage in the text as if being present in it. Writers use literary devices such as imagery, simile, and personification to help the reader sense the emotions and feel the action, creating a better reading experience. In the short story by Haruki Murakami, the two most important literary devices that contribute to the central idea are setting and symbolism. He successfully conveys the point that true love will find its way regardless of obstacles such as time and memory loss. The boy and girl were then carried by infatuation, a strong attraction mistaken for love, and that is a sad story.
So, what are your thoughts of the story? is there such thing as "destiny"? or did they create their own destiny by choosing to, first, let go and then walk past each other without saying a word?
Sorry for the lengthy post and thanks if you made it all the way to the end :)
