Nature Imagery in Hanalei Bay by Murakami Haruki

Abstract

This article studies nature imagery in Murakami Haruki's short story, "Hanalei Bay," published in the author’s Tokyo Mysterious Story Collection. The results are that the nature imagery there is linked to “Hanalei Bay,” in addition to a dichotomous portrait of nature as harsh and deadly, as when the protagonist Sachi’s son Takashi dies in a shark attack. Nature is also depicted as a site for psychological solace, where Sachi recovers from mourning. In addition, in order to create a perplexing atmosphere associated with the book’s title, the spirit of a young one-legged Japanese surfer is described. From another viewpoint, the story’s conundrum might be Sachi's coincidental meeting with two young Japanese men and “giving them a lift,” reawakening her maternal instincts and reviving her true identity. In this way, she accepts her grief, forgives herself, and allows life to go on. Apart from “Hanalei Bay,” the dichotomous nature image is also portrayed in Murakami's “Thailand.” Both of these stories express a parallel nature acceptance and protagonists resolving psychological challenges.