In Haruki Murakami’s Town of Cats, the protagonist, Tengo, embarks upon a journey to visit his father at a sanatorium for answers about his identity. Tengo recalls the unorthodox childhood faced alongside his father with the abandonment of his mother and blames him for not giving him the life he wanted as a child. Tengo knows his mother cheated on his father and he has doubts about his father being his real father. When he sees his father, Tengo has an altercation with his father and expects him to answer his questions about his identity. His father asks him to read him a story and he then proceeds to respond to his angry son with a metaphorical statement about his childhood and future. Upon an interview with John Wray from The Paris Review, Murakami reveals one of his intentions in writing; “. . . “family” has played an overly significant role in Japanese literature. I wanted to depict my main character as an independent, …show more content…
First, Tengo’s father responds to Tengo’s reading of The Town of Cats, “When a vacuum forms, something has to come along to fill it. That’s what everybody does” (Murakami 21). Then, Tengo’s father answers the controversial question, “Just a vacuum. Your mother joined her body with a vacuum and gave birth to you. I filled that vacuum” (Murakami 22). The multiple use of vacuum symbolizes emptiness. In the story Tengo reads, the vacuum is the empty town and as we see the portrayal of events, the filling in the emptiness of the town are the cats. Based on this theory, Tengo’s father is trying to tell his son the identity of his biological father doesn’t matter, it holds no weight thus the answer is an empty one. Regardless of the true identity of Tengo’s biological father, it was this very man who assumed the role as a father figure in Tengo’s life rather than leave Tengo fatherless and
In a restaurant, picture a young boy enjoying breakfast with his mother. Then suddenly, the child’s gesture expresses how his life was good until “a man started changing it all” (285). This passage reflects how writer, Dagoberto Gilb, in his short story, “Uncle Rock,” sets a tone of displeasure in Erick’s character as he writes a story about the emotions of a child while experiencing his mother’s attempt to find a suitable husband who can provide for her, and who can become a father to him. Erick’s quiet demeanor serves to emphasis how children may express their feelings of disapproval. By communicating through his silence or gestures, Erick shows his disapproval towards the men in a relationship with his mother as he experiences them.
The World Fair of 1933 brought promise of new hope and pride for the representation of Chicago, America. As Daniel Burnham built and protected America’s image through the pristine face of the fair, underlying corruption and social pollution concealed themselves beneath Chicago’s newly artificial perfection. Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City meshes two vastly different stories within 19th century America and creates a symbolic narrative about the maturing of early Chicago.
At a young age the narrator thrives off the excitement of wrestling with his father, not only from the thrill of competition but pride for having such a strong father figure. “This ritual of father-son competition in fact had started early in my life” (Kennedy 139). The author develops the narrator at a young age, showing his naivety and excitement in little things such as wrestling. Although the narrator would lose at arm wrestling he would: “…only giggle, happy to have such a strong father” (Kennedy 139). The narrator did not put much thought into wrestling with his father, he only saw it as bonding time. Since the narrator is still young, he accepts that this is the only level from which he would connect with his father, slowly though, his feelings begin to change. As the narrator beings to grow older he wouldn’t “…giggle anymore, at least not around my father” (Kennedy 139). The same activity that the narrator found enjoyment in was getting dull. He was expecting more from his father. The narrator and his father had reached a point in their relationship where the narrator was beginning to surpass his father. “Now my father is
After this event, the reader can really see that deep down, the protagonist loves and cares for his father. As he hears his father enter the house babbling gibberish, he begins getting worried.
In the book The House on Mango Street, written by Sandra Cisneros, the main character, Esperanza, was affected by many external forces, including family. Esperanza is a young teen who just moved to Mango Street, and she doesn’t like her house because it’s ugly, and she dreams of another house that her family has promised one day. “I have inherited her name, but I don’t want to inherit her place by the window (Cisneros 11). This was in reference to her great grandmother who didn’t want to marry, but Esperanza’s great grandfather kidnapped her and forced her to marry, where Esperanza’s great grandmother never forgave him and looked out a window for the rest of her life. Esperanza didn’t chose her name, her family did, and she didn’t chose who her family is either. The external force of family is an issue in real life just as it is in this novel, and the teens learn to either love it or hate it.
In the article The Changing Landscape of Violence in Cormac McCarthy’s Early Novels and the Border Trilogy. by Vince Brewton, the author explains the effects of violence and the cultural context in which the work was written on the novel All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy.
Mark Twain once stated, “You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus” (Brainy Quote). Despite the imaginative challenges children are faced with in reality, they are able to cope with the advantage of time and mental resilience. Stephen King in his essay, "My Creature from the Black Lagoon" from the Wake Tech English 111 Reader, compared the idea of imaginative strength in children and in that of adults to see who would better fit the horror genre audience. Stephen King recalls one particular time from his past that sends shivers down even the hardest of spines.
This passage defines the character of the narrators’ father as an intelligent man who wants a better life for his children, as well as establishes the narrators’ mothers’ stubbornness and strong opposition to change as key elements of the plot.
The love one has for their family causes one to do anything to keep them out of harm, including taking the role of mother/father. Henry Lawson creates an image in his readers’ mind of the protagonist and all that she does for her
There are key quotes throughout this novel that display the imprisonment that the father went through. Near the end of the story, the narrator states
The characterization of Cato and Emerson’s stepmother and father is what lead to the parental neglect on the two brothers. In the short story, “The Farmer’s Children,” the stepmother is characterized as
...and how we perceive ideas about what writers are trying to get across. This story is a clear representation of family values and true inheritance.
Town of Cats written by Haruki Murakami, is an exquisite short story about a young man named Tengo. The story describes one particular day in Tengo’s life while also reflecting on his unimaginable childhood. The story provides an immense amount of information on Tengo’s relationship with his father, especially at a younger age. The suffering relationship between father and son is very evident in the story.
Growing up, I always found sanctuary confiding in my father’s youngest brother, Dean; I had a favorite uncle, as we all seem to have at one point in our lives. Since Uncle Dean was the youngest, I looked at him as the coolest out of the myriad of older relatives. He often bought me ice cream sundaes and showered me with aimless jokes and “piggy-back” rides. Most of the time spent visiting my father on weekends, was actually spent wrestling with Uncle Dean or playing video games until the break of daylight. I looked forward weekends, because that meant “Uncle Dean Time”. I expected to hang out with my Uncle Dean every Friday and Saturday. In fact, I knew for certain he would be waiting at my father’s home with some brand new clothes or any other prize vied for by a 10 year old. Little did I know that over the next coupe of years, I would gain knowledge of one of the most important lessons of life: value those dearest to you, for you never know how long they will be in your company.
In the stories, “The Tell Tale Heart” and “The Black Cat,” both narrators have a misguided perception that induces their senses to confuse reality with delusions. This misguided perception is brought on by the abnormal psychology of both men. This is a common theme in Poes’ stories. In “The Black Cat” the narrator feels a sense of fright and disgust when reviewing the attached behavior of the second cat. Poe’s description of the second cat is eerily similar to that of the first cat, Pluto. As author Magdalen Wing-Chi Ki states, “the narrator is convinced that it ‘must be’ Pluto on account of two things: it follows him around in the hope of becoming his absolute partner, and one of its eyes is gone.” A rational person understands that it is impossible for the second cat to be Pluto, but the narrator is so misguided that he believes this inconceivable delusion. This mistaken fantasy fuels the narrator’s madness, giving him more evidence that mu...