Murakami's Rich Characters

 Even without applying a Marxist lens, it is interesting to look at Murakami's portrayal of wealthy characters. Boku is almost always comfortably middle class, and seems to take much pride in not being too wealthy nor poor. Similarly, many of his closest companions are of similar socioeconomic standing. We sometimes find characters of a higher "social standing" than Boku, which gives us insight into how Boku (and in turn, Murakami) views rich people. 

The most obvious example from our class is Nagasawa from Norwegian Wood. Despite his apparent wisdom, he is insufferably arrogant. He is a textbook "rich asshole," and yet Watanabe is still drawn to him. It may be due to pure boredom and loneliness that Watanabe continues to associate with him, but it isn't until Hatsumi's death and Nagasawa's aloof reaction that Watanabe cuts him off. I see this as a comment about how we associate with people we perceive to be of a higher status even if we do not value them as individuals. Would Watanabe (who seemingly doesn't care about wealth) still tolerate Nagasawa's flaws if he was of a lesser social standing? 

Another favorite example are Yuki's parents in Dance Dance Dance. They are both famous, wealthy artists who do not care enough for their daughter, and expect a certain degree of involvement from Boku, who is little more than a complete stranger. Boku, who likes Yuki and has nothing better to do, agrees to their tasks and is her main parental figure. I see this as Boku being exploited by the rich parents, but again, he seems to overlook this and be okay with it. 

However, in the same novel, Boku is quite sympathetic to Gotanda, the famous actor he knew from his childhood. A troubled figure, Boku invests real time and energy into his friendship with Gotanda. I think Gotanda is certainly meant to be a tragic, sympathetic figure in the novel, and perhaps this is a comment on how the rich and famous are humans too – Gotanda has no real friends and suffers from true loneliness – and deserve sympathy.

I find Murakami's apolitical stances interesting because it seems to lend more merit to the social and real life roles that the rich and famous have in our lives. He recognizes the degrees of exploitation asserted by such people, while also showing that they are given a large degree of forgiveness and sympathy for their actions. However, he looks beyond actions and into the personality of some such figures, showing a human behind the seemingly untouchable and perfect class. This duality allows us to understand the perspective that a middle class man might have in a hypercapitalist nation like Japan, and gives us insight into the daily lives and broader social commentary of its consquences.

John M. Spaulding