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Reflection Of The Elephant Vanishes

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Interactive Oral Reflection: The Elephant Vanishes Part 1

Today in class we discussed our interactive orals on The Elephant Vanishes. The topics were Westernization, Family and relationships, Style of short stories, Japanese tradition and Haruki Murakami. The topic that was on Japanese Tradition mainly talked about some common customs and traditions in Japan. As well as Japanese society, traditional cuisine and some connections to the book. It explained how the Japanese culture is under the influence of Western culture. Also we learned about how drinking in Japan and Japanese woman being alone had effected the author to include these elements in each story. We also talked about how the western culture affected Japanese literature as well …show more content…

A green monster has been sitting and observing the narrator this whole time, everyday falling more and more in love with her. Finally he decided to crawl out of his hole and confess his love for her. When the monster crawled out of his hole to the narrator, he told her, ‘’ Don’t you see I have come here to propose to you… I love you so much, I could not stand it anymore down deep down deep’’( Murakami 154 ). This portrays an element of observational love seen through a dialogue between characters. Murakami makes the reader feel like they are the ones being observed by putting them in the shoes of the narrator, adding a different perspective to observational love. After being proposed to, the narrator started saying countless horrific things about the monster, which caused him to get upset. Realizing that the monster began to grow weak, she decided to kill him with the use of her thoughts. This shows unrequited love because the monster is actually a symbol for her husband that does not give her enough love. By confronting him she manages to show that the love is unrequited: ‘’ I was not afraid of the monster anymore. I painted pictures in my mind of all the cruel things I wanted to do to it’’(155). By showing the reader her thought process, Murakami manages to make it easier to understand what is going on in the narrator’s life. Helping us draw conclusions to her not getting enough attention from her husband and seeking for it somewhere

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