(contains spoilers)
Like many novels of Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore touches upon several abstract concepts and themes of life. I'm about halfway through the novel, and these a couple the themes I look forward to exploring more as I continue.
Connection
There's an abundance of connection throughout the novel. The two protagonists, young Kafka Tamura and the elderly Nakata's fates have been connected in an unexplained way. There's foreshadowing with the mention of Nakata's shadow, which is rather faint. He's recommended to go and search for its other half. The first major connection made between Kafka and Nakata occurs on the night of the murder of Kafka's father, Koichi Tamura. In Nakata's storyline, Tamura sr. is the peculiar "Johnnie Walker", a cat murderer and soul collector. That night, Nakata awakens after the murder with clean clothes, the blood stains simply gone. Several miles away, in a different city, Kafka finds himself with the past few hours of his memory gone and covered in blood.
Fate
Fate is a prominent theme so far. As with many things, Nakata and Kafka contrast in the idea of fate in their lives. Nakata has just lived a life where things happen to him. There was an accident that ruined his life, his cousin took all of his life savings but a few hundred dollars, he's alone and doesn't do a lot. Despite his misfortune, he's never felt bad about it or dissatisfied. Instead, he just accepts it and carries on. Even where i am in the book, he's travelling with no legitimate destination in mind, just "west". Kafka, on the other hand, has some sort of wild life prophecy strongly resembling the prophecy of Oedipus Rex. The concrete nature of his destiny is furthered in the uncanny lyrics of "Kafka on the Shore", a song.
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