Life and Death (Norwegian Wood)

Death is one of the most controversial subjects of all times. Almost nobody wants to die, and still everybody does. Humans don’t see death as an inevitable part of life but as the opposite of it. As a consequence dying is one of the things humans are most afraid of. And they hate it so much, they even punish people with it since ancient times.

I very much liked the reflexion Haruki Murakami makes about death through the novels main character Toru Watanabe. Saying “Death exists, not as the opposite but as a part of life. (…) Until that time, I had understood death as something entirely separate from and independent of life. The hand of death is bound to take us, I had felt, but until the day it reaches us, it leaves us alone. (…) The night Kizuki died, however, I lost the ability to see death (and life) in such simple terms.” (p.25).

In my opinion, we should enjoy life without being afraid of dying. Enjoying each day, or at least getting the most out of it.  And accepting the fact that death is a part of life, and seeing it as a hole, instead of separate things. I’m not saying we should rush our own death, just that we accept it when it naturally comes. Life is a wonderful thing, and as death is a part of life, so is death. 

Vocabulary

Convoluted

- Intricate

-Complicated

-“And because questions of beauty and happiness have come such difficult and convoluted propositions for me now”

Clinging           

- To remain emotionally attached. (www.thefreedictionary.com)

- Holding on to something

-“I find myself clinging instead to other standards”

Lumberjack

- One who fells trees and transports the timber to a mil. (www.thefreedictionary.com)

- Logger

-“Girls are supposed to be a little more elegant when they put their cigarettes out. You did that like a lumberjack

Blurred

- Not clearly defined or easy to perceive or understand.  (www.thefreedictionary.com)

-Something that is not clear to the eye. Blurry.

-“Everything looked blurred and grimy as if wrapped in a haze of exhaust gas”.

Grimy

- Covered or smudged with grim. (www.thefreedictionary.com)

-Dirty

-“Everything looked blurred and grimy as if wrapped in a haze of exhaust gas”.