Haruki Murakami's A Wild Sheep Chase

A Wild Sheep Chase is an unusual horror novel, considering that when people think about horror stories they are used to stories about terrifying entities not of this world along with fast pace drama and crazy situations. What makes A Wild Sheep Chase an unusual horror novel is that the story is slow and is somewhat realistic about the narrator even if the people he encounters are not. Throughout the story it shows that the narrator’s existence is bland with no real anchors tying him to anything or anyone and that the quest to find the sheep gives his life a purpose, even for a short amount of time. The fact that no one in the story has a real name reflects the narrator’s point of view of life, considering his reaction to names. With the writer’s choice of not giving the narrator a name it solidifies the fact that the narrator has no real connection to anyone even with the reader. This creates the feeling that the narrator’s character is so open that he could be anyone, no real defining factors about him.


Like with all horror stories they all have common tropes and A Wild Sheep Chase is no exception. You have A Fate Worse Than Death: Where the Rat killed himself in order to be rid of the sheep’s spirit. Magical Realism: A sheep that possess a person’s body and soul and a woman with ears that can predict the future. Mirror Scare: the narrator is freaked out when he sees that the Sheep Man has no reflection in the mirror. You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Once the Sheep is done with you it abandons your body, leaving an empty shell. Divorced: the narrator’s wife divorces him. Catchphrase: the narrator says “just great” many times. Corrupt Corporate Executive: the boss’s secretary threatens to destroy the narrator and his company if he doesn’t find the sheep. Sealed Evil: the Sheep was sleeping in a cave when the Sheep Professor came along and woke it up. Even with all these common tropes the author of A Wild Sheep Chase was able to have their story stand out by having the story’s pace be slow and not using the characters names.

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