From "Sheep" (i.e. Illusion) To Reality

In The Wild Sheep Chase, the "sheep," which resides in the body of "Rat," symbolizes the attempt to manipulate the center of authority. Through the decisiveness and courage (i.e. suicide) of "Rat," this transgressive desire is finally destroyed and banished from the world. The story of the "sheep" ends at this point.

In other words, by writing Hear The Wind Sing, Pinball 1973, and then The Wild Sheep Chase, Murakami used the year 1970 as the starting point to conclude together with the following decade all issues tied up with The All Student Dissension Congress to which he belonged. (Note by translator: The All Student Dissension Congress refers to the dispute among universities in 1968-9. As distinguished from the existing self-ruling student organizations, they were dispute organizations formed by new left-winged parties and non-party students.)

According to Kawamoto Saburou, (Note by translator: Kawamoto Saburou is a significant Japanese contemporary scholar in urban studies. He wrote an important research essay on Murakami's novels named as "In Such An Empty World") the conclusion made by Murakami, that "Sheep equals to revolution and self-negation," has finally emerged.

But why, after six years, must Haruki Murakami wrote Dance Dance Dance, another novel related to "sheep"? Within those six years, Murakami produced two long novels, South Of The Border • West Of The Sun (85) and The Noweygian Wood (87), together with some other short stories, translations and miscellaneous writings.