“True Love” by Haruki
Murakami
Japanese author Haruki
Murakami wrote an essay called “True Love” after having won various awards for
his writing, including the World Fantasy Award and the Frank O-Connor
International Short Story Award. In this essay, Murakami utilizes descriptive
simile and allegorical narrative in order to convince the audience that true love
is rare and fleeting. When describing the “100% perfect girl” he saw on the
streets of Harujuku, the author states that “the moment I see her, there’s a
rumbling in my chest, and my mouth is as dry as a desert” (Murakami). This illustration
of the man’s feelings shows how great of an affect falling in love can have on
a person, even when they haven’t spoken a word to the other person. The simile portraying
the author’s state upon passing by a wonderful woman proves that love can occur
in an instant, and, as Murakami does not interact with the girl, it shows that
love can leave as soon as it came. Additionally, Murakami uses an allegory
about two lovers who, instead of staying together as they belonged, separated
in hopes of finding each other again someday, thus reassuring their beliefs of
their infatuation. Unfortunately, the boy and the girl lose their memories of
each other, and although they do meet again, they do not end up together. This
story proves to the audience that love is something to cherish and take care of
if a couple does have it, because you can never know what life brings you. The
two lovers were both deathly ill and lost their memories; however, if they kept
the love they had from the beginning, they could have gotten through it together.
Murakami wants the audience to realize that love can come and go, therefore
everyone must grab it and hold on tight once they have it.
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