The Elephant Vanishes 1st Post
“…people live in the prison cells of their own tendencies”(98).
The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami is a book full of many unique short stories. Most of the stories are confusing since they appear to begin and end at a random point. However, it appears that the authors purpose is to tell the lives of middle aged adults, whom at this point in their lives have careers, perhaps kids, and/or a loved one. The reason this is important, people at this age live a life full of routines.Young adults typically are in college and are experimenting, feeling a little more free in life than when they were teenagers. Elderly people have the joy of spreading their wisdom with their grandchildren and quite simply preparing for death. On the other hand, middle aged people aren’t able to be as free as they once were and their busy taking care of their new home, new career,&possibly children of their own. This means that everything these people(characters) who are middle aged, have developed as much as they have allowed themselves to. Meaning, they (characters)live life with many routines because they have become accustomed to their new home, careers, and loved ones. It’s almost as though middle aged people settle for what they’ve made of their lives yet they are truly prisoners of their own tendencies. These people(characters) dislike the routines and seek something different because it makes them feel in control of their lives. Nonetheless, these people always had control of their tendencies but it’s when their plates become full of responsibilites that they realize what they’ve done with their lives, then is when these people want to break free of their tendencies.The problem, it’s kinda to late for them to break free of the tendencies that make them feel imprisoned. They have urges to do things differently but the harsh reality is that what’s done is done, no matter what they do differently now, at this age they can never be as free as they once were.
