#505words

The book “Men Without Women” by Haruki Murakami poses an interesting look into how life without a woman can really be. In a lot of the stories in this book, a man has either lost his partner in someway or is without a partner. I believe the story can be used to think about life in a different way. Many of the things people take for granted in life stem from having a partner that compliments you in a way where you feed off of each other’s greatness.

Most of the stories made me feel sad and almost like I was in the story living in the moment. I wouldn’t want to imagine being in those situations. It makes you appreciate all the people around you and not take them for granted. These are the type of stories that make you evaluate everything you have done the past week. You begin to ask yourself whether you appreciated your mom or your dad. It makes you wonder whether you are enough even when you give all of yourself to your significant other. No one wants to go through the terrible events of life that sometimes occur, but you never know when it will occur or who it will occur to. The only thing we can do is focus on ourselves and how we portray our gifts and talents in a way that is beneficial to those we care about.

A very interesting aspect of the story is how elusive and exclusive happiness seems to be. Happiness is something that is created or destroyed by your own drive and desires for success in life. Success makes people happy. Failure does not. That’s just how things work.

In the first story, where the man who is an actor loses his wife to another man, the man seeks out his wife’s lover to see what he is like. He had a desire to know what his wife thought that he was lacking. This curiosity and feeling of hopelessness are profound in today’s world. People who give their all to others and still get hurt in the end always wonder what it is that they are lacking. It is a struggle to understand the concept that it may have nothing to do with them, that it is solely the person who is cheating. The reality is that the cheater will not even feel the need to explain themselves and this will be hard on the other person because they just want a reason.

On another level of thought, this book just reconfirms my preexisting notion that men can not live without women. This is just my opinion, but a man without a woman is not complete. It may seem silly, but a man and a woman complement each other. Although not all people find their match in the world, human interaction in itself is very important for the health and mental well being of people.

“You remember only what you want to remember. You know only what your heart allows you to know.”

Amy Tan does a wonderful job at wording statements so that no matter what is happening in one’s life it applies.  This quote is a marvelous example.  It is not specific at all, yet when one reads it, they know exactly what it is referring to. No one remembers everything.  Previously, the words “memories make you who you are” were said.  This applies here as well.  If one does not want a part of themselves, they can choose to forget it.  Whether or not they achieve that goal, it is ultimately one’s choice to remember something.  An example of this would be blocking out a memory that hurt you.  Humans are a collection of choices, and sometimes one does not weigh the effects on themselves, or on others when making a choice.  This is the heart, choosing to do something without care for the consequences.  When committing an action of the heart, one ignores what it wants.  This is the heart allowing you to know something or not know it.  An example of this is ignoring that a boy might have cheated on you before because you love him.  Everything that a human does is in the hands of themselves but they might not be fully aware of the consequences because you remember only what you want to remember, and you know only what your heart allows you to know.

“Saving Fish From Drowning”