Raaghuv Sompura
Professor Jon Beadle
English 115
10/25/2020
Project Text Final Essay
Throughout all of humanity, problems from the outside and inside have always purged
humanity bringing its people to their worst point. After reading both short stories by Haruki
Murakami, “The Silence” and “The Mirror”. Both stories shined a light on different types of
monsters that we may encounter during our lifetime. One of the types of monsters we may
encounter is the monstrous society or the people we meet every day and know little to nothing
about. The other type of monster is the monstrous self or when you are not able to find comfort
with yourself and you perceive that something is wrong with you. Monstrous society has the
biggest impact because overcoming challenges with yourself can be easier, but when the conflict
is arising because of someone else it can be harder to overcome that challenge. Being able to
handle societies conflicts will help a person in the long run rather than having to deal with
internal conflicts.
Internal conflicts can make a person change a lot; not just form how they behave but how
their mind works. An Internal conflict is a struggle that comes from within one's self-changing
their perception of ideas. During the mirror Murakami talks about how he felt so much hate
coming from the person in the mirror, it took him a short period of time to realize it was him and
didn’t know what to do (Murakami Mirror 59). Not being able to determine what's real from fake
can be a terrifying event certainly causing someone to start question everything around them,
trying to determine what's real from what is not truly there. Following the event from that night,
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Murakami now lives without mirrors in his house and he is afraid to see himself, assuming he
has never had anybody help him with his troubles. Emory Graduate Katye Vytal explains how
fear is developed, “Fear can be learned through direct experience with a threat, but it can also be
learned via social means such as verbal warnings or observ-ing others” (Learning To Fear
Vytal). What personal conflicts can do for a person's mental health and how they should get it
treated so they don’t have to live with themselves who they aren’t comfortable being with.
Living with such a fear could ruin someone's life, stopping them from being happy and taking
away parts of them day by day until there is nothing left.
Murakami’s “The Silence” highlights another major issue with dealing interpersonal
conflicts, conflicts between two people. The Silence truly brings light to what is wrong with
people and provides us with our own opinions on what is happening to the protagonist. The
silence has brought light to an issue that has been going on since the beginning of civilization,
the fact that people are continuing to belittle people because of who they are. Ozawa the
protagonist of the story is a down to earth character who is very self-disciplined, “I’m not the
type to have blind hate, but I swear there are people who just set you off” (Murakami Silence
295). After learning the disciplines of boxing Ozawa was a very straight person who seemed like
he was a very stand-up guy, just quiet so he didn’t attract much attention to himself. Even though
he didn’t bring much attention to himself, Ozawa and Aoki, the antagonist, had a strong hatred
toward each other. Murakami says how even though the character had been taught so many rules
about boxing and fighting he lost control of himself because he was tired of being harassed by
his fellow student (Murakami Silence 294-295). According to the government, about 20% of the
population have been bullied while growing up in school (Stopbullying.gov). Bullying is a major
epidemic that needs to be fought because it is ruining people's lives', to break someone down till
their nothing is not a part of human nature and should be forgotten. How the monsters of society
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continue to run free and still constantly harass people and how it is a much bigger conflict than
someone's view of themself.
Arguing which conflict is worse is a difficult idea to formulate, many people seem to
believe the internal conflicts is the bigger issue though. People believe that mental health is most
important and how to deal with self-problems is more important than dealing with external
conflict. Many people are convinced that to make sure you’re fully healthy and happy you must
cleanse your mind and become free from the force that is holding you back. There are countless
ways to treat mental health, according to mhanational.org there are nine different ways to deal
with/treat mental health issues. Some of these treatments include talking with people to deal with
these issues firsthand and they attempt to establish a bond with the patient, so it is easier for them
to open. The other form of treating mental health is medication, drugs, and many people look
down on using drugs to treat problems but that is not the ultimate solution. Internal conflicts can
lead to many horrible events in a person’s life, to get to that point though what has truly caused
it, an issue with themselves or an issue that came from another person/idea? One does not
assume how the person came to the situation that they are in, although we can look at which
conflict is easier to deal with, internal or external conflicts.
External conflicts are a major issue when finding the solution towards someone's internal
conflict, an example would be domestic problems. When someone is in an abusive relationship
their mental health may spiral but to help with that issue, you must also solve the external issue.
Dealing with external conflicts is not as easy as it may seem, there are many factors that may
blockade one from helping a person in need but that does not mean they should stop trying to
help. Solving problems with the monsters of society are a bigger issue because without getting
rid of it they can come back after you have healed and ruin your mind again. Outside conflicts
leads to intrapersonal conflicts which can be much worse than having a bad view on yourself.
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Looking at the stories Murakami wrote, readers can see that in the silence because of an external
conflict the protagonist deals with two issues, an internal and external conflict. Resolving these
types of issues may be difficult but there is always a direction one can take that will benefit not
only themselves but the people they surround themselves with.
Murakami’s stories highlight different issues and how both are alike and different,
through different writing techniques readers are drawn into the issues and readers then begin to
internalize what is going on and try to figure out a solution. Murakami installs a suspicious tone
or vibe when beginning the stories and he also gives good background in both to set a clear
picture. The mirror is more of a ghost story and a myth, some may believe it others may not
because of how intense it was for the security guard. The story of the boxer is something I feel
like a lot of people can connect with because we see it almost every day, there is always a person
who you just don’t connect with or want any part of. There is a good use of Pathos in the silence
because emotion is a key factor with this story, the hatred and anger the depression and sadness
all come in to play with this story.
Wrapping up, readers are left to ponder both stories in their heads drawing conclusions as
to which story poses the most monstrous society. Murakami does a phenomenal job with his
techniques to make such intense stories that make the reader feel as if they are right beside him
as he writes. The monsters in society are traced back to the monsters on the outside rather than
the inside, once you figure the solution to the problem balance will be restored on the inside.
When a monster is viewed from the inside the victim will be seen as crazed, people believe there
is something wrong in the persons mind, but one can never truly know what someone else is
going through.
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Works Cited
Vytal, Katye. “Learning to Fear.” Association for Psychological Science - APS, 1 Jan. 2007,
www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/learning-to-fear.
Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (ASPA). “Facts About Bullying.” StopBullying.gov, 12
Aug. 2020, www.stopbullying.gov/resources/facts.
“Mental Health Treatments.” Mental Health America, www.mhanational.org/mental-health-
treatments.
“The Mirror” by Haruki Murakami. Copied from Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman,
published by Vintage Books in 2006.
“The Silence” by Haruki Murakami. Copied from The Elephant Vanishes, published by Vintage
Books in 1993.
