Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

In Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Murakami divides the protagonist into two characters, Boku and Watashi. In End of the World, Boku is assigned to the fantasy world of a walled town; here, at the end of the world, he serves as the reader of old dreams that are lodged within the skulls of unicorns. In Hard-Boiled Wonderland, the character Watashi is assigned to a futuristic Tokyo that is the scene of deadly conflicts between two competing information networks. Throughout the novel, the two worlds increasingly connect and, in the end, Boku and Watashi fuse into one. The parallelism is found within the length of each chapter, the characters, and the significant occurrences. The two parts of the title reflects the double structure of the novel. Two separate narratives— one entitled Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the other The End of the World— progress in alternating chapters. "Watashi, the protagonist, is a man without emotion. Which, coupled with his brilliant work on computers, makes him the ideal candidate for an aging professor who is hiding in the sewers of Tokyo." (Contemporary Authors, 139) While underground, surrounded by a waterfall and by the INKling creatures, he is hidden from the two competing information organizations that control everything Japan— the System and the Factory. The scientist has devised a code by operating on the brains of selected computer workers. Watashi is summoned to the scientist's lair, presented with a unicorn's skull, and told of a project entitled The End of the World. The problem for calcutecWatashi is his engineered subconscious. The black box in which his shuffling takes place is short-circuiting, and when the meltdown is complete, his world, and his conscious self, will disappear leaving him trapped deep within his own subconscious. In a conversation with Watashi, the Professor explains the situation. "But the question here is that with the electrical discharge from the meltdown, the channel's been dealt an abnormal shock. And your brain's so surprised, it's started up emergency adjustment procedures." "Meaning, I'll keep producing more and more new memories?" "‘Fraid so. Or more simply, deja vus of sorts. Don't differ all that much in principle. That'll go on for a while. Till finally you reassemble a world out of these new memories. This very moment you're preparin' t'move to another world." (Murakami, 283)

It is here, at the end of the world, that the second story occurs— the ancient walled town. In alternating chapters, Boku arrives to this home of the unicorns, is separated from his shadow, and is set to work interpreting the dreams of the skulls in the library. Each End of the World chapter is precisely half the length of its corresponding
Hard-Boiled Wonderland chapter. To comprehend this deliberate manipulation of chapter length, one must understand Watashi's process of laundering numeric data. Watashi describes this procedure as follows. "I input the data-as-given into my right brain, then after converting it via a totally unrelated sign-pattern, I transfer it to my left brain, which I then output as completely recorded numbers and type up on paper. The way in which the right brain and the left brain are split holds the key." (32) Watashi continues by explaining his work and rest schedule for laundering data. "One hour on the job, thirty minutes rest— regular as clock-work. Otherwise the right-brain-left-brain interface becomes muddled and the resulting tabulations glitched." (34) To catagorize, the left side of the brain— the seat of most logical thought— is dominant in Hard Boiled Wonderland, while the right side of the brain— the creative hemisphere— rules The End of the World. Given this information, as well as Watashi's work and rest schedule, the length of each corresponding chapter is clear. Watashi's act of working for one hour represents the chapter length of A Hard-Boiled Wonderland, while taking a thirty minute rest period represents The End of the World. Since each End of the World chapter is precisely half the length of each corresponding Hard-Boiled Wonderland chapter, the comparative length of the two stories is a literal representation of the protagonist's work and rest period, as well as a symbolic representation of his conscious and subconscious mind. The character Watashi is assigned to the conscious mind of the protagonist, while the character Boku is assigned to his subconscious mind. The solitary reason that the narrator has a name is to eliminate confusion; Murakami chooses to disregard, however, the names of the other characters. Instead, these characters are referred to by their position in life. In Hard-Boiled Wonderland, for example, the characters are referred to as the Granddaughter, and the INKlings. In End of the World, their counterparts exist as the Librarian, and the Shadows. New York Times Book Review recognizes the connection between the two books: "Each narrative creates a different world, although each resembles the other at first only in the tiniest of details." (New York Times Book Review, 10.) A strong resemblance is found between the Granddaughter and the Librarian; these characters act as a guide to the narrator, helping him understand the occurrences surrounding him. In Hard-Boiled Wonderland, the Granddaughter explains the sensitivity their eyes have toward light. "We'll wait here until our eyes adjust to the light. About ten minutes. Then we'll go a little bit further and pause until we get used to stronger light. Otherwise we'll be blinded. If the subway passes, do not look at it. Not yet." (310) In End of the World, the Librarian explains nearly the same concept to Boku. "If your eyes look at the light of the sun, you will regret it. So you must only go out at night or on gray days. When it is clear, darken your room and stay safe indoors." (40) Both Boku and Watashi experience sensitivity to light, which illustrates the parallel occurrences within the novels. In End of the World, Boku experiences deja vu while talking to the Librarian. "Have I met you somewhere before?" She shakes her head. "As you may know, in this Town, memory is unreliable and uncertain. There are things we can remember and things we cannot remember. You seem to be among the things I cannot." (42)

Here, Boku begins to realize the connection between the Granddaughter and the Librarian. Although the memories of his previous existence are sparse, he senses the bond that they shared in the previous world. In End of the World, one's memories are stored within one's shadow. Upon entering this world, the new inhabitants are stripped of their shadow, causing one's mind and memories to be lost. In End of the World, the shadow is representative of one's soul; to lose one's shadow, therefore, is the death of one's mind and spirit. This is confirmed as Boku and the Colonel speak of the Librarian. "From what I gather, the mind is lost when the shadow dies. If her shadow is dead, as she tells me, does this mean that she can never regain her mind?" The Colonel nods. "I have seen her records in the Town Hall. There has been no mistake. Her shadow died when she was seventeen. It was buried in the Apple Grove." (170)

Similar to the connection between the Granddaughter and the Librarian is the connection between the INKlings and the Shadows. Both groups are outcasts who cannot live without human beings as a source of strength. The INKlings use humans as sustenance, and the Shadows need their human counterpart for strength to survive. The INKlings and the Shadows are the parts of human nature which are cast away and forgotten, only to resurface with the intention of regaining control. The places where these groups reside are eerily similar. In Hard-Boiled Wonderland, Watashi discovers the entrance to the sewer, leading to the INKling lair. "An aluminum ladder was propped against the side of the platform, offering a way down. I strapped the flashlight diagonally across my chest, and began my descent, one slippery rung at a time. The lower I got, the worse the smell became." (383) In End of the World, Boku describes his visit to the Shadow Grounds: "The Gatekeeper goes over to a corner and lifts a damp wooden trapdoor to reveal not a staircase but a ladder. The Gatekeeper descends the first few rungs, then motions for me to follow. I follow him into the stale, rank air." (331)
While every character in Hard-Boiled Wonderland has his or her counterpart in The End of the World, each significant occurrence has a parallel situation as well. In The End of the World, Boku's shadow has twenty-four hours to live; Watashi, similarly, has roughly twenty-four hours until his reality ends. When Boku's shadow dies, Watashi will pass on and become one with Boku. During this, Boku regrets the time he wasted with his shadow, and speaks about his inactive nature to the Colonel. The Colonel and Boku turn to the window to watch several men furiously digging holes. To this active behaviour, the Colonel replies, "Activity has no special meaning, does not transport them anywhere. All of us dig at our own pure holes. We have nothing to achieve by our activities, nowhere to get to. Is there not something marvelous about this? We hurt no one and no one gets hurt. No victory, no defeat." (317) In Hard-Boiled Wonderland, Watashi is also contemplating his own inactiveness. "A person with twenty-four hours left to live ought to have countless things to do, but I couldn't think of a single one." (326) Another similarity between the two stories is in music. As Watashi prepares for his death, he sings the song Danny Boy. He describes his feelings toward the song. "‘I like it well enough," I said. "I won a dozen pencils in a school harmonica contest playing this tune.'" (365) In End of the World, Boku is attempting to locate the mind of the Librarian while dream reading. When this fails, he tries to recall a song to bring back their memories. "Presently, I sense within me the slightest touch. The harmony of one chord lingers in my mind. It fuses, divides, searches— but for what? I open my eyes, position the fingers of my right hand on the buttons, and play out a series of permutations. After a time, I am able, as if by will, to locate the first four notes. They drift down from inward skies, softly, as early morning sunlight. They find me; these are the notes I have been seeking. It is a melody. A song, I realize, that I know. Danny Boy." (368)

As Watashi's death grows closer, the frequency of these parallel experiences increase drastically. In End of the World, Boku and the Librarian notice a that the unicorn skulls are glowing. "I turn out the ceiling lamp, and only then do I see the source of the glow. It is the skulls. An ancient fire that has lain dormant in them is now awakening." (352) Similarly, in Hard-Boiled Wonderland, Watashi notices the same phenomenon. "I strained my eyes toward this object. It was the skull, exactly where I'd placed it, or she'd placed it. In either case, the glowing object was my unicorn skull." (376) When the shadow of Boku finally dies, Watashi's reality ends— he then becomes one with Boku at the end of the world. From the beginning, these two stories showed parallel occurrences, parallel characters, and parallel structure. Finally, they have shown parallel escape; Watashi escaped the confines of reality, the Shadow escaped from his prison, and Boku was given freedom from the hard-boiled world to connect with his mind.