Kafka on the Shore

The boy named Crow and the narrator, 15 year-old Kafka Tamura, discuss Kafka’s plans to run away from home. Crow interrogates Kafka to make sure that he has enough money, stolen from Kafka’s father, for his journey and to ensure that Kafka understands the seriousness of the step he’s about to take. Kafka believes he understands that leaving home to live on his own will change him forever.

Though he is apprehensive about the fate that lies in store for him, Kafka believes that the risks are worth it. In fact, Kafka is retelling this story after the events have taken place, as he foretells: “On my fifteenth birthday, I’ll run away from home, journey to a far-off town and live in the corner of a small library” (6). Both Kafka and the boy named Crow equate this journey with the metaphor of a sandstorm of fate, with Crow stating, “And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive” (6).