8 Haruki Murakami Tropes And What They Really Mean

4. Disappearing Women

What It Is: At the heart of many Murakami stories is a romantic relationship between a man and a woman, or a man and several women. As sure as they are to materialize out of the blue, so too do they vanish just as quickly. What It Really Means: The disappearance of females in Murakami is a good way of establishing their complexity while generating sympathy for the protagonist. Though women are commonly the objects of desire in Murakami stories, they are much less often dependent on men €“ they're rarely tied down by male wants or affections. Women in Murakami do disappear for mysterious reasons, but they also disappear because they've got lives of their own, completely distinct from the main character. Murakami-written females very seldom wait in the wings for the male lead. That's not to mention how effective they are at disorientating the protagonist and creating narrative conflict.