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a bath with his baby and had his baby dried by his wife Yoko. At that time, he saw Yoko murmuring something to Little Rie. Since then, the desire to stab his baby
started appearing. Kawashima thought that Rie is a threat. As the result, he wanted to stab his daughter. The desire to stab Rie appeared because he did not want
Yoko’s love to him to decrease. Bad experiences with his mother in his past life had made him suspicious to Rie and led him into irrational thinking.
Here, the writer concludes that Kawashima is in doubt because the writer sees that he was not sure whether he wanted to stab his baby or not. According to
M.J Murphy in Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and English Novels for Overseas Students, the author of a literary work can give
herhis direct comment on a character in the story to make the character understandable Murphy, 1972: 161. In this novel, Kawashima played with his
own thought. Everything that he saw in front of him would disturb his thought and finally it provoked a reaction. The reaction that appeared when Kawashima played
with his own thought put him in doubt. Here, he was in doubt because he faced a situation that forced him to make a decision between becoming a murderer or a
father.
B. Paranoid Schizophrenia Reflected from the Characteristics
Murakami described and wrote his story very well. The way he delivered the main character in the story makes the reader easily understands the
characteristics of the main character and know what kind of person Kawashima is as the main character and how he becomes a paranoid schizophrenic. In the story,
the author described Kawashima as a normal person who married to Yoko. Before
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he had a daughter, Kawashima’s life was going alright, but suddenly he was disturbed by his own thought when he thought that his baby offended him.
Actually in this story, his daughter did not offend him. The negative perception only existed in his mind. It existed because he thought that his daughter could not
make him feel comfortable as Yoko did. Based on Kawashima Masayuki’s behavior and psychological condition,
this subchapter tries to prove that Kawashima‘s characteristics reflect paranoid schizophrenia. As already stated in the previous chapter, after his father died when
Kawashima was four years old, his mother started to abuse him and ignore him. Everything that happened to him when he was a kid until he became a teenager
influenced his behavior, and it was the beginning of him to be a paranoid schizophrenic. Every time he faced a situation that made him feel insecure and
uncomfortable, he would usually get suspicious, anxious and then feeling afraid. He could not hide what he felt because his thought was disturbed by things or
event in front of him. Here, Murakami described Kawashima Masayuki as a normal person who
got married, had a daughter and had a good job. But, behind all his normal life, he hid insecurity. He was a fragile man who could not easily trust someone before he
was sure that this person could comfort him and would never leave or ignore him. Therefore, in this analysis the writer will give a further description on the
symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia that are found in Kawashima Masayuki’s characteristics.
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1. Delusions
“Delusions are false believe” Wilson, 1996: 417. In this novel, the main character is described as a man who was afraid of losing someone that he liked,
loved or wanted. The writer concludes that Kawashima got delusions because he always thought that someone would leave or ignore him and it provoked his
thought and action. Kawashima Masayuki always became suspicious toward things that were not clear. He always misunderstood toward things that happened
to him especially if he was dealing with somebody else. The feeling of being agitated toward object or action in front of him made him think illogically.
In this story, Kawashima believed that someone who was close to him could leave him easily. Here, he believed that Little Rie could take Yoko away
from him because Rie had a way to get Yoko closer to her than him. Actually it is only in Kawashima’s mind because logically Yoko only did what she must do as a
mother to her daughter. Facing that situation, his fear controlled his mind and action. Below are some delusions that Kawashima Masayuki felt when he saw
Yoko murmuring something to Little Rie. “Yoko was murmuring to the baby as she dried her, and he was aware of
himself smiling at them. And then, with no prelude or warning, a thought came percolating up into his brain and he felt the muscles of his cheeks
twitch and freeze. I wouldn’t ever stab that baby with an ice pick, would I” Murakami,
2007: 16. From the above quotation, it is clear that Kawashima’s mind is disturbed
by the actions that happened in front of him. Here, the moment when he saw Yoko with his daughter made him feel uncomfortable and fearful, which led him
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to be insecure. The fear that appeared in him raised the desire to stab his own daughter. Shortly, it was triggered by jealousy and suspicion.
After he saw Yoko murmuring something to Little Rie, Kawashima became afraid and it made him suspicious toward Rie and thought that he must
stab her to calm himself down. Jealousy that came to him was caused by his fear of being ignored like what he had got in his childhood life from his mother. In this
story, Kawashima was sure that Little Rie could separate him from Yoko. The fear that appeared in Kawashima’s mind which led him to believe that something
that is untrue or not real become true or real is called delusions. That is why the writer concludes that his desire to stab his baby is called delusions of persecution.
Another delusion that happened to him is when he stayed together with his ex-girlfriend who worked as a stripper. At that time his ex-girlfriend was very
really angry at him and it terrified him so much. So, to make his ex-girlfriend forgive him, he decided to punish himself. Still, there is no apology for him
instead of that she called him moron p.26. Here, in his fear and vague feeling, he thought that his ex-girlfriend would leave him. In Piercing, he was described as a
man who always played with his own thought and as the result he became illogical. What he could only think of is to stop someone from leaving him by
doing everything, whether it is in a gentle way or a rough way. His false belief toward someone that he liked, loved and wanted had succeeded in forcing him to
do violence. He thought that he would have to stab his ex-girlfriend before she really left him. In short, false belief that appeared in Kawashima’s thought toward
his ex-girlfriend is concluded as delusions of persecution.
