53 pages 1 hour read

Haruki Murakami

A Wild Sheep Chase

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1982

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Character Analysis

The Narrator

The narrator of the novel is unnamed, making him seem both familiar and anonymous. He is 29 years old–the same age as his friend, the Rat—and works at a small advertising agency: a quintessentially modern, urban occupation. His personality, as well, seems a quintessentially modern one. He is ironical and deflating, and not given to displays of feeling; he is measured and detached even when discussing events such as his recent divorce. We do not learn anything about what his parents are like, or even whether or not they are still living; he seems to have cut himself off from his origins, and to have very few ties to anyone. Apart from the Rat, who has gone on the lam, his closest bond is with J, an old Chinese bartender at what was once his favorite bar.

Despite his contained and neutral air, however, the narrator does not consider himself to be “regular” in the same way that his ad agency partner is; it is perhaps for this reason that he cannot let himself go to the degree that his partner (who is also unnamed, and is a heavy drinker) does. He is too invested in keeping his oddity a secret, as much from himself as from other people.

Related Titles

By Haruki Murakami

Study Guide

logo

After Dark

Haruki Murakami

After Dark

Haruki Murakami

Plot Summary

logo

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

Haruki Murakami

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

Haruki Murakami

Study Guide

logo

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Haruki Murakami

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Haruki Murakami

Study Guide

logo

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Haruki Murakami

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Haruki Murakami

Study Guide

logo

Kafka on the Shore

Haruki Murakami

Kafka on the Shore

Haruki Murakami

Plot Summary

logo

Killing Commendatore

Haruki Murakami

Killing Commendatore

Haruki Murakami

Study Guide

logo

Norwegian Wood

Haruki Murakami

Norwegian Wood

Haruki Murakami

Plot Summary

logo

South of the Border, West of the Sun

Haruki Murakami

South of the Border, West of the Sun

Haruki Murakami

Plot Summary

logo

Sputnik Sweetheart

Haruki Murakami

Sputnik Sweetheart

Haruki Murakami

Study Guide

logo

The Elephant Vanishes

Haruki Murakami

The Elephant Vanishes: Stories

Haruki Murakami

Study Guide

logo

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Haruki Murakami, Transl. Jay Rubin

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Haruki Murakami, Transl. Jay Rubin

Plot Summary

logo

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Haruki Murakami

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Haruki Murakami