Contradictions and nuances of belonging are portrayed in Haruki Murakami’s short story, TonyTakitani, (written in ) and A.D Hope’s poem, The Wandering Islands (written in ): namely the notion that there will always remain an impossible distance between everyone, even those who ought to be closest of all.
This impossible distance, however, does not prevent anyone from wanting to close it. Both texts imply that every human has an innate, intrinsic desire to belong with others, irrespective of how unsocial or detached they may seem. Humans are inherently social beings, regardless of what individuals may think. This is portrayed through the fact that Tony initially values his work above all human relationships and believes that he does not want to settle down: “he never saw the need for it. It was impossible for him to form relationships which went beyond the level of the sheer every day… But then one day, without the slightest warning, Tony Takitani fell in love.” This follows (?) A.D. Hope’s concept that “The Mind has no neighbours, and the unteachable heart announces its armistice time after time, but spends its love to draw them closer and closer apart.” Hope implies that it is impossible to find someone who one can truly understand. But all humans are the slaves of their most inherent passions; not reason. This is why they will keep searching for an impossible neighbour. We desire deep human contact, whether we think it or not.
The “wandering islands” in Hope’s poem represent people who find deep connections to others difficult. In this sense, Tony Takitani in Murakami’s work is a “wandering island”. Tony was often isolated during his childhood. Murakami uses unremarkable, ordinary language to describe Tony’s life, but to great effect: “Such experiences served only to close the boy off from the world. He never made any close friends, but this did not cause him pain. He found it natural to be by himself: it was a kind of premise for living.” According to A.D. Hope, people like Tony “are not on the chart; they turn indifferent shoulders”. The “wandering islands” often do not appreciate getting close to other people and do not embrace conventionalities.
Sometimes, however, the “wandering islands” do happen to get close to others. Tony has been involved with several women, but a majority of the story is about his fleeting marriage with an unnamed girl. Tony fiercely falls in love with her, but then she is gone in the most final of ways: through death. This parallels A.D. Hope’s “An instant of fury, a bursting mountain of spray,/They rush together, their promontories lock… And then, in the crash of ruined cliffs, the smother and swirl of foam, the wandering islands part.” This represents the bursts of passion that relationships have; but relationships between one another are no more than transitory ruptures of feelings. This notion is further emphasised in the rest of the poem through the use of onomatopoeic words like “ravage”, “smother” and “crash”. Perhaps unfortunately, in Hope and Murakami’s worlds, it is impossible to have an eternal connection with someone else.
The closing line of Hope’s poem, “The Rescue will not take place,” is a metaphor for this everlasting bond that is beyond human attainment. Tony realises that he will never again accomplish such a connection as he had with his late wife after he hires a woman who looks like her to be his assistant and to wear his wife’s clothes and shoes. Tony, after this realisation, sells every piece of clothing his wife owned, as a symbolic, permanent goodbye, accepting that he will never be Rescued.
Tony Takitani and “The Wandering Islands” are texts that reveal the darker, hidden, contradictory side of belonging: it is impossible in the dystopian view of Hope and Murakami to have a wholesome connection with another person, even though all of humankind longs for one.