Mari Asai’s Personal Isolation in Haruki Murakami’s After Dark

This paper sought to reveal insights into how Haruki Murakami’s After Dark is reflective of the isolation currently being experienced by Japanese society today. The writer analyzed and consolidated the author’s writing style and explored the prominence of the theme of isolation on the novel’s protagonist. This was achieved using a formalist approach to the story, sticking only to what the text has to offer and give evidence for. The paper found that the expression of a society’s culture can be seen in how they depict themselves for others to read and understand them, especially in analyzing the character of Mari.