Author(s): Aytemis DEPCÄ°
The novel discusses the contradictions of its protagonist’s, -Hajime's emotional life, revealing the 1980's family structure under the western influence in Japan. The hero is experiencing conflicts in his inner world since he gave up his character, which did not fit the patterns in society, for the sake of normalization in his teenage years, and he lost his former ideals with his success in the current business world. His prosperous and happy looking family life with his wife Yukiko and his two children has been shaken by the reappearance of his old friend Shimamoto, whom he lost years ago and could not forget since his childhood. The protagonist makes a marriage which looks happy from the outside, but, in fact being unsatisfactory and holding no emotional ties caused him to feel a sense of nothingness in his life. The study focuses on the inner world of the hero discussing the anxiety, loss, lack, emptiness and nothingness he ex periences in his life
The Journal of International Social Research received 8982 citations as per Google Scholar report
