As an art genre, literature possesses great value in terms of the never-ending education process. During the course, I discovered the book The wind-up bird chronicle, written by Haruki Murakami in 1994. For a fictional novel, it contains a surprisingly large amount of philosophical and existential thoughts that are applicable in real-world situations despite the mystical context. The book helped me grow as a person, which I see as the most valuable contribution of literature in general, and our humanities course in particular.
The wind-up bird chronicle is genuinely multifaceted when it comes to the interpretation of the messages conveyed inside. It was written in the last decade of the previous century and, thus, contains many thoughts of the passing era, such as, for example, war, nuclear weapons, or shifts in human behavior (Gingrich, 2020). However, I found the changes that occurred in the main character throughout the novel the most useful in terms of real-life application. The main character has lost his purpose in life – he became largely indifferent to his surroundings and could no longer desire or hope for anything. Eventually, he recovered from his apathetic state through various unexpected and unpredictable interactions, but the process itself was filled with countless thoughts and contemplations. Many of them echoed inside me as I saw myself in the main character, albeit not to such extremes. For example, Murakami (2011) masterfully and laconically expressed the character’s confusion: “But knowing what I don’t want to do doesn’t help me figure out what I do want to do” (122). This particular thought helped me realize that it will not be possible to set goals, either in my career or life, by considering the opposite.
In terms of literature as a branch of art, it had the most profound impact on me as a person. For me, literature is in many ways superior to, for example, drama, art, and music. Undeniably, every art discipline is capable of including its own peculiar features and specific philosophy. However, a well-written story or poem can teach oral communication through pictured dialogs, which is partly the role of drama. In turn, imagination applied to the text invokes far more complete, sophisticated, and, most importantly, personalized pictures than any art piece – the latter tends to be unavoidably filtered by the subjective vision of a painter. Finally, the very same imagination is responsible not only for visuals but for sounds as well. Thus, despite not being particularly specialized in these fields, literature is a universal art discipline, which is why it impacted me the most.
Everything mentioned above can be considered as particular examples of a vast generalized picture of the utility this humanities class offers me for future use and implications in my career and real life. According to Skorton & Bear (2018), education in recent decades registers a shift from integrity toward deeper specialization. I cannot disagree with the notion, as the gradual disappearance of the subjects’ diversity in specific programs does lead to stricter informational division. In my opinion, such a division is artificial and is overall detrimental to the purpose of education – not only providing actual knowledge but contributing to personal growth as well. In this context, I believe this class successfully covers the gaps in integrity due to its ability to foster critical thinking and broaden the worldview.
Personal is inseparable from the process of education, and humanities studies help me in achieving it. I happened to find The wind-up bird chronicle at the time most fitting for its analysis and evaluation, which aided me with the organization of my future life. In this context, I began to value literature as an art discipline even more due to its universal nature. Ultimately, it proved the value of the humanities course I am attending at the moment.
References
Gingrich, T. (2020). Weapon of metaphorical destruction: Fission and fallout in Murakami’s The wind-up bird chronicle. Journal of Literature and Science, 13(1).
Murakami, H. (2011). The wind-up bird chronicle. Random House.
Skorton, D., & Bear, A. (2018). The integration of the humanities and arts with sciences, engineering, and medicine in higher education: Branches from the same tree. Consensus study report. National Academies Press.