Assignment for Effective Communication, Essays (university) of Communication

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Communication

Assignment

Harshita Patel

B.Sc Clinical Psychology

SEM (III)

A.I.B.A.S

PSY BSC 1633

Review of Book

Norwegian Wood

(Haruki Murakami)

This story is on one side a story of misadventure and a melancholic exploration of adolescent love and another side a thought-provoking and poignant study of memory, morality and mortality. Murakami writes with a poetic richness that leaves almost every line hanging with symbolic possibility. The main protagonist takes you back to the 1960s and his youthful goings on with his peers. The story is set in thriving Tokyo and also shifts location to a relaxed mountainous retreat. You really get to love the characters that Murakami creates which I also felt with his other novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. His works have been translated from Japanese into English and still hold a poetic and deeply thought- provoking quality and are truly mesmerising. It's by no means just a love story. The book title is taken from a Beatles track 'Norwegian Wood' which is one of the novel's characters favourite songs. The Beginning heralds the end. The End initiates a beginning. In between lies a cycle. A cycle where words rain, feelings gush like a river towards the ocean called life, and the ocean hides the abyss of uncertainty. You just sway along this journey, along with Murakami. Who is Toru Watanabe? To me, he felt like a mid way between the protagonist of Camus' Outsider and Holden Scholfield. Even though his character is set in a completely different time in a completely different culture, I didn’t find it even a little difficult to completely relate to his feelings, his thoughts and his adventures. There is a surreal feeling hinting at an underlying, hidden meaning or information whenever Murakami explains or describes even the mundane things. The characters are fully developed representations of life and it's meanings. Watanabe (a paper boat on the water, Kizuki and Naoko's link to the outside world, observer, listener), Kizuki (conversationalist, gregarious within a closed circle), Naoko (perfect companion, uncertain, devoted), Hatsumi (patience, dedication), Nagasawa (flamboyance), Reiko (experience), The Ami Hostel (a world within world where accepting yourself makes you fit in, where reality is identified with in a much better sense than the real world), Midori (style, innocent naughtiness, pragmatic), Midori's Dad (a man burdened by the system), Stormtrooper (the scapegoat)... Everyone represents some part of the human behavior or trait or characteristic. They aren't just characters. But then to quote from the book: "I can't tell whether this kind of analysis is trying to simplify the world or complicate it." You tend to lose your way in the dialogues. Where induced feelings and your own feelings seem to resonate. Beautiful articulation of words and meanings. It seems almost as if you are living, first - hand all the beautiful moments that Murakami describes. Sometimes within all the mundane stuff comes a hard hitting line. Hard hitting and deeply poignant. Makes you go back and read it again. Just to realize the gravity of the meaning. Leaves you cold.

This book almost seems like a commentary on how we look at things around us, try to understand some, understand few of the some, try to adapt, but eventually give up, moving on with our lives, never not trying to simplify us, our intentions, our motives, or our feelings.

Although all age groups are open to depression, teenagers are the most common to be heard of being affected by the disease. This is probably because of peer pressure and the changes in their life. Although the rate of suicide as a whole has decreased in the past twenty five years, the fixed amount of suicide from those between fifteen and nineteen has sky rocketed and quadrupled. The number of deaths due to suicide each year is roughly the same number of deaths from AIDS. One great risk for becoming depressed is if you smoke. Some scientists hold to believe that smoking may be linked to Depression. Tobacco smoke kills off an enzyme that is responsible for breaking down a nerve cell chemical that activates pleasure seeking behavior. So smokers have a high count of this nerve cell chemical and a very low count of the enzyme, which in turn may make them want to smoke even more. Although some scientists argue the facts about homosexuality, homosexuals also have a bigger risk of being depressed. Homosexuals are prone to be teased and made fun of and therefore they don’t have as many friends and can’t talk about their problems. This may also be linked to depression. There are many symptoms of depression. Sadness and loss of satisfaction in things once enjoyed are probably the most known symptoms. But some symptoms are sometimes overlooked. Guilt is one symptom that coincides with depression immensely. When feelings of guilt are put on a person they lose what hope they once had. They blame themselves for things that they are not accountable for and have extreme feelings of hopelessness. Other symptoms overlooked are insomnia and loss of appetite. Not getting enough sleep may be linked to stress and guilt. Stress is another great factor in depression. Stressful events or experiences can stimulate depression in people who are predetermined to the disorder. Depression is not a matter to take lightly. It is not something to dismiss regularly, but to take to heart and find help. Hundreds of people commit suicide each day because of depression. If you are or know someone who is depressed get help. Do not hold it in forever, for you may be liable to do the same thing.

News Reading and Analysis

As the eye-opening rash of recent allegations pulsates through Hollywood, one can only

wonder how these men, the accusations piling into the hundreds and spanning decades, could

justify their behavior. Not to others, the answer to that is as simple as lying and denying, but

to themselves. How does a sexual assailant permit themselves that behavior when they exist

in the same society we all exist in? Didn’t they know it was wrong? The answer is hinted at

in how they word their denials.

Like Dustin Hoffman’s:

“I have the utmost respect for women and feel terrible that anything I might have done could have put her in an uncomfortable situation. I am sorry. It is not reflective of who I am.” -Dustin Hoffman

Not to mention Robert Knepper’s:

“Over the past few weeks, my wife and I have discussed the pain women have experienced and the bravery they have shown in coming forward. I am shocked and devastated to be falsely accused of violence against a woman. That’s just not who I am.”

One of the first things instructors teach screenwriters is “the bad guy doesn’t think he’s the

bad guy. He thinks he’s the hero.” Everyone is the protagonist of their own stories and very

few people who commit violence or sexual assault see themselves as bad people. Instead,

Though Dunham has never been accused of anything like Harvey Weinstein has, her

vulnerable and open quote displays how people, particularly public figures, must see

themselves in order to not collapse under a din of public opinion. They champion their view

and exclude themselves contradicting narratives, hoping they can control the conversation

and live up to the projections they have built for themselves. Of course this perspective is

nothing new. One of the oldest Hollywood adages is “Don’t read the reviews.”

But denying other’s perspectives and obscuring the parts of yourself that conflict with your

ego leaves little room for the truth; the cult of shame tells people they cannot be open about

their devious behavior. In our desire to see ourselves as good people, we risk being able to

see our complete selves, both as individuals and as a society. This process isn’t exclusive to

serial sexual assaulters, but something inherent to human behavior. Because it’s this

disassociation between one’s identity and one’s actions that allows people to continue to

assault women and still see themselves as non-threatening.

Society believes we can improve our world by finding those most egregious of villains and

banishing them. This approach has a judicial simplicity to it: do bad, get punished. But it’s

likely to be as successful as crushing the visible ants in your kitchen. They will keep

returning until we peel back the walls and look at the true extent of the problem and how our

society has nurtured it.