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Essay / The admiration of characters in Asian literature: a comparison...
It is a rather strange work in this sense. One character is called the rat. Rat is one of, if not the greatest, most honorable and admirable characters in the novel. There are several reasons for this, but the main character is advertising. He is not named but it is his job nonetheless. There's a guy called the Boss and he's looking for this seemingly magical sheep. The boss has a photo of this sheep with a star on it and he sees it in the narrator's advertisement. He gives this photo to Rat and tells him to go get this sheep. This is where the title of the novel begins to appear. A Wild Sheep Hunt is a pun on a wild goose chase. It tends to mean that a person is sent on a mission to find something they can never obtain. However, Rat recognizes the image the boss offers him. He sees that he comes from his parents' hometown. He goes there looking for this long-lost sheep and ends up finding it. He realizes that it is a bad sheep and that it has evil powers. The sheep has the ability to become a part of the person it inhabits. Rat allows this sheep to haunt him and the sheep becomes a part of Rat himself. Rat knows the evil powers that this sheep possesses. Armed with this knowledge, Rat decides to commit suicide. On page 330, the narrator says to Rat, “'You're already dead, aren't you? '... 'It's true,' said the Rat finally. 'I am dead'” (Murakami 330). If the sheep is inside him and he commits suicide, the sheep will be contained in his corpse. Rat sacrifices himself for the common good and that's what makes him such an admirable character. He pays the ultimate price with his life and that's what the reader loves