"A Wild Sheep Chase" feels like a spiritual journey we are on with the unnamed narrator in which we learn that his life in in shambles. he works for an advertising agency in Tokyo lives a miserable lonely life. he is divorced, but has a girlfriend that works as a prostitute by night. The narrator is the victim of unfortunate events that led him to where he is in the start of the story which includes the unplanned death of his college girlfriend, and the process of splitting up with his wife which was not specified on.

    The visitor that sends the narrator on the sheep chase was a very mysterious character. He is a well groomed man with an emotionless demeanor. He threatens the narrator with shutting down his ad agency and ruining his life if he does not track down this sheep. I interpreted the sheep hunt as a multi layered allegory. The sheep could signify post-war Japan because on one hand because of the many references to Japan's history. The sheep chase could also be the narrator's way of searching for his own identity. the ending of the story felt open ended. What did the narrator gain or lose from his journey? It seemed like the narrator's journey was what made the story compelling. He reflects on his life through this spiritual and physical journey.


Short History of Japanese Horror

In Japanese horror, there were major influencers that stories were based off of. Kaidan refers to ghost stories and "weird stories." they often revolve around irony, karmic punishments, vengeful ghosts, and morals. Kabuki and Noh also cover stories involving ghosts, demons, and monsters. there are definitely ideas of the sublime used in Japanese horror.

Early Japanese horror focused on supernatural drama. Edo gothic films lasted through the 50's and 60's. the themes of these films often revolved around the relationship with the spirit world and ours. vengeful spirits, especially women with black hair, was trending during this period. I found it really interesting that these films were a reflection of the fears that people were facing, fears of a country transitioning from an imperil feudal past, to a democratic form of government. The nuclear bomb was a huge fear that had a drastic impact on Japan's horror genre. Nuclear horror films expressed fear aroused by nuclear energy and the disruption of harmony as well.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interview With Dracula Blog - assignment #2

      Vampires are creatures that sustain themselves by consuming the blood of life forms. the ideology originated in the 1800's, usually in the form of corpses that have risen from the grave to feast on the living and have the ability to shape shift. What I found most interesting regarding vampires was that they were interpreted as unholy reanimations when this was not the case at all. Instead, a vampire would experience normal symptoms of death which included the dehydration of skin, bacteria buildup in the stomach, long hair and fingernails, and gas that fills the belly that makes blood and matter spew from the mouth.       The first thing that peaked my interest was the look of the vampire. In the reading, he is described as "utterly white and smooth" as well as "inanimate as a statue." He is well groomed and well dressed. this is the look that is most commonly known for the vampire. his demeanor is that of a witty, yet mysterious cartoon character whose int
Read more

Bloodchild - Octavia Butler

    Bloodchild tells the story of the extraordinary relationship between aliens known as Tlic and the humans of earth who are living there. The Tlic realize that humans make excellent host carriers for their eggs and each earthling is required to chose a child for implantation. The story is narrated by a male named Gan who is required to carry the eggs of one of the lead females of the Tlic. Since he can remember Gan has thought of being a host as an honor and a privilege, but when he witnesses the premature hatching of eggs in another male host, he has to participate in performing a cesarian surgery so that the Tlic grubs can be retrieved and so that Lomas, the other male carrier, will not be eaten alive from the inside out.      Gan begins to feel different about being a host and announces that he will commit suicide before he gets impregnated. He questions the relationship between the humans and aliens. Gan's sister is asked to be impregnated, but Gan does not let this happen an
Read more

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

  Arthur Dent, whose house is about to be demolished for a planned road bypass, is lying down in front of a bulldozer when his friend Ford Prefect arrives and tells him that it is important   that they go to the pub immediately. There, Ford explains that he is actually from a planet near   Betelgeuse  and that another alien species, the Vogons, are about to destroy the Earth   to make space for a hyperspatial express route. Meanwhile, Zaphod Beeblebrox, president of the  Galaxy  and his human female friend Trillian steal the Heart of Gold spaceship. Ford and Arthur hitch a ride on a Vogon destructor ship, and Ford lends Arthur the electronic guidebook   The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy   and gives him a Babel fish to stick in his ear to translate alien speech. The Vogon ship captain has Ford and Arthur ejected into space, but the Heart of Gold, which has an Infinite   Improbability Drive, picks them up 29 seconds later. The drive makes it possible to travers   interstellar space al
Read more