Peran Tokoh-Tokoh Pendukung Bagi Pembentukan Identitas Tokoh Kafka Dalam Novel Kafka on the Shore Karya Haruki Murakami

Abstract

This article aims to examine the role of supporting characters in the novel Kafka on the Shore in shaping the identity of the main character, Kafka, which has not been actively discussed in previous studies. This article classifies some supporting characters into characters who were removed from the shaping of Kafka’s identity, along with the reasons why their roles had to be eliminated, and characters who contributed to Kafka’s growth process along with the roles they played. This article uses the concept of the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, developed by David Keirsey. Moreover, to explain the relationship between Kafka and his father, as well as the older woman he loves, Miss Saeki, this article uses concept from psychoanalytic theory, namely Oedipus Complex by Sigmund Freud and Object Relations by Melanie Klein. Character whose role was removed from Kafka’s identity shaping is Johnnie Walker, or Tamura, Kafka’s father. Characters who support Kafka’s identity shaping are Crow and Oshima as the Idealist, Nakata as the Guardian, Sakura as the Artisan, and Miss Saeki as the Rational. The removal of Johnnie Walker indicates the importance of compromise in facing the dilemma between Westernization and maintaining Japanese tradition. Westernization is inevitable to some extent. However, in describing his identity as a Japanese, novelist Haruki Murakami through Kafka shows his intention to look back into traditional Japanese beliefs rather than emphasizing Westernization as the primary concept.