Sabrina Ho--overcoming fear of nature

     One of the common themes that stuck with me from this class was the abundance of possibilities to connect on a deeper level (with ourselves, with nature, with one another, etc) once we surpass the initial fear of true nature. This idea, among many others, is in Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. By far one of the oddest, slightly discomforting novels I've ever encountered, but it has a transition of the main character, Kafka, as he moves from fearing the forest, accepting it, and embracing it as part of himself. These three quotes throughout the book give a glimpse of this idea:

"I want to see how deep this forest really is.  I know it's dangerous, but I want to see--and feel--what kind of danger lies ahead, how dangerous it really is. I have to, Something's shoving me forward" (pp.367). This quote reminds me of a lot of our discussion on our natural gravitation towards nature, and our innate desire to be a part of it, to consume it be consumed by it. Yet, just like Kafka, there is that fear of what lies outside of our boundaries.


"The forest doesn't scare me anymore. It has its own rules and patterns, and once you stop being afraid you're aware of them" (pp. 396). This represents something we've talked in class about, how as humans we have to overcome the urge to take control of nature. As Murakami writes, once we can accept that nature has its own rules, and being in nature means following those rules, we can find greater comfort in that pure wilderness.


"The journey I'm taking is inside me. Just like blood travels down veins, what I'm seeing is  my inner self, and what seems threatening is just the echo of the fear in my own heart. The spiderweb stretched taut there is the spiderweb inside me. The birds calling out overhead are birds I've fostered in my mind. These images spring up in my mind and take root" (pp. 397). Here, Kafka has fully immersed himself in the nature around him, and is letting himself be consumed by it. This concept is similar to what I've read in Stephanie Kaza's theories, in that it is important to note that we are a part of this large interconnected web in our ecosystem, and not just control it.


However, in the book, Kafka does become too incorporated in nature, completely losing himself to those rules of the forest and seemingly losing all autonomy of his body and mind. While obviously fiction, is there a limit to which we should allow nature to control us? In class, we discuss the importance of not meddling in nature for it to live its full course. And, there exists people who do live like this, cut out from society for generations and living solely by the rules of nature. 

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