55 pages 1 hour read

Haruki Murakami

After Dark

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2004

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Essay Topics

1.

What is the role of the “narrative camera” in After Dark? How does the narrator’s involvement of the reader through their use of “we” relate to the novel’s theme of Voyeurism and the Narrative Camera?

2.

Murakami emphasizes the changes Tokyo undergoes in the hours between the last train of the night and the first train of the evening. How are these changes reflected in the characters that inhabit nighttime Tokyo? How do these changes alter the characters that are more accustomed to daytime Tokyo?

3.

The theme of surveillance is prevalent throughout After Dark; for example, through the Alphaville security camera, which links Shirakawa to the violent assault on Guo. What other elements of surveillance are present in After Dark? How do they contribute to the novel’s atmosphere and character development?