Super Frog: An Outlook on Critiquing Society

 

In “Super-Frog Saves Tokyo,” the author Haruki Murakami considers the role society plays on a simple man named Katagiri. He is the main character who has lived his whole life with silent struggles. He may be unremarkable on the outside; however, we see that there’s a completely different side to him in on the inside. He shows us that there are just some tasks and duties that a person must take on his whole life, even if recognition and being rewarded is inevitable. In his “Five Lectures on Psychoanalysis,” Sigmund Freud associates defense mechanisms with individuals when responding to social influences. Murakami signifies society as a factor that has a major impact on an individual like Katagiri.

The fear that society put on Katagiri is an impact on his outlook towards life. In “Super-Frog Saves Tokyo”, Katagiri “Yeah, near the entrance to the Trust Bank. Some young guy shot me. In the right shoulder, I think” (Murakami, 7). The nurse then responds and says “”I’m sorry, Mr. Katagiri, but you haven’t been shot” (Murakami 7). Katagiri acknowledges from the nurse that Katagiri was never shot and that he imagined it. According to Freud’s, “Five-Lectures on Psychoanalysis,” he states that “The dream-work is a special case of the effects produced by two different mental groupings on each other – that is, of the consequences of mental splitting; and it seems identical in all essentials with the process of distortion which transforms the repressed complexes into symptoms where there is unsuccessful repression” (Freud 2223). We see the same ideals that Freud states in Katagiri’s situation. As a debt collector, “Katagiri had been surrounded more than once by mobsters threatening to kill him, but he had never been frightened” (Murakami 3). Many times, Katagiri thought that he was the perfect person for the job, if anyone was ever looking for a kill. Since he had no kids or a spouse, he often disregards the threat the neighborhood displays to him. Many times, Katagiri thought that he was the perfect person for the job, if anyone was ever looking for a kill. Since he had no kids or a spouse, he often disregards the threat the neighborhood displays to him. Katagiri’s driving the thought of harm demonstrates the repressed fear that appears in his unconscious.

Societal influences on individuals like Katagiri contributes to their actions. In “Super-Frog,” the Frog says “I, however, can see what a sensible and courageous man you are. In all of Tokyo, with its teeming millions, there is no one else I could trust as much as you to fight by my side” (Murakami 4). Frog in the story, is a part of society who influences Katagiri to make a change in Japan. Even as Katagiri experiences all of this through his unconscious state of mind, he wishes to make a change in Japan. Feeling as if he worked the dangerous jobs in the bank, by working with Frog to save Tokyo, he would then achieve from society the appreciation and sympathy for the things he’s done. Katagiri has the desire to contribute his help to Tokyo. According to Freud’s “Five Lectures,” he states that “All these experiences had involved the emergence of a wishful impulse which was in sharp contrast to the subject’s other wishes and which proved incompatible with the ethical and aesthetic standards of his personality” (Freud 2212). Wishful impulse are wishes incompatible to the ethical standards of an individual’s personality. Murakami portrays Katagiri as a person who often keeps to himself and shows no hint of wanting to make a change in Japan’s society. In order to do so, he must have the characteristics of someone who is brave and courageous. According to “Haruki Murakami’s Storytelling World” by Patricia Welch, it states that “No typical hero, Katagiri has, nevertheless, always acted responsibly and with respect for others and without regard for public recognition. This makes him right for the job because he is “a sensible and courageous man.”

(Welch). The author of this article states that society has a high regard for people like Katagiri. No matter what the era, a man such as Katagiri, is highly regarded in society because of his mannerism.

Society is applied to the human personality. The human personality includes the Id, super-ego, and ego and these three division of the human personality explains the way we make decisions and defines us as our character. The Id could be defined as the part of our personality in which does not have any judgements on value, nor good or evil, and morality. The ego can be defined as a portion of our Id that gets affected through the proximity of the outside world in which we live through its threat of danger. We can define the super-ego as our “conscience” in which it tells us what is right and what is wrong. According to “The Religious and Philosophical Foundations of Freud’s Tripartite Theory of Personality,” this article states that “The most base desires of humans comprise, and are governed by, the id. The second aspect of personality is the superego, which is tied to morality and one’s ability to defer gratification. The superego operates antagonistically to the id due to its operating on the ideal principle” (Janus Head 228-229). In “Super-Frog,” The Id being represented in the story is Worm because as Murakami states that, “But right at the moment, Worm has reached the point where he is too dangerous to ignore” (Murakami 3). Worm is clearly stated as the Id in the story because Worm shows no judgements in good, evil, and morality. The ego in the story would be Frog. Frog tries to understand reality and puts the world before himself. He tries to balance out Worm’s desires with Katagiri’s morals so that he can save Tokyo. Katagiri would be the super-ego in this story because he ideally finds himself in the midst of what’s good and bad, yet he never gets any acknowledgement for the things he’s done.

In “Super-Frog Saves Tokyo,” the author Haruki Murakami considers the role society plays on a simple man named Katagiri. He is the main character who has lived his whole life with silent struggles. He shows us that there are just some tasks and duties that an individual must take on, even if recognition and being rewarded is inevitable. Sigmund Freud associates defense mechanisms with individuals when responding to social influences through his “Five Lectures on Psychoanalysis.” The fear that society put on Katagiri made an impact on his outlook towards life and societal influences on individuals such as Katagiri showed that actions played an important role in critiquing society and its individuals. Also, the way society applies itself to the human personality shows us that the three divisions of personality very much explains the way we make decisions and defines our character through the way society is affects an individual.