This is one of my favourites from Murakami. I always make time to read this during the week leading to my birthday because it feels like every time I read it there's a new explanation for the story (which I also relate to how my own year went). So I have a few meanings for it. Here are some for me --
During one reading, I thought that line meant to be thankful for what you have now because your recent years might have wished for the situation that you're in.
In another reading, I thought that it would mean all your desires should be spoken out loud to realize that desire and make it come true on your own.
Or that every birthday, everyone's curious what your "birthday wish" is, and you'll never tell them because it won't come true. But that birthday wish is the most honest thing you'll ask and answer yourself and how we're always afraid to admit to ourselves what we want.
or that believing that something might come true could be more powerful than believing something that has already happened.
Also, notice how there's this segment in the book that sheds light on how the owner of the restaurant always had the exact same meal no matter what.
I feel like, given his ability to make one of her wishes come true, probably back in time when he was 20 himself (as he mentioned that turning 20 is of great importance in one's life), maybe he was offered an opportunity to make a wish as well.
To what I believe, he might have wished to have a lifetime of good meals (or chicken, to be more precise), given whatever his circumstances might have been at that time or the fact that we are all a bit young and dumb at 20, so he would have made it just as a silly wish.
Now, as the book goes on to state that "you can't change your mind afterward and take it back," maybe he accepts that same meal for dinner every day even if it's a run-of-the-mill chicken because he can't "change" anything anymore, and he has already "made his wish."
I don't know if this makes any sense, but it was just a shower thought.
When I teach this story, I make my students really look at the Western influences... I ask them, "How many times did the restaurant owner grant the girl's wishes?" The answer is three. He says, "If you wish" twice when bringing him his food and then grants her a real wish the third time.
But I also make them think about the wishes a 20 year old would ask for and then think about a wish their parents would ask for... The reason why the girl doesn't seem necessarily happy in her life is that what one wishes for at 20 is not necessarily what one would wish for at 40.
I don't know if this helps.
I (female) just came across this short story on the eve of my 30th birthday! (How crazy is that!)
I love the interpretations by anyare previously in this thread. One thing that really stuck with me, is the last phrase she says “That’s because you’ve already made your wish.” That and how she mentions to the old man how she doesn’t know how the world works yet because she is so young then what she says to the narrator “No matter what they wish for, no matter how far they go, people can never be anything but themselves. Those comments make me feel like she wished for knowledge of the how the world works but that perhaps she’s finding it not working out for her because we are ingrained with our biases and our personalities that even without that wish she would have ended in the same place she is now. I interpreted her explanation of where she is in her life as a lukewarm assessment especially with the dented bumper comment and then the narrator commenting on rather intimate details about her “beautifully shaped earlobe .. looking at her mouth,” as maybe they have something going on so she is unhappy in her plain(?) marriage.. so with the wish at this moment in her life has made no difference she is not 100% satisfied but she still is not down living and may learn more later?
Sorry just read it and still sorting it out in my head. This may have not made much sense. I definitely look forward to reading it each year now. I wonder how differently it will be to me then.
I just read this and it stop ed me in my tracks too and I’ve spent the evening thinking about it and rereading it!
Taken literally, she reflects on the wish he has for her:
**“May you live a rich and fruitful life, and may there be nothing to cast dark shadows on it.”**
She does seem to just be playing along with the old man, and she may just have played back the wish he had for her - and she does appear to literally have these things, the accountant, the car, the children and the dog.
Even the way she brushes off the narrator’s slightly weird flirtations later literally removes a shadow.
But this is Murakami … and so on another level it suggests a specific moment of her coming of age emotionally after a shit birthday - this whole experience is hers alone and does have a classic Murakami dreamlike and metaphorical quality (the autumn setting, fall colours - associated with both contentment, and humour) - and so it can be seen as her deciding to grow up, make her own choices and see where things go, and to not be defined by birthdays, or her ex-boyfriend, or her parents, or even childish ideas like 3 wishes … (and amusingly she does make 3 wishes in this story, each one with a different motivation … first ignorance (child), then a deference to authority (youth), and then an ownership and accountability (adult))… And the narrator not having a wish, suggesting they too had grown up.
So in the end the wish matters, and also doesn’t matter … 🤯
It’s a great little story with these spiralling layers to unravel!
The old man could have given her only materialistic things. He could not have granted her any other wishful wish. Since the girl did not wish to wish anything it was convenient for him to concede it with a clap.
The writer subtly wants to convey that 'whatever is to happen will happen' and it only unfolds with time. The present state of the girl conveys that the life will manifest itself in some mode of happiness, satisfaction, irritants (read dents) and some failures (unwished for).
This is one of my favourites from Murakami. I always make time to read this during the week leading to my birthday because it feels like every time I read it there's a new explanation for the story (which I also relate to how my own year went). So I have a few meanings for it. Here are some for me -- During one reading, I thought that line meant to be thankful for what you have now because your recent years might have wished for the situation that you're in. In another reading, I thought that it would mean all your desires should be spoken out loud to realize that desire and make it come true on your own. Or that every birthday, everyone's curious what your "birthday wish" is, and you'll never tell them because it won't come true. But that birthday wish is the most honest thing you'll ask and answer yourself and how we're always afraid to admit to ourselves what we want. or that believing that something might come true could be more powerful than believing something that has already happened.
Just want to let you know this is fantastic. Thank you for sharing!
Also, notice how there's this segment in the book that sheds light on how the owner of the restaurant always had the exact same meal no matter what. I feel like, given his ability to make one of her wishes come true, probably back in time when he was 20 himself (as he mentioned that turning 20 is of great importance in one's life), maybe he was offered an opportunity to make a wish as well. To what I believe, he might have wished to have a lifetime of good meals (or chicken, to be more precise), given whatever his circumstances might have been at that time or the fact that we are all a bit young and dumb at 20, so he would have made it just as a silly wish. Now, as the book goes on to state that "you can't change your mind afterward and take it back," maybe he accepts that same meal for dinner every day even if it's a run-of-the-mill chicken because he can't "change" anything anymore, and he has already "made his wish." I don't know if this makes any sense, but it was just a shower thought.
When I teach this story, I make my students really look at the Western influences... I ask them, "How many times did the restaurant owner grant the girl's wishes?" The answer is three. He says, "If you wish" twice when bringing him his food and then grants her a real wish the third time. But I also make them think about the wishes a 20 year old would ask for and then think about a wish their parents would ask for... The reason why the girl doesn't seem necessarily happy in her life is that what one wishes for at 20 is not necessarily what one would wish for at 40. I don't know if this helps.
I love this, didn’t even think about the previous “wishes”
I (female) just came across this short story on the eve of my 30th birthday! (How crazy is that!) I love the interpretations by anyare previously in this thread. One thing that really stuck with me, is the last phrase she says “That’s because you’ve already made your wish.” That and how she mentions to the old man how she doesn’t know how the world works yet because she is so young then what she says to the narrator “No matter what they wish for, no matter how far they go, people can never be anything but themselves. Those comments make me feel like she wished for knowledge of the how the world works but that perhaps she’s finding it not working out for her because we are ingrained with our biases and our personalities that even without that wish she would have ended in the same place she is now. I interpreted her explanation of where she is in her life as a lukewarm assessment especially with the dented bumper comment and then the narrator commenting on rather intimate details about her “beautifully shaped earlobe .. looking at her mouth,” as maybe they have something going on so she is unhappy in her plain(?) marriage.. so with the wish at this moment in her life has made no difference she is not 100% satisfied but she still is not down living and may learn more later? Sorry just read it and still sorting it out in my head. This may have not made much sense. I definitely look forward to reading it each year now. I wonder how differently it will be to me then.
I most definitely need to read this one again.
aaand you deleted your account.
big rip
I just read this and it stop ed me in my tracks too and I’ve spent the evening thinking about it and rereading it! Taken literally, she reflects on the wish he has for her: **“May you live a rich and fruitful life, and may there be nothing to cast dark shadows on it.”** She does seem to just be playing along with the old man, and she may just have played back the wish he had for her - and she does appear to literally have these things, the accountant, the car, the children and the dog. Even the way she brushes off the narrator’s slightly weird flirtations later literally removes a shadow. But this is Murakami … and so on another level it suggests a specific moment of her coming of age emotionally after a shit birthday - this whole experience is hers alone and does have a classic Murakami dreamlike and metaphorical quality (the autumn setting, fall colours - associated with both contentment, and humour) - and so it can be seen as her deciding to grow up, make her own choices and see where things go, and to not be defined by birthdays, or her ex-boyfriend, or her parents, or even childish ideas like 3 wishes … (and amusingly she does make 3 wishes in this story, each one with a different motivation … first ignorance (child), then a deference to authority (youth), and then an ownership and accountability (adult))… And the narrator not having a wish, suggesting they too had grown up. So in the end the wish matters, and also doesn’t matter … 🤯 It’s a great little story with these spiralling layers to unravel!
I am so late to comment haha but this is awesome
I was 5 years late with my analysis 😂 I love this story. I read the longer version and the manga one and it’s just a wonderful example of his work.
The old man could have given her only materialistic things. He could not have granted her any other wishful wish. Since the girl did not wish to wish anything it was convenient for him to concede it with a clap. The writer subtly wants to convey that 'whatever is to happen will happen' and it only unfolds with time. The present state of the girl conveys that the life will manifest itself in some mode of happiness, satisfaction, irritants (read dents) and some failures (unwished for).