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Haruki Murakami's The Seventh Man

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“They tell us that the only thing to fear is fear itself; but I don't believe that”
Haruki Murakami’s short story, “The Seventh Man” is a prevalent story about how guilt and fear may consume one's life as a whole. In his short story, the seventh man's life is forever changed as he tells of the day he lost his best friend due to a lack of bravery as a child. He later spends the next forty years in misery as he is haunted by the past death of his best friend K. After so long of living with the guilt and shame of what he could have done, the seventh man revisits his old life with K. and comes to find that he no longer has to live a life of fear, of K., of himself, and of the past. The protagonist, from Haruki Murakami’s story, “The Seventh Man” lives his life of …show more content…

join the shore to play, they create a passion for the beach together. Even though he has an older brother no one could replace K. and their bond as best friends. The seventh man explains, “My real brotherly affection went to K.” (358). K.’s true friendship went above and beyond as he would paint beautiful watercolors just for the seventh man. They experienced life together as one always playing and always together.
One year, however, as the boys were growing so were the tidal waves. A huge typhoon hit their town and as the winds roar and everyone nails their shutter doors the storm outside rages on. A little while later as the storm fell silent the boys go out to scout the area. As they walk down the beach, K. becomes engrossed in whatever he has found and fails to hear his warning sign. The seventh man runs in fear as a huge wave swept K. into the ocean. K. is never found.
For years after, the protagonist stays far away from the shore and his family. The man's fear of water can be seen throughout the story's plot as he talks about death and his nightmares all leading him back to the shore. However, the seaside is not the only bodies of water he abstains from

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“... I could have come to the end of my life unsaved, still screaming in the dark, afraid,” from The Seventh Man by Haruki Murakami. The Seventh Man witnessed his best friend in the whole world dying and never forgave himself for letting K. go until he completely let go of all the guilt he had built up. What The Seventh Man was experiencing is known as survivor 's guilt; survivor 's guilt is when a person blames oneself for someone they knew or saw get hurt or killed in a traumatic event. Rightfully, The Seventh Man felt guilt, but he needs to forgive himself for not saving K. If The Seventh Man didn’t forgive himself and lived in guilt for the rest of his life the wave would have taken both K’s and The Seventh Man’s life.

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The seventh man explains how his friend's death kept him from living his life. This shows that he shouldn't be going through such an incident he didn't have any control over

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