Tamaru cleared his throat. “By the way, do you know the story about the vegetarian cat who met up with the rat?” “Never heard that one.” “Would you like to?” “Very much.” “A cat met up with a big male rat in the attic and chased him into a corner. The rat, trembling, said, ‘Please don’t eat me, Mr. Cat. I have to go back to my family. I have hungry children waiting for me. Please let me go.’ The cat said, ‘Don’t worry, I won’t eat you. To tell you the truth, I can’t say this too loudly, but I’m a vegetarian. I don’t eat any meat. You were lucky to run into me.’ The rat said, ‘Oh, what a wonderful day! What a lucky rat I am to meet up with a vegetarian cat!’ But the very next second, the cat pounced on the rat, held him down with his claws, and sank his sharp teeth into the rat’s throat. With his last, painful breath, the rat asked him, ‘But Mr. Cat, didn’t you say you’re a vegetarian and don’t eat any meat? Were you lying to me?’ The cat licked his chops and said, ‘True, I don’t eat meat. That was no lie. I’m going to take you home in my mouth and trade you for lettuce.’”
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(Murakami 2011) 1Q84: Books 1 and 2
Murakami is my favourite author, his work features cats alongside the main story line, he uses them to explain his complex ideas, that cannot be expressed with humans without loosing the art of storytelling. He chooses to feature cats because he loves them, he has always been a fan of cats, and cats are popular among Japanese culture, as well as British culture. Cats always seem to come across more eloquent that what a dog, or another animal could. Its something about the way they act, that inspires people to create works based on them.
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