The French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan is known throughout the world as the man who introduced the concept of the “Mirror Stage”. Another of his most important works is obviously the concept of “Other”. In an article titled “Being the Other Woman: Watanabe's Unrequited Love for Naoko in Norwegian Wood,” Giselle Carter (2017) applied Lacan's concept of the “Other” to study the novel's main character, the projection of “More” by Toru Watanabe about another main character. character, Naoko. Based on his diary, Lacan defines desire as an “aspiration to the completion of the self” and an important component for reaching the “Other”. However, this “Other” is not accessible to the Self, so it is necessary to project these attributes onto other living beings, such as a person. In this case, Watanabe relies on Naoko to unconsciously find his “Other”. Even though Watanabe's love is one-sided, he continues to seek comfort in Naoko who is clearly still hanging on from her boyfriend's death years ago. Carter also discussed in his article that Watanabe's infatuation with Naoko has “distorted his sense of self” (8) as he realizes that he spends most of his time thinking about her. Finally, he also highlights Watanabe's projection of "More" by stating that all this time he has been imagining his life with Naoko's presence even if it is one-sided. Even after her death, Carter explained that he still thinks of Naoko the same way he tells their story. Although I have cited some examples from the novel, there are some indications that these characters and events should be better explained from a different perspective, for example Carl Jung's theory of individuation. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay While Carter crafted his arguments from the lens of a Lacanian, JP Dil also examined the works of Murakami Haruki applying Carl Jung's psychoanalytic theory of Individuation by doing an in-depth analysis on his Archetypes. According to his thesis entitled “Murakami Haruki and the Search for Self-Therapy” from 2007, he talks about loss, mourning and melancholy in Chapter 1: The Search for Self-Therapy. According to him, Jung described that individuation carries with it the definition of becoming an “individual”, as individuality celebrates our innermost uniqueness which implies that we become one's Self. (50) He then elaborates on Jung's explanations as many psychoanalysts have agreed that the best way to interpret unconscious material is through dreams. However, Jung believes that this analysis can also be derived from observing one's active imagination. Building on Dil's thesis, Murakami advocates a certain style of writing in which his characters are written primarily to explore the world freely. Thus, this allows his works to be best interpreted into Jung's archetypes as he explores more of what Jung called the collective unconscious. Dil further explains that while pursuing the quest to find one's Self in particular individuals, unintentionally, we are influenced by the surrounding environment of place and time which will later contribute to who we are as an identity. He then concluded that the simplest way to understand the work of these complexes (archetypes) is to consider them as part of our subconscious mind. According to him, these complexes are more like our secondary personalities that possess lives of their own. In conclusion, to achieve individuation, you need to integrate with your archetypes to achieve individuation. Interestingly, Dil points outalso that identifying too much with archetypes could cause someone to lose their significant attributes and, therefore, lose themselves. (63) Therefore, it suggests that one should use their positive archetypes in ample amount to prevent the loss of one's identity. Taking Jung's theory as a close reference, he agrees on this point there are three important archetypes that must be analyzed in the process of achieving Individuation; Shadow, Anima/Animus/ and Self. In addition to studies on psychoanalysis, Norwegian Wood has also been analyzed from the perspective of French existentialism. Based on James et al (2011), in their article "Tales from the Hard Side": A French Existentialist perspective on Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood", in which they applied Jean-Paul Sartre's theory of existentialism in exploring the struggles of the main characters after all of them suffer significant losses, for example Naoko who suffers from depression due to her boyfriend's suicide after high school. Based on the theory, they conclude that Watanabe, Keiko and Midori have successfully rebuilt their lives according to principles. existentialists while Naoko has never recovered both mentally and emotionally from the suicidal death of her boyfriend, Kizuki, which leads to her suicide later at the end of the novel series , James and the others also consider Western rock music, such as the influence of the Beatles, as a liberating external factor that inspires the characters Watanabe and Midori, who have both distanced themselves from Japanese culture. culture and tradition to free themselves from depression and life challenges while Naoko, who is more conservative, continues long after Kizuki's death. Based on the three articles explained above, there are clearly opposing points of view to best analyze Murakami's works. first article "Being the Other Woman: Watanabe's Unrequited Love for Naoko in Norwegian Wood", Carter explains that Watanabe seeks out sexual relationships with strangers in his attempt to seek connection with other people after the suicidal death of his best friend , Kizuki, years ago, while also experiencing unrequited love from Naoko. While I agree that this is Watanabe's attempt to try to achieve the goal, Carter merely analyzes the main character on the surface by describing his projection of "Other" towards Naoko. However, if we take a look from the point of view of Jung's Individuation, as explained by Dil in "Murakami Haruki and the Search for Self-Therapy" (2011), this will allow us to discover Watanabe's unconscious side even better by disintegrating his Archetypes. . For example, despite having many relationships with other women, his heart remains faithful to Naoko. This is clearly shown when he leaves everything just to see Naoko when she invites him to the sanatorium. This incident represents Watanabe's deepest dark desire, which can be identified as the Shadow. Secondly, Carter also discussed in his article that Watanabe's infatuation with Naoko has "distorted his sense of self". (8) Although perhaps, from the point of view of a Lacanian, this could be a possibility. However, as Dil (2007) stated from the lens of a Jungian, one must be intact with one's archetypes to reach the Individuation stage. If Watanabe hadn't learned what he knew now, he wouldn't have been able to accomplish it on his own. In other words, his experiences of overcoming loss are one of the tools that help him remain intact with his archetypes. Despite this, Carter (2017) actually provided a good argument to explain the main character's behavior and his projection to Naoko. Putting.