Haruki Murakami's Deconstructive Reading of the Myth of Johnnie Walker and Colonel Sanders in Kafka on the Shore

This study aims to analyze how Haruki Murakami reads the real icons of Johnnie Walker and Colonel Sanders in Kafka on the Shore deconstructively. First, we will focus on the signification process of the icon, which are to a great extent molded by advertisements, and then on the deconstruction of their signifieds. For the purpose, we will apply Barthes' idea of myth. We are also interested in revealing how Murakami constructs Johnnie Walker and Colonel Sanders to be characters in the novel. The analysis shows that the construction of the icons through advertisements leads to the creation of their mtyhs, and then Murakami reads them deconstructively to be opposite signifieds.


INTRODUCTION
In the past, literary works challeged the writer to FUHDWH VRPHWKLQJ µLFRQLF ¶ DV answered by Mary Shelley with her Frankenstein %UDP 6WRNHU ¶V Dracula, Don Vito Corleone RI 0DULR 3X]R ¶V The Godfather, and many more. In contemporary works, the mentioning of icons is not something to be afraid of. One of the famous contemporary writers, internationally popular for his work Norwegian Wood, is Haruki Murakami who uses icons outside literary works to be his characters. Murakami is the author of the 2006 Franz Kafka award and New York Bestselling Kafka on the Shore, a neat composition of the world of Kafka Tamura, a 15-year old runaway who is to be the toughest boy in the world. He undergoes a journey against the oedipal prophecy written by himself and search for his mother and sister, two figures lost in his childhood. During the magical travel, Kafka also met two world-renowned icons, now talking and living: Johnnie Walker and Colonel Sanders.
Murakami borrows two very famous worldwide icons as the characters in Kafka on the Shore, that is µ-RKQQLH :DONHU ¶ DQG µ&RORQHO 6DQGHUV. ¶ -RKQQLH Walker is a scotch whiskey icon that is present as the trademark of the brand Johnnie Walker itself. A symbol portraying a man with a white hat, suits, and sticks, Johnnie Walker presents the striding man of 6FRWODQG ³+LVWRU\ RI -RKQQLH :DONHU´ 0XUDNDPL also brings Colonel Sanders, the icon of international franchise of Kentucky Fried Chicken. A man in white suit, usually portrayed holding a bucket of his invented recipe of fried chicken, Colonel Sanders is a figure whom people easily remember. It is also important to note that both icons are associated with something greater in ideological sense than just the product they represent, as Eiffel tower is a symbol of French nationalism. This association, which occurs in OD\HUHG SURFHVVHV LV FDOOHG µP\WK ¶ a term coined by Roland Barthes to describe a conceptual idea of a system evolving around a sign (Stoica, 2011, para. 6). Mythology, by definition, is a study of type of speech aimed to examine the connotation operating inside a text. In a myth, there are two semiological systems operating; one is the language-object relation forming D ³ODQJXDJH ZKLFK P\WK JHWV KROG LQ RUGHU WR EXLOG its own system,´ DQG WKH RWKHU RQH LV P\WK FDOOHG DV PHWDODQJXDJH WKH VHFRQG ODQJXDJH ³LQ ZKLFK RQH VSHDNV DERXW WKH ILUVW´ %DUWKHV, 1972, p. 112).
Portraying Johnnie Walker and Colonel Sanders and placing them to a journey which gives them a new meaning for their existence itself are eventually an attempt to deconstruct the myth of the two icons in the novel. As icons, both of them have possessed features in which the icons are made for some certain purposes, as one marketing material explains to be a ³EUDQG UHFRJQL]DEOH DQ\ZKHUH LQ WKH ZRUOG WKDW KDV VXUYLYHG HFRQRPLF FRQYXOVLRQV´ 9HGROLQ 2010, para. 2). Murakami gives new traits to the icons as characters, which are the total opposite from the positive meanings -RKQQLH :DONHU LV LQ 0XUDNDPL ¶V deconstructive reading, a mad man and cat-killer, while Colonel Sanders appears to be a rich man who is very generous, humorous, and yet a pimp who GLVWULEXWHV µFKLFNV ¶ DQ LQIRUPDO WHUP IRU JLUOV XVXDOO\ refering to prostitutes). Thus, there is a deconstruction of the essence of the icons, from being mythically created for positive image in reality to being a negative one in the novel.
We are especially interested in how Johnnie Walker and Colonel Sanders who are chosen in the novel to become characters in the novel, but also the process of deconstructing the icons and the myth surrounding the icons. %DUNHU PHQWLRQHG WKDW ³WR deconstruct is to take apart, to undo, in order to seek out and GLVSOD\ WKH DVVXPSWLRQV RI D WH [W´ p. 70). Hence, the definition of deconstruction is a process of dismantling a text and scrutinizing the system operating in it. Therefore, we will focus specifically on analyzing the two icons and their construction and decostruction of their signifieds in the novel. Applying this theory, we will analyze Johnnie Walker and Colonel Sanders, the icons and characters in 0XUDNDPL ¶V QRYHO E\ ILUVW LGHQWLI\LQJ WKH FRQstruction of the two icons and the myths surrounding them. By this, we will apply intertextuality, analyzing the icons from advertisements and in the novel. Lastly, we will use deconstruction to find the binary operations from these two texts and how Murakami reconstructs the icons to be the characters as well as their signifieds being reversed in the novel.

CONSTRUCTION AND DECONSTRUCTION OF JOHNNIE WALKER MYTH
Johnny Walker, the signifier we are discussing here, is both an icon and a brand name of world-renowned Scotch whiskey. At first, the icon was modeled after the founder of the brand, John Walker. He was depicted as a middle-upper class man of the society instead of man from working class. As intended to attract upper class society, the icon was designed with distinctive features and merry appearance: His top hat, walking stick, breeches and riding boots promise a refined product for an upscale PDUNHW &RPELQH WKDW ZLWK KLV HOXVLYHQHVV >«@ and it makes for a very attractive symbol for the rung-climbing careerist set with money to spend (Vedolin, 2010, para. 3).
The icon, a faceless striding man with the same long coat, tall hat and boots, and walking stick to the right direction, gives people a sense of sophisticated icon of a whisky by the appearance of a high-end man with DQ HGJ\ WDJOLQH ³NHHS ZDONLQJ´ ZKLFK QRWDWHV progress and development to something positive.
As we see the icon of Johnnie Walker, we would then see the very product it symbolizes: the Scotch whiskey. Johnnie Walker appears as a logo sticking on the bottle of Red Label and on the boxes of all the whiskey varieties. The icon of striding man is thus associated with the liquor produced from malts, enunciating liquor presented by a gentleman with high hat and who µNHHSs walking. ¶ -RKnnie Walker is a sign of drinking a special whiskey, which is the favored scotch.
Imbued with these traits of icon is the second level of signification, in which Johnnie Walker is more than a mere sign of striding man with a context of advertisements. Many advertisements are based on the Johnnie Walker icon, which then reinforces new signification from being an icon of sophisticated man LQWR D PRUH µliving ¶ RQH D QHZ HVVHQFH ,W LV IURP advertisements that society defines Johnnie Walker, and the campaigns involving Johnnie are intended to incept the ideas on the whiskey-branding image. The decoding of meaning is possible because of the ³VKDUHG PHDQLQJ V\VWHPV DQG FXOWXUDO FRGHV´ DV FLWHG in Stoica, 2011, para. 3 The intended essence of Johnnie Walker through the meaning reinforcement from the advertisements is a mere signification process of the third level. The icon incepts an LGHD WKDW KH µZDONs ¶ DURXQG WKH ZRUOG, gathers and inspires successful people he met, as well as the idea how a successful man should look like and do. Hence, Johnnie Walker is a personalization of success itself.
All traits in Johnnie Walker are intended to signify success as expressed by SURJUHVV ³%%+ ¶V FDPpaign ´ 2008, para. 5), but there is something more than just a mere success. Success is something idealized, something people want to see and at the same time identify themselves to be the men in advertisements. Stoica (2011) noted WKDW ³.HHS :DONLQJ GHSLFWV µLGHDOLVHG LPDJHV ¶ ± created through social norms that have evolved over time´ (para. 10). +RZHYHU µVXFFHVV ¶ LV QRW RQO\ VRPHWKLQJ WKDW LV universal. The advertisements use men with appropriate appearance, interest, skill, and behavior to portray a typical success. From this point, Johnnie Walker becomes a new signifier of civilized and elite people.
Beginning from the suit, which mirrors how a gentleman should wear, the icon continuously points out how to be a successful man in life by becoming µFLYLOL]HG. ¶ 0RUHRYHU VXFFHVV LV seen as an idealized image where everyone can be successful, but at the same time, there are only special traits to be possessed to be successful, as in dressing elegantly. Thus, in Johnnie Walker, there exist two myths on consuming the whiskey: that drinking whiskey might give success, and that drinking whiskey might make one µFLYLOL]HG ¶ DV ZHOO We have discussed how Johnnie Walker icon undergoes two semiological systems through signification process. Herein, we would like to show the deconstruction process on the novel through the binary operations done by Murakami. As a borrowed icon for the character, Johnnie Walker is physically depicted as: >«@ WDOO WKLQ DQG ZHDULQJ D EODFN VLON KDW >«@+H KDG RQ D IRUP-fitting red coat with long tails, a black vest, and long black boots. His trousers were as white as snow and fit him perfectly. One hand was raised to the brim of his hat, like he was tipping it politely to a lady. His left hand gripped a black walking stick by the round, gold knob (Murakami, 2002, p. 68).
The signifier on the very first level of language-object UHODWLRQ LV WKHQ DVVRFLDWHG ZLWK WKH LFRQ ¶V RULJLQDO signified, that is the product whiskey itself. The Scotch whiskey is not altered, but yet the relationship between Johnnie and the liquor changes; Johnnie is depicted as consuming the whiskey. The man sat back down and crossed his legs. He picked up a glass on the desk and took a sip of whisky. Ice cubes clinked in the glass. "I hope you don't mind if I indulge?" (p. 68). « He lifted his glass of whisky and took a drink. (p. 73) Therein, Johnnie Walker is not only associated to the whiskey. By consuming the whiskey, Johnnie is thus inferred that he is also a consumer and is able to be  (Stoica, 2011, para. 5).
It can be inferred in the quotation above that Johnnie Walker is typically drawn as a successful man who would get satisfaction and happiness from nonmaterial success. Johnnie Walker and those who drink whiskey might be inspired to be a hero to do something useful for the society, and eventually receive happiness by then.
In the novel, however, Murakami deconstructs Johnnie Walker and shifts the pivoting center into µ-RKQQLH :DONHU LV D YLOODLQ LQ LWV UHODWLRQ WR µIDLOXUH. ¶ As success will lead to happiness, the deconstructed FRQFHSW LV WUDQVIRUPHG LQWR µD IDLOXUH ZKR ZLOO IDFH GRRPV ¶ WKURXJKout the Johnnie Walker character, which is indicated by making him into a negative figurine, a cat-killer: I'm the one who cut off all those cats' heads," he said. He lifted his glass of whisky and took a drink. "I'm collecting them." "So you're the one who's been catching cats in that vacant lot and killing them." "That's right. The infamous cat-killer Johnnie Walker, at your service." (Murakami, 2002, pp. 75-76) « It takes a lot of time and effort to gather and kill this many cats. I'm killing them to collect their souls, which I use to create a special kind offlute.  (Ozersky, 2010, para. 4). In the following section, we would analyze the icon and find the myth surrounding the icon by historical-biographical approach, as well as several advertisements as tools to understand the signifieds of the icon.
Firstly, ColoneO 6DQGHUV ¶ DSSHDUDQFH DV a signifier consists of a plain white suit and trousers with a black string tie knotted tidily. Furthermore, Colonel Sanders appeared to be old, with snow white hair and white goatee beard, as well as glasses. This description of the icon signifies Colonel Sanders as a good man who sells a good product. Wright (2010) explains that the FRORU ZKLWH LQIHUV ³>K@\JLHQH VWHULOLW\ FODULW\ SXULW\ FOHDQQHVV VLPSOLFLW\ VRSKLVWLFDWLRQ HIILFLHQF\´ SDUD 3), indicating that the usage of white signifies a cleanness of the product itself, in tune with the fact that Colonel Sanders is an icon for food, which requires hygiene and cleanness for consumption. Moreover, the elderly figure of Colonel Sanders, as indicated by the grey hair and goatee indicates an experienced figure. Grey hair, a trait of elder people, reflects TXDOLWLHV RI EHLQJ µROG ¶ WKDW DUH ZLVH experienced, and trusted. The iconic smile of Colonel Sanders might also indicate the friendliness and service that one might get from Colonel Sanders and the product. Colonel Sanders is a good man who sells a good product, as well as marketable and financially stable man.
,W LV WKHQ WKH VLJQLILHG RI &RORQHO 6DQGHUV ¶ LFRQ WKDW people have in mind. The appearance of the iconic Colonel Sanders is a mere signifier to what he sells, that is fried chicken. Colonel Sanders is turned to be a figure associated most with the fried chicken he sells. Ozersky (2010) explains that: Sanders was the living embodiment of what his food supposedly stood for. His white suit wasn't the invention of a marketing committee; he wore it every day and was never seen in public for the last 20 years of his life in anything else (para. 4).
The character and figure of Colonel Sanders are thus inseparable from the commodity itself. The iconic man has given meaning of fried chicken as commodity throughout advertisements.
We would begin scrutinizing the signified of this sign by first doing a biographical approach on Colonel Sanders. Colonel Sanders invented his recipes and conducted the restaurant from his own kitchen. Furthermore, he was also dedicated to stand in front of his restaurant and called passing cars as means of promotion (Topmiller, 2010, para. 3). Such acts for his business were continued until his death in 1980.
Colonel Sanders himself appears as a real figure of the Kentucky Fried Chicken head in promoting the fried chicken. There are two types of advertisements. The old ones involve the still-alive Colonel Sanders himself marketing his product, the others feature product, fried chicken commodity. In most advertisements, there are portrayals of how families enjoy his product with smiling faces. On the advertisements that do not portray Colonel Sanders, the ads mostly show the crispness of brown-fried chicken, indicating the tastiness of the commodity for the prospective consumers.
Relating to this, we would like to first elaborate on capitalism, as explained by Barker (2004): «>LW LV@ JUDVSHG DV D PRGH RI SURGXFWLRQ premised on the private ownership of the means RI SURGXFWLRQ >«@ :KLOH WKH OHJDO IUDPHZRUN and common sense thinking of capitalist societies may declare that workers are free agents and the sale of labour a free and fair contract, this obscures the fundamental process of exploitation at work. This is so because capitalism aims to make a profit and does so by extracting surplus value from workers. The realization of surplus value in monetary form is achieved by the selling of goods (which have ERWK µXVH-YDOXH ¶ DQG µH[FKDQJH-YDOXH ¶ DV commodities. (p. 29) Capitalism is thus a mode of production wherein the ODERUV GR QRW UHFHLYH DV PDQ\ DV ³WKRVH ZKR ZRUN OHVV LQ WKH KLHUDUFK\´ :ROII 2011, para. 5). Based on the advertisements, it is shown that the Colonel is the direct controller of everything in the process of spicing the chickens and frying them (the workers do them all). Moreover, it is the KFC president who takes the merit on getting the surplus value from the workers and claims the chicken as his product. Nonetheless, Colonel Sanders here is seen as the one who JLYHV WKH µVHUYLFH ¶ IURP KLV YHU\ RZQ KDQG D trait of capitalism wherein he receives the recognition from public and becomes the symbol of quality cooking while the food-processing is done by the workers.
'HILQHG DV D ³PRGH Rf production premised on the SULYDWH RZQHUVKLS RI WKH PHDQV RI SURGXFWLRQ´ FDSLWDOLVP WXUQV ³WKH YDOXH RI WKH ODERU WDNHQ WR produce goods, which become the property of the bourgeoisie, [to be] more than the worker receives IRU LW´ %DUNHU S 20). However, the aim is ³GLUHFWHG WRZDUGV PDNLQJ WKH JUHDWHVW SRVVLEOH SURILWV IRU VXFFHVVIXO RUJDQL]DWLRQV DQG SHRSOH´ ³Capitalism´ PHDQLQJ WKH SXUSRVH RI FDSLWDOLVP LV still to bring profit for the sake of human being. In Kentucky Friend Chicken franchise, Colonel Sanders as the private owner of the world-renowned business serves the commodity, that is chicken, not only for the sake of profit but also for the labors as well as to serve human beings with the commodity. It does not matter how many labors are required to mass-produce the chicken, because eventually this system helps ³FRQWLQXDO UHYROXWLRQL]LQJ RI WKH PHDQV RI SURGXFWLRQ DQG WKH IRUJLQJ RI QHZ PDUNHWV´ Barker, 2004, p. 20). Therefore, chicken as commodity is served as the object of capitalism itself; the center is still human being, for every means of production involves human being and the result is aimed to make human live better.
Taking on this new signified of capitalism, we discover the myth circulating around the icon. As eating Kentucky Fried Chicken is a confirmation that consuming the food that Colonel Sanders makes would always be good, the myth now turns to be that Colonel Sanders provides the best chicken through the best service, proven by his elderly, experienced look as well as his perseverance, and will ensure the service to be good for the sake of others. Throughout the usage of labor and capitalist mechanism of product creation, in addition to the portrayal of Colonel Sanders in the icons as a hard-working and talented chef who mass-produces his chickens for the sake of the consumers, Colonel Sanders gives jobs to WKRXVDQGV RI SHRSOH LQ ³PRUH WKDQ IUDQFKLVHG outlets for his chicken in the United States and &DQDGD´ 7RSPLOOHU 2010, para. 5).
We have discussed the construction of Colonel Sanders as an icon and how it constructs a new myth, namely capitalism provides the best service and product for the welfare of human beings. In the novel, Murakami deconstructs capitalism to be at its worst: he treats human being not as a subject to be satisfied by 6DQGHUV ¶ product. Instead, human being is now the object or FRPPRGLW\ DQG IULHG FKLFNHQ RU µFKLFNV ¶ DUH just his tool. In addition, Murakami deconstructs Colonel Sanders to be a pimp, an agent for call girls throughout the novel. Thus, we would like to discuss how the deconstruction and binary opposition occur in this text, scrutinizing from the depiction of Colonel Sanders as a pimp and the deconstruction of capitalism as a new signified given by Murakami.
From the beginning, Colonel Sanders is described exactly like the old Kentucky Fried Chicken icon, ZLWK ³D ZKLWH VXLW >Z@KLWH KDLU D VHULRXV SDLU RI glasses, a white mustache and goatee, white shirt, and VWULQJ WLH ´ 0XUDNDPL S LQGLFDWLQJ KLV identity: "I don't just look like Colonel Sanders. It's who I am." "The fried-chicken guy?" The old man nodded heavily. "One and the same. Moreover, the decentered human is overshadowed by the importance of the service itself, not the specific WUDLWV RI JLUOV ³0\ JLUOV GR LW DOO--hand job, BJ, whatever you want, including the old in-and-RXW ´ p. 143). Here, the girl is not important, but what she does (namely the service) is. It is thus clear that the LPSRUWDQFH RI &RORQHO 6DQGHUV ¶ ZRUNV DUH QRW DERXW the service to satisfy human being anymore, as done by many other capitalistic business. The center of importance is now the service being provided by &RORQHO 6DQGHUV DQG WKH µFKLFNV ¶ DQ LQIRUPDO WHUP for girl), that is the commodity. Hence, the service becomes the center whilst now human being is peripheral. What matters is the service, no matter who the customer is or who the girl is, neglecting the importance of individuality.
The self and object relationship is a part of the capitalism deconstruction. The signified has pre-YLRXVO\ EHHQ VWDWHG DV µLI \RX HDW .)& \RX ZLOO EH provided with one-of-a-kind fried chicken that has been proven dHOLFLRXV ¶ PHDQLQJ WKDW RQH FDQ consume such a great food. However, the center now PRYHV WR WKH µKXPDQ EHLQJ DV D FRPPRGLW\ ¶ DV D WUDLW RI FDSLWDOLVW µSURILW-GULYHQ EXVLQHVV PHFKDQLVP ¶ WR achieve success, changing the signified into consuming Colonel SandeUV ¶ µFKLFNV ¶ %DUNHU, 2004, p. 20). Before, service was only one tool to satisfy human; now, service is the one dominating the human as objects. Human being becomes commodity in the novel, and thus it becomes the peripheral whilst the commodity itself becomes the center.
$OO LQ DOO &RORQHO 6DQGHUV ¶ VKLIW IURP FKLFNHQ grandeur to pimp signifies the opposite purpose of capitalism, which is human being. The deconstructed signified is that human being as a subject for the commodity becomes the commodity itself, which then puts human being into an object throughout Colonel Sanders representation. Capitalism herein is inferred as bad, as a power which controls human instead of human taking control of it.
To summarize the analysis, we found out that the icons as characters are the new signifieds of 0XUDNDPL ¶V UHDGLQJ RI WKHir myths. As such, Johnnie Walker is turned to be a mad man, deconstructing the myth that drinking whiskey turns one to be a more refined being. Furthermore, Colonel Sanders as a pimp reflects the diminishing of human as a subject to be an object, turning the signified of providing the best service to human being into making human being as a commodity, therefore stating that capitalism is a bad thing.

CONCLUSION
To conclude, the analysis has proven that there is a deconstruction of the icon signified in the novel, and there are serious issues being discussed by the author throughout the progressing story. Johnnie Walker is an icon that intends to mirror the power of civilized society and that Johnnie is a good gentleman that will enact success and stability. The signified of the icons are deconstructed by Murakami to be the characters in the novel. Drinking Johnnie Walker whiskey as a myth of success and being civilized is deconstructed by making Johnnie Walker a µYLOODLQ ¶ LQVWHDG RI KHUR LQ UHODWLRQ WR WKH success it brings). The binary comes to play, as Johnnie Walker-character becomes the uncivilized RQH E\ WKH HIIHFW RI WKH ZKLVNH\ WKDW LV µbecoming mad. ¶ 7KXV, Johnnie Walker is the real opposite of the positively constructed icon, thus deconstructing the myth to be that liquor ruins life. Colonel Sanders icon is deconstructed to be negative as well. Deconstructed to be pimp in the novel, Murakami shows the binary play of the subject and object. For Murakami, the object is not the chicken anymore, but the human that consumes WKH µFKLFNHQ, ¶ WKH FDOO-girls that Colonel Sanders sells in the novel. Thus, the importance of human is diminished and human is a mere object, the subject being the commodity itself. The myth is deconstructed to be that capitalism is bad.
A character borrowed from a real icon might provide a unique effect as it implies a new meaning, as well as how the author comes to play with the binary opposition. As a reading attempt to read the two iconic characters, it is clear that the deconstructed myths are simply revealing the other side of the icons, by reversing the signified of the two icons. Thus, it also proves that both Johnnie Walker and Colonel Sanders LQ 0XUDNDPL ¶V QRYHO are examples of reading myth and its deconstruction.