Egg and wall

Mr. Haruki Murakami, a popular Japanese writer, is considered to be "one of the world's greatest living novelists". Of course, I read several of his books. These are easy to read but have profound implications.

This week, I saw a news program on TV saying that Murakami had been awarded Jerusalem prize, an Israel's prestigious literary award, in January.

He attended the ceremony at the 24th International book fair in Jerusalem and took the prize flanked by Israeli President Shimon Peres and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat. After that, he explained why he accepted the Jerusalem award.

"I have come to Jerusalem today as a novelist, which is to say as a professional spinner of lies", he said.

"Today, however, I have no intention of lying. I will try to be as honest as I can. There are a few days in the year when I do not engage in telling lies, and today happens to be one of them.

"The reason for this, of course, was the fierce battle that was raging in Gaza. The UN reported that more than a thousand people had lost their lives in the blockaded Gaza City, many of them unarmed citizens -- children and old people.

He compared individual to an egg.
"Between a high, solid wall and an egg that breaks against it, I will always stand on the side of the egg.
"Yes, no matter how right the wall may be and how wrong the egg, I will stand with the egg. Someone else will have to decide what is right and what is wrong; perhaps time or history will decide. If there were a novelist who, for whatever reason, wrote works standing with the wall, of what value would such works be?

"This is not all, though. It carries a deeper meaning. Think of it this way. Each of us is, more or less, an egg. Each of us is a unique, irreplaceable soul enclosed in a fragile shell. This is true of me, and it is true of each of you. And each of us, to a greater or lesser degree, is confronting a high, solid wall. The wall has a name: It is The System. The System is supposed to protect us, but sometimes it takes on a life of its own, and then it begins to kill us and cause us to kill others - coldly, efficiently, systematically.

"I have only one thing I hope to convey to you today. We are all human beings, individuals transcending nationality and race and religion, fragile eggs faced with a solid wall called The System. To all appearances, we have no hope of winning. The wall is too high, too strong - and too cold. If we have any hope of victory at all, it will have to come from our believing in the utter uniqueness and irreplaceability of our own and others' souls and from the warmth we gain by joining souls together.

"Take a moment to think about this. Each of us possesses a tangible, living soul. The System has no such thing. We must not allow The System to exploit us. We must not allow The System to take on a life of its own. The System did not make us: We made The System.

He closed his speech by thanking his readership.
"I am grateful to have been awarded the Jerusalem Prize. I am grateful that my books are being read by people in many parts of the world. And I am glad to have had the opportunity to speak to you here today”.

As his writings, his speech is easily accessible, yet profoundly complex.

Digest of his speech is here.
"Always on the side of the egg"