Leeches are known for sucking blood, while the bikers can be said to be spilling blood. The leeches falling from the sky seem quite ironic because this occurs when Nakata sees a group of bikers beating on a young man. That definitely helped in delaying the investigation of Johnnie Walker’s death. Similarly a corpse has a very strong smell as well, yet if the streets are flooded with fish, the smell of the corpse cannot be detected so easily or be mistaken to be that of the fish. Fish have a very strong and distinctive smell and probably removing all these fish will take up some time. Another interpretation could be that the fish help Nakata flee. Therefore I link these connotations to each other. In my culture we often say that something unlikely will happen only when pigs start flying. The fish falling from the sky for me is a reaction to the policeman not believing Nakata. Secondly the dog can be seen as being out of Nakata’s comfort zone since he is only familiar with cats which foreshadows that he will have to step into an even more uncomfortable situation dealing with Johnnie Walker. I therefore envision Nakata to be in the middle of the two strength wise. Dogs are often also portrayed as being the opposite of cats as well as being the stronger creature of the two.
In addition Nakata cannot communicate back to the dog, which is another sign that the dog is superior to Nakata. It seems like Nakata is given no choice but to follow him. The interesting thing about the dog is that he conveys authority and shows control over Nakata. Through what appears to be body language the dog signals Nakata to follow him to Johnnie Walker, the cat stealer who forces Nakata into killing him. The dog that tells Nakata to follow him is the next animal that plays a role in the novel. At this point in the novel we know that if Kafka would ever meet his mother or sister he would have mixed feelings, as his father’s prophecy is that he will kill him and sleep with his mother and sister. Therefore an interesting interpretation can be that Nakata is constantly engaged with female characters through the cats, which contrasts with Kafka’s longing to find his mother and sister. One interpretation can be that cats represent the female gender as the feline creatures behave in an elegant and gentle manner. Cats are the most dominant animals in the novel.
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