The Art of Being: Haruki Murakami’s Killing Commendatore and Kierkegaardian Existentialism

Abstract

The protagonist of Killing Commendatore retreats to deal with the trauma of divorce. Pivotal to the protagonist’s journey is his discovery of a painting. Depicting a scene from Mozart’s opera, Don Giovanni, the painting marks the protagonist’s departure to finding meaning in a complex world. His self-discovery hinges on the arts, leading the protagonist to grasp his essence and place in an indifferent and absurd universe. Fantastic and surreal events in the novel can be seen as an adaptation of Kierkegaard’s existentialism, a reinterpretation of the philosopher’s tenets to fit the twenty-first century. © 2025 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.