All-in-all, A Wild Sheep Chase proves itself to be a revolutionary work in the mystery genre through its unique tangent off of Van Dines rules. However, both works often receive high praise because of their straying from the norms of the genre, Poes piece creates the archetype of the detective story within the genre of mystery, while Murakami found a new angle to approach the genre. The idea of a lover in a mystery creates a subplot which pulls the readers attention from the primary task of solving the case at hand. Murakami, on the other hand, chooses to oppose the idea of a lack of love interest, as the protagonist gets to the hymeneal temple with not just one but three women over the course of the novel. In fact, the orangutan wasn’t even a possible suspect until Dupin deduces so, which also scratches out the idea that all clues must be plainly stated and described. For Poe, he strays from the idea that the culprit must play a prominent role in the story, where he uses an orangutan which belongs to a sailor for the role of the antagonist. Both rhetors also go against Van Dine, but in unique ways that allow their respective stories to be innovative. Poe uses Dupin as Murakami to his main character being the primary source of deduction.

Both works of Murakami and Poe follow the principle of having one detective or one protagonist of deduction, one deus ex machina.

The perfect template for the genre is “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” by Edgar Allan Poe, which paved the way for Van Dine to formulate twenty rules of thumb which are typical conventions of mystery. “A Wild Sheep Chase” is one of the more unique mysteries in that it follows some conventions of the genre while still maintaining a level of rebellion. Through an analysis of the novel’s conformity to the genre, characterization, and point of view, we are able to see how it has shaped the way we think of mystery as a whole. Haruki Murakami‘s “A Wild Sheep Chase” exemplifies this as the unnamed main character not only goes searching for a sheep that hasn’t been seen for a long time, but also for his true self. Be it the search for clues every detective goes through or the eventual revelation of the criminal, mystery as a whole reflects humanities inner journey to find oneself.

Of the various genres of fiction, mystery seems to be the one that has more concrete conventions and yet still manages to captivate the audience.

A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami