Certain students enjoy receiving new
writing partners. I, however, find the extravaganza quite a demoralizing event
due to the unspoken truth: last year, my teacher often paired a great writer
with another student whose writing could use a little help. Shockingly, the
majority of my past writing partners have proved themselves as some of the best
writers in the grade. Although this
trend seemed much stronger last year, I think the above hypothesis still holds
validity this year for at least one of her students: this guy. For instance, last
Monday, my teacher paired me up with the student who won the “English Student
of the Year Award” last year. I wish my teacher would have just slapped a
sticker across my forehead that read “I SUCK” instead of pairing me up with
this genius. Such an experience would have proved less humiliating. Anyways,
after receiving our new writing partners on Monday, my teacher exclaimed, in a
voice that haunts my dreams to this day, “This is the first test to prove your
dominance over your partner and show that you are the leader of the pair.” Although
paraphrasing slightly, the remark made me ponder this question: why does a
leader emerge within a pair of people? I think author, Haruki Murakami, answers
this question in his short story, “The Second Bakery Attack.” In a year when
Japan experienced 8,581 violent crimes (1985), Murakami weaves a tale of a
newlywed couple attacking a McDonalds in order to break a curse placed upon the
duo. During the attack, the wife orders her husband to
“Lower…shutter and turn off…sign” (7). The commanding diction of “Lower” and
“turn off” creates a dominating tone, indirectly characterizing the wife as the
leader of the couple. The woman’s ability to think quickly and intelligently
during the attack implies that she possesses a history in crime. For this
reason, Murakami asserts that the person with more experience in a certain
situation will naturally arise as the leader of a couple. After the conclusion
of the McDonalds attack, Harukami writes, “she [the wife] fell asleep” and “I
[the husband]…closed my eyes” (9). The mood of closure depicted by the pleasant
diction of “asleep” implies that the couple finally finds peace from the detestable curse. Through this sense of contentment, Harukami develops
the claim that leadership brings about happiness. The author urges those familiar
with the topic at hand to take leadership within a group in order to bring
about success. On the other hand, I urge those humble enough to admit their
weaknesses in certain aspects of life (especially writing) to accept their
role as side-kick and support their leaders.
