Murakami uses the device of alternating chapters to tell the coinciding, though never colliding, stories of Kafka Tamura and Satoru Nakata. The odd-numbered chapters belong to Kafka and the characters that orbit his world. Even-numbered chapters tell Nakata's story, beginning with excerpted interviews culled from U.S. Army intelligence reports from 1946. Murakami's use of alternating stories allows him to illustrate the connections between the two protagonists while still keeping them separate. This device aids in propelling the narrative forward and organizing the sometimes confusing storylines.
Murakami uses fictional top secret U.S. Army intelligence reports to provide back-story in Kafka on the Shore. The 1946 interviews attempt to explain what happened to Nakata when he was nine years old, but they also provide cultural and historical clues that give the reader necessary.....
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