CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN: BOOK REVIEW
The way we define ourselves is largely based on the people who surround us, the places we occupy, and all of the choices we make. The pandemic has complicated this somewhat, especially for the many teens who were told that this would be the best time of their lives, the college students who are just trying to figure out the path of the next stage of their lives, and the young adults who aren’t sure what they’re working towards. They all hopelessly seek something to grab on to. It’s a bumpy ride. I, myself, regularly question the processes by which we become functioning members of society. I found refuge with Keiko Furukura within the pages of Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata.
Keiko is labeled as an unusual person by her friends, family, and even herself at times. However, as I read Convenience Store Woman, I quickly realized that I related to her more than I initially thought I would. She solves problems logically and efficiently. Unfortunately, this creates issues for her early on in life and is labeled as a lack of care for others, especially when she causes physical harm to her peers. In one instance she hits a fellow student over the head with a spade to get him to stop fighting with another boy. Later, when Keiko secures a job as a convenience worker we see her “means to an end” approach to life begin to benefit her. She channels her entire being into being a convenience worker. The rules and codes of such a life are much more clearly defined to her, and so she finds it easy to do more than fulfill the role, she becomes it.
The strange conundrum of the story is that if Keiko Furukura were living in a bubble with no societal influence, she would not face the judgment she does in this novel, but without society, there would be no convenience store to work in. It is a cruel irony that without the society that seeks to judge her, she would have no safe haven. At the convenience store, the rules are simple and the goals are clear. Not only that, but she can look to her coworkers as examples of how to speak and act. I found myself empathizing with Keiko. I, too, enjoy tasks that are simple, easy to prepare for, and clear to execute.
Keiko’s world can’t sustain itself forever. Eventually, she is discovered by the critics in her life and forced to confront what is “normal.” For years, Keiko managed to avoid suspicion and live a simple life, but various events came together to disrupt this routine and set her on an entirely different path. Part of me wondered how Keiko managed to avoid suspicion for as long as she did. She landed the job at the convenience store in her late teens, and the events of the novel take place when Keiko is in her thirties. The excuses she makes for keeping the same job, not marrying, and not spending much time with friends are briefly touched on, but I’m not sure I buy it. It’s possible, however, that I just don’t want to believe that people could be so unobservant.
The truth of the matter is that people are that unobservant. The pandemic has shown us that, even if we could not see it before. People have been left behind by the very society they were trying to find refuge in. They have been left behind and left out by friends, family, and the institutions they are a part of. Individuals go without healthcare, children fail out of school, and protesters are ignored. The very society we cling to has flaws, and they’ve been laid out for all to see. As I read Convenience Store Woman I likened Keiko Furukura’s life journey to what we’ve all gone through during the last year and a half in America and I realized how desperately we all just want to find our role and feel accepted. Keiko would sacrifice her job as a convenience store worker just to get some relief from the judgment, but ultimately what’s more important? The novel wrapped up without addressing this question, but it will linger in my mind for a while to come.