Out clearly reflects dissatisfied and angry women, “For the first time in quite a while, she felt a surge of dark rage (75), with their fury culminating with Yayoi’s crime, the murder of Kenji, “…why has she felt the sort of thrill one got from chasing down an animal in the wild? Perhaps she’d always been that kind of person but had just never had the chance to find out (113)”. The oppression of women and minority groups is spearheaded by the patriarchal ideologies that rule all aspects of Japanese culture (Lianying 184).Ī question arises then, should these women be abhorred for their actions? Kirino ensures there is no ambiguity to these women’s happiness. The fundamental reason for these women’s oppression is the world in which they live. The four factory workers are treated as nothing more than second class citizens, reflected quite painfully in their home lives and working conditions. This can be accredited to Kirino’s narrative framing of contemporary Japan in which these women live in. The protagonists of novel, (Masako, Yayoi, Yoshie and Kuniko) are not placed on a pedestal at any point during the story, they are objectively bad people and yet readers cannot help but feel for them and their plight to some degree. Kirino’s writing challenges the reader to question their own morals throughout the course of Out.

Instead, it conveys a disturbing insight into the psychology of women driven to the edge of a society plagued with economic, class and gender divisions (Seaman 197). However, upon this novels conclusion it becomes clear that Kirino’s story is much more than a simple murder mystery. What follows is captivating account of betrayal, gore and violence within contemporary Japan.Īt surface level the psychological and thriller themes are more than enough to captivate the attention of any reader.

When a young mother finally snaps, four women come together to carry out the disposal and cover up of their fellow employee’s dead husband. Natsuo Kirino’s award-winning novel details the gritty tale of suburban Japanese housewives who end up enthralled in a world of murder and crime.

To delve into these things is to explore the whole of human psychology.” -Natsuo kIRNO (iNDIEbOUND.ORG) And there is this single moment where a person becomes susceptible to committing a crime. A person is cornered, they do unimaginable things - things that one usually thinks they would never do.

Rez natsuo kirino