REVIEW BOOK "THE GATE OF MURDER (HIGASHINO KEIGO) – THE MALE VERSION OF YUKIHO AND MIFUYU?"

The Gate of Murder is a top Japanese detective novel written by author Higashino Keigo. As a writer who always strives to renew himself in his writing, this time the father of Behind Suspect X brings to readers a novel full of detective and many new things. Instead of looking for the murderer, this time Higashino Keigo wants to explore with readers the inner conflicts of people when standing between the line of good and evil. Everyone comes to this world with a pure soul, before standing on the side of evil, they have to fight a lot with the good inside themselves. "Tajima Kazuyuki wanted to kill Kuramochi Osamu", a long time ago, since the day the two were still elementary school friends. But from thoughts, desires to actions, there has always been a distance that Kazuyuki has never been able to overcome. So instead of killing Kuramochi, Kazuyuki has always been attached to him, no matter how much time passes, no matter how he runs away, struggles. “Fate brings us good fortune and bad fortune. Standing on the side of good or following evil are challenging choices for each person”

THE DARK SHADOWS OF CRIME

It all started when Tajima Kazuyuki was in fifth grade. Invited by his classmate Kuramochi Osamu to a gambling game, Kazuyuki dared to steal his grandmother’s wallet. That day, his grandmother, who had been suffering from illness for many years, suddenly passed away. Since then, a series of unfortunate events have occurred in the Tajima family.

First, a malicious rumor appeared in the neighborhood where they lived that Kazuyuki’s mother had killed his grandmother. Relatives and neighbors all knew that their relationship with their mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had never been very good. After the police started investigating, the rumor was put to rest. However, the number of patients coming to the Tajima family’s dental clinic had decreased significantly.

After his grandmother's death, young Kazuyuki discovers that a cursed talisman filled with the word "kill" has been sent to his home. Could these unfortunate events be caused by demons?

Previously, Kazuyuki's mother discovered that her husband was having an affair with a young maid. The clinic's lack of customers, causing financial difficulties in the family, became a fatal blow to the Tajima couple's marriage. In the end, Kazuyuki's mother decided to divorce. Her only son was left in the care of his father.

After breaking up with his wife, dentist Tajima indulged in alcohol and had an affair with a bar girl named Shimako. During a drunken night, Kazuyuki's father was severely injured by his love rival. Due to severe nerve damage, his father's hands were no longer as flexible as before.

Dentist Tajima had to sell the dental clinic and the old house. From then on, Kazuyuki's life fell into hell. His family's financial situation prevented him from attending a good school, and Kazuyuki's father spent his days immersed in alcohol and unrealistic dreams.

KEEPING FAITH IN GOODNESS

During his high school years, Kazuyuki met the cute Enjiri Yoko. Coincidentally, his old elementary school friend, Kuramochi Osamu, was also in a relationship with Yoko. One day, Yoko committed suicide while pregnant. Kazuyuki had a hunch that the poor girl's death was related to Kuramochi Osamu.

After the two talked, Osamu admitted that the fetus Yoko was carrying was his. From that moment on, Tajima Kazuyuki decided to kill Kuramochi Osamu himself. In his heart, there was always a fierce confrontation between good and evil.

Many times, the good boy decided to forget the crimes that Kuramochi Osamu had committed. However, that scoundrel was like a ghost that always lingered around Tajima Kazuyuki. He deceived him over and over again, destroying the rare moments of peace that the poor boy had to work so hard to achieve.

Later, Kazuyuki also discovered that the person who spread the rumor about his grandmother's death years ago and the person who sent the cursed talisman to Tajima's house were the same person, none other than Kuramochi Osamu.

Reading The Gate of Murder, readers will enter a tangled maze of inner thoughts and conscience, with a persistent struggle between good and evil. More than anyone, Tajima Kazuyuki always wanted to protect the good inside himself.

However, God is unfair when forcing good people to the end. Many times Tajima had the opportunity to act but hesitated, conscience was still a line he could not cross. When he saw the evil Kuramochi Osamu still living freely outside the law, Tajima Kazuyuki blamed himself.

As an honest man, the Tajima family's son always put his trust in the law. Then, the young man painfully realized that there are times when the law cannot protect the good from the claws of evil.

There are many thoughtful stories woven into the "blackening" journey of the character Tajima Kazuyuki, which are the role of the family, the role of the father and mother in the journey of their children's maturity. Higashino Keigo skillfully weaved those issues into a detective work.

The author peeled off each layer of conscience. Although the story spans decades, the author's arrangement of details is very skillful, leaving no loopholes. The details of the work are interwoven, complementing the story.

“ERROR VERSION”, THE PRECURSOR OF THE PUNCH SHRIMP AND THE WHITE GOBY

Surely, detective readers are no longer unfamiliar with the symbiotic relationship that appears through the pair of images of the firecracker shrimp and the white goby, when mentioning the close relationship between Yukiho and Ryoji in the novel Hakuyaku. And then once again, that image seems to reappear in the toxic relationship between Tajima Kazuyuki and Kuramochi Osamu in the novel The Gate of Murder written by Higashino Keigo in 2003, 4 years after he wrote Hakuyaku.

Only, instead of a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship; here, only one side benefits. However, it is not to the extent of becoming an antagonistic relationship between prey and predator, because one side, even if it does not benefit, or even suffers heavy damage, still exists, in one way or another. At the same time, that person is always attached to the beneficiary, difficult to separate. Perhaps, to name the relationship between Kazuyuki and Kuramochi throughout the novel The Gate of Murder, it can be said that this is a “faulty version” of the symbiosis of the cannon shrimp and the white goby. Or, as Kuramochi’s teacher himself said, “to succeed, you need a sacrificial pawn.”

In this case, the “white goby” plays the role of “sacrificial pawn”, just for Kazuyuki’s situation. People are always self-conscious, they are always immersed in the darkness, even if they struggle to escape with the small desire to live a life that is poor but simple and quiet, in the end, they still cannot escape the hands of the “cannon shrimp” who is despicable but always loved by everyone around and walks radiantly under the sun, Kuramochi.

And to be able to be such a perfect "firecracker", Kuramochi completely understands the hearts of people, from the lonely old people to the young people who long to assert themselves, even the young girls who are naive or the playboys or the smart, mature ones. They, even when they know they have been deceived, know how bad Kuramochi is, still care for him with all their heart. In particular, the person Kuramochi understands best is the "rich kid" Kazuyuki who thinks he is smart, knowledgeable with a passion for using poison, killing people and the illusion of a type of murder without a trace. But in reality, that person is naive to the point of weakness, easier to manipulate than anyone, even following in the footsteps of the very people he once despised.

Kuramochi took away everything Kazuyuki cherished and desired, aroused the dark side of this person, even hatred, and opposed him with his actions, words, and calculations that were unintentional and "innocent". Although he initiated it, it was Kazuyuki who carried it out, following the path he secretly outlined. The despicable "firecracker shrimp" stood behind the scenes, manipulating the "white goby", only "robbed" and made the "white goby" "miserable" but never completely "destroyed".

Because in the end, the "firecracker shrimp" still needed the "white goby". And perhaps, even if the "white goby" reached the end of the "toxic symbiotic" relationship, it would still not be able to escape the gaze and manipulation from the idea of the "firecracker shrimp" that had crept and deeply ingrained in the subconscious. Just like the "murder gate" had been crossed, the "eyes" would still haunt the one who stayed behind.

Therefore, it can be said that Kuramochi is despicable, cruel, understanding of people's hearts and good at manipulating others' psychology, is the male version of the image of "firecracker shrimp" Yukiho before and Mifuyu later. The murderous goblet, therefore, written from the narration, the perspective of a "white goby" from 2003, is even more dark and melancholy. When that, is it possible to manipulate people to that extent and can a person, forever be so foolish?

MALISM, JEALOUSY AND KILLING INTENTION, HALF-HEATEN KINDNESS

And the answer is, yes. When one side is too cunning, carrying malice and jealousy piled up along with the other side, very aware of “malice” but lacking life experience, severely lacking social capital and undeniable half-heartedness, from the “half-hearted” “murderous intent” to that “superficial” kindness.

As an author who has always been troubled by the two words “malice” in each person since the years of that person’s childhood, the expression of “malice” in each of Mr. Keigo’s works, from the creations before 2000 until now, is always extremely diverse. But in the end, although the way malice manifests itself into action is different, they all meet in the cause and purpose: originating from jealousy and desire, wishing for others to suffer misfortune.

Similar to the way that boy Kuramochi that year, through objective external influences, gradually formed a mentality of contempt and jealousy, leading to the formation of malice evident in deception filtering, lying like that. “Evil” is directed at Kazuyuki, but perhaps, with an ambitious Kuramochi, “hating poverty from the bottom of his heart”, the evil flowing in that thought is also directed at all people and this life. Anyone richer than him, anyone who lives a more perfect life than him.

But “evil” would not be able to be carried out if there were no half-hearted kindness around.

There is still a saying that everyone is a victim in their own story. It is unclear where that saying is wrong, but in the case of the Gate of Murder, it is terrifyingly true. Because from the first-person perspective, the narrator calls himself “I”, in a tangible and intentional way, Mr. Keigo seems to have built a Kazuyuki who always has the mindset, himself a victim of the “wind of misfortune” called Kuramochi.

But is he really completely a “victim” when Kazuyuki himself also has many dark twists in his soul. A A person who has been selfish since childhood, often only sees the immediate benefits and forgets the big picture. A person who is so superficial that he loves and likes but has never dared to say it. Even Kazuyuki has never dared to face and bring things that are familiar to him, not drifting away forever. Kazuyuki is too reliant on his own sensitivity without knowing how naive he is.

Kazuyuki, half-hearted in his way of life, superficial in his feelings, longs for "peace" but has almost never fought for those two words "peace". Because by nature, Kazuyuki is cowardly but extremely selfish and competitive, no less than the man he still hates.

Perhaps, the source of unhappiness comes from malice and that malice is nurtured in the solvent of a kind of kindness that always considers gains and losses. This, must also be the premise for the toxic relationship that is difficult to separate between "firecracker shrimp" and "white goby". Like like, even if Kuramochi dies, the “symbol” of Kuramochi will still haunt those who live superficially in their own lives.

“If there is a line between becoming and not becoming a murderer, I think my heart is probably hovering near that line”

THE NOVEL TOLD FROM THE FIRST PERSON

Indeed, in Higashino Keigo's extensive literary career, there are not many works told in the first person that are as dense as The Gate of Murder. A point of view that truly leads the reader into a world created from the subjective lens of the narrator and also very easily, leading the reader along the emotional flow to sympathize with the unfortunate "ego" of the victim.

However, Mr. Keigo's works are always multidimensional and multifaceted, so when receiving, one must always stand from many aspects to judge and evaluate; just like the symbiotic or destructive relationship, it must come from many sides. And it is no coincidence that Sakura, the first teacher who led Kuramochi into a life full of lies, said that Kuramochi was “complicated” or “the person he could truly trust was the one he chose to be the sacrificial pawn. So for him, he was a close friend.”

Because, despite their different backgrounds and personalities, there was a time when Kazuyuki and Kuramochi were attached to each other. Because, in the end, these two people were so lonely, all the way from their childhood. A person who could not trust anyone with another person, almost the entire time from childhood to adulthood, was always an isolated existence in the community.

Therefore, the Gate of Murder is not simply a symbol of the boundary from killing intent to murder. But perhaps, it is also the gate of the mind, a person who has come forward, killing another part of himself.

The Gate of Murder, perhaps because of this, became “new” even though it was written in the early 2000s. And certainly, from the perspective, this is also a rather rare novel, Mr. Keigo, instead of building and highlighting the model of “scary” women, he created a despicable, calculating and scheming man like that.