The Woman in the Dunes - Kobo Abe

The Woman in the Dunes (沙の女 suna no onna） is an existential novel as it deals with a man's ability to give value to his life and the world he finds himself. The man, a teacher from a big city is on holiday, insect collecting. However, when he misses the last bus home, he must spend one night in a desert village. He descends into a sand pit where a woman in a decrepit hut waits to attend him. The following morning it becomes increasingly clear to him that he has become a prisoner. With no ladder there is no clear means of exit.

Initially, he simply cannot understand; he sees his situation as some mistake. Growing more angry, he claims that he will be missed, that people from the city will come looking for him, insinuating he is the victim of some terrible crime. Finally, he attempts to climb out of the sand hole, but to no avail; he is completely trapped by nothing more than tiny particles of sand.

The man is made to work. He must shift the sand, so as to protect the hut. He deems this job's only use is to maintain his own prison, and says it would better to let the house be eaten by the desert. To start with he refuses, but as a result he is denied fresh water, food, alchohol and cigarettes. He tries to reason with his captors, to explain that everything is unnecessery, that he knows better ways, but they are not interested. At the point of dehydration he realises he has no choice.

The story acts primarily to illustrate that modernity is a collective thing. People can go about their lives in collaboration with others. When the man is denied the collaboration he enters a more primevil state of living. In the man's case, it is dig or die. The story captures the essence of the individual in the modern world because although we have our individuality, it exists only by consequence of interactions with other people. We do not live truly individual existences because we rely on others, and consequently we do not find ourselves in such a black and white, do or die situation.

In the end, the man becomes acquiesed to his situation, and tries to better his existence within the boundaries of the sand. This is a colourful way of expressing how we as individuals must sacrafice our individuality in order to preserve our lives. We must dig even though we would rather not.

His keepers, most obviously the woman herself, represent society as a whole. The man cannot shirk his responsibilities to society and simply do as he pleases; there is work to be done. The woman's has totally accepted her fate and position in the world. It is she who understands that in the reality of the world she has certain functions she must carry out in order to survive. She acts as attendant, partner and lover to the man. The man futily attempts to show his strength and power to his captors when he tries to forcefully have sex with her. She resists however, showing that the man cannot simply will this to occur, he must co-operate. Thw woman tells the man that she has lost her family to the sand, illustrating the dangers that exist in a world of obligation.

"The Woman in the Dunes" is a classic piece of existential literature that stands alongside the work of the original existentialists, such as Sartre. It is a powerful example of the workings of the modern world we live.