Yellow Submarine Boy (M**): The Wandering Savant in The City and Its Uncertain Walls

Overview

Yellow Submarine Boy, identified only as M** in the text, is a pivotal character in Haruki Murakami's The City and Its Uncertain Walls. He is a teenage savant with a photographic memory, known for his constant wearing of a parka adorned with a yellow submarine motif from the Beatles' animated film. Beyond his striking appearance, M** serves as a crucial bridge between the real world and the walled town, ultimately disappearing from reality to become the new Dream Reader. His character embodies the novel's deep exploration of memory, identity, and the permeable boundaries between reality and illusion.

Plot Role

M** first appears as a silent observer in the narrator's life. He frequents the library where the narrator works, reading voraciously across philosophy, science, literature, and memoirs without any apparent preference. His role escalates when he delivers a hand-drawn map of the walled town to the narrator—a map so accurate that it shocks the narrator, who had only described the town in disjointed monologues at a grave. This map becomes a talisman, activating vivid memories of the town and physically affecting the narrator's heart.

M**'s central plot function is to request passage into the walled town. He reveals that his heart is not connected to the real world; he describes himself as a balloon temporarily tethered here, seeing different scenery from ordinary people. He asks the narrator to guide him to the town, accepting the conditions: discarding his shadow, having both eyes wounded, and never returning. The narrator initially hesitates, questioning the morality of helping someone erase their existence from the real world, but ultimately cannot prevent M**'s disappearance.

After vanishing from a locked room in his pajamas, M** is believed to have crossed over to the walled town. His brothers search for him but eventually give up. In the narrator's dream, M** (now a wooden doll) bites his earlobe, leaving a permanent seal between worlds. Later, in the narrator's unconscious, M** formally says farewell, advising the narrator to "believe in the existence of your other self." He then assumes the role of Dream Reader in the walled town, merging with the narrator's previous function there.

Motivations and Traits

M**'s primary motivation is a deep, unspoken longing for the walled town—a place he has only heard about through the narrator's monologues yet feels intrinsically drawn to. The text suggests that he is a savant with a photographic memory, able to reconstruct the town's map with astonishing accuracy after hearing disjointed descriptions. His traits are revealed through actions rather than dialogue: he never abandons a book, reads without preference, follows a rigid daily routine, and rarely speaks except to ask people their birth date, which he can instantly convert to the day of the week.

The text indicates that M** is unable to feel sadness, a condition he himself confesses to the narrator: "I was born like this. But if I weren't like this, and were a normal person, I'm sure I would feel sad at saying farewell to you." This emotional detachment is not indifference but a form of existential isolation—he floats above ordinary human connections, tethered only by his routines and his intense focus on the walled town.

His father is described as embarrassed by M**'s unconventional behavior, preferring his two older sons who followed elite paths. This family dynamic likely contributes to M**'s sense of not belonging. His mother dotes on him "like the way you love a pet cat," but this seems to be a superficial affection that does not bridge the gap between his inner world and external reality.

Chronological Arc

M**'s arc spans the second half of the novel, progressing from anonymous observer to active participant in the narrator's metaphysical journey.

• Initial Observation: M** first appears in the library, silently reading and wearing his distinctive yellow submarine parka. He later begins watching the narrator from a distance, including hiding behind gravestones at Mr. Koyasu's grave.
• Map Delivery: After overhearing the narrator's monologues at the grave, M** creates an accurate map of the walled town and sends it to the narrator via Mrs. Soeda. The narrator returns a corrected copy, initiating an unspoken exchange.
• Revelation and Request: In a private meeting in the narrator's office, M** explicitly states his desire to go to the walled town. He points to the narrator, then himself, then off into the distance, communicating that the narrator must guide him.
• Disappearance: M** vanishes from a locked room in his pajamas. His family searches but eventually gives up. The narrator believes he has crossed over to the walled town.
• Symbolic Farewell: In the narrator's unconscious, M**—now a wooden doll in one dream, and a fully realized presence in another—bites the narrator's earlobe, leaving an indelible trace. He formally says farewell, advising belief in the other self.
• Resolution: M** becomes the new Dream Reader in the walled town, taking over the narrator's former role. The narrator's final act is to blow out a candle in the unconscious meeting, symbolically severing their connection.

Relationships

With the Narrator

The relationship between M** and the narrator is the most significant in his arc. It is built on a foundation of trust that develops without extensive verbal communication. The narrator notes feeling lonely when M** is absent from the library, suggesting an unspoken bond. M** trusts the narrator enough to reveal his deepest wish—to enter the walled town—and to ask for guidance. The narrator feels responsible for M**'s fate but ultimately cannot prevent it. In their final meeting, M** says "Believe in the existence of your other self," which becomes a lifeline for the narrator.

With Mr. Koyasu

M** had a close, unexplained relationship with the former head librarian, Mr. Koyasu. They spent hours together in the subterranean room, and Mrs. Soeda notes a certain level of trust. After Mr. Koyasu's death, M** may have continued meeting his ghost, as Mrs. Soeda considers this "very possible." Mr. Koyasu acts as a guardian figure who understands the boy's nature and powers.

With His Family

M**'s family relationships are strained. His mother dotes on him superficially, his father is ashamed of him, and his two older brothers follow elite paths that contrast sharply with M**'s withdrawal. His brothers search for him but cannot understand his inner world; the younger brother speculates that M** "found a passageway to that town" on a symbolic level. The narrator notes that no one in the real world has the power to detain M**.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Decision: M** decides to draw the map of the walled town.
Consequence: This act bridges the narrator's memories and the boy's own vision, making the town more real and accessible. It also drains M**'s physical energy, requiring several days of bed rest.

Decision: M** asks the narrator to guide him to the walled town.
Consequence: This sets in motion his permanent departure from the real world. The narrator struggles with the moral implications but ultimately cannot stop the inevitable.

Decision: M** enters the walled town and becomes the new Dream Reader.
Consequence: His existence in the real world is erased; his family loses him forever. In the town, he takes over the role previously held by the narrator, continuing the cycle of dream-reading and maintaining the town's subtle reality.

Decision: M** bites the narrator's earlobe in the dream.
Consequence: This leaves a permanent seal between worlds, a physical trace of the connection. The narrator feels real pain but finds no mark when awake, suggesting the border between dream and reality has been permanently blurred.

Decision: M** says farewell to the narrator in the unconscious meeting.
Consequence: This marks the final severing of their connection. The narrator blows out the candle, descending into "a darkness deeper than anything," symbolizing acceptance of loss and the completion of M**'s journey.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Reality vs. Illusion

M** exists in the gap between worlds. His accurate map of a town he has never seen blurs the line between memory, imagination, and external reality. The narrator questions whether his own memory adjusted to match the map, suggesting that reality is co-constructed.

Memory and Forgetting

M**'s photographic memory enables him to reconstruct the walled town from fragments of the narrator's monologues. This theme is central to his character: he remembers everything but is forgotten by the real world after his disappearance.

Identity and the Shadow

M**'s departure into the walled town requires discarding his shadow, which dies in his absence. This act echoes the novel's exploration of identity as something that can be split, sacrificed, or transformed. The narrator's own shadow escaped, allowing his return, but M**'s is destroyed, making his exit permanent.

Isolation and Connection

M** is profoundly isolated—he cannot feel sadness, has no friends, and communicates minimally. Yet he forms a deep, silent connection with the narrator and Mr. Koyasu. His isolation is not a lack but a condition that allows him to cross borders others cannot.

Love and Loss

The narrator feels a "palpable sense of longing" for M** after his disappearance, and the loss is shared by the boy's family. The novel suggests that love persists even when the beloved has crossed into an unreachable realm.

5 Questions and Direct Answers

1. Why does Yellow Submarine Boy draw a map of the walled town when he has never been there?
   He overhears the narrator's disjointed monologues at Mr. Koyasu's grave and uses his savant-like memory to reconstruct the town's layout. The map is a physical manifestation of his internalization of the narrator's memories.

2. Does Yellow Submarine Boy succeed in entering the walled town?
   The text strongly suggests he does. He vanishes from a locked room, and the narrator believes he has crossed over to become the new Dream Reader. In their final unconscious meeting, M** says farewell, confirming his departure.

3. What is the significance of the bite on the narrator's earlobe?
   It is a permanent seal between worlds, a physical trace of the connection between M** and the narrator. The narrator feels real pain but finds no mark, emphasizing the blurring of dream and reality.

4. Does Yellow Submarine Boy feel sadness about leaving the real world?
   He confesses that he cannot feel sadness; he was born without that capacity. However, he says that if he were a normal person, he would likely feel sad at parting, indicating an intellectual awareness of the emotion he cannot experience.

5. What is the relationship between Yellow Submarine Boy and the narrator's "other self"?
   M** tells the narrator to "believe in the existence of your other self," which becomes a lifeline. This suggests that M** understands the duality of identity that permeates the novel—the narrator's other self (the Dream Reader in the walled town) will guide him through the darkness of loss and transition.