Honey Pie - The Earthquake Man

After reading “honey pie” by Haruki Murakumi I was left contemplating the use of The Earthquake Man. He is only seen or experienced through the child, Sala, and seems to prevent her from sleeping at night. The Earthquake Man is mentioned at the beginning of the story, Sala claims that he “tries to put her in a little box – way too little for everyone to fit into,” (119).  The Earthquake Man is mentioned again at the end of the story by Sala to Junpei, “He said he has the box ready for everybody. He said he’s waiting with the lid open,” (145). Who is this man and what does his box reference? My interpretation is that he could represent Takatsuki who seems to have planned out all of their lives in a way that suits him. Or the Earthquake Man could represent society and his box represents society’s ideals and plans for what one’s life should be. It would make sense that Sala feels anxiety about this character because she has her life ahead of her to decide what to be. Junpei is able to subdue her fears because he himself did not give in to the pressures of his family and society to become a business man and followed his passion of writing instead.