Murakami and Carver - Michael

    The Second Bakery Attack was an interesting story to read as it started out with a normal looking couple who were hungry in the middle of the night before deciding to rob a bakery based on what happened to the protagonist when he was younger. Though the focus seemed to be this unending hunger that could not be satisfied as if it was a curse. This sensation may have been sense of boredom for the married couple or a lingering a sense of an unfulfilled youth in which the protagonist could achieve his original goal of robbing the baker so it left him with a sour note throughout his life that ended up effecting his wife too. In turn leading up to the ridiculous circumstance of robbing a McDonald with his wife at the helm of the operation supplying ski masks, a shotguns, and directions. Which is why when Boku and his wife had robbed the McDonald it was suppose to give him a sense of excitement and fulfillment but instead leaves him to reflect on his actions.

    In comparison to the Carver story which involved a bakery as well, it was a darker story that followed a marriage couple as they tried to deal with the death of their child. I thought that both stories had bakers who were similar to each other. I believe they share a sense of loneliness. Its apparent in Carver's story, as the baker does bring up his emotions being alone for so long with a child or family, continuously filling the oven and emptying it. Which in turned consoled the grieving couple. I believe that the baker in Second Bakery Attack was lonely as well. Even though he was being robbed by two young men with knives he let them take as much bread as they could carry, as long as they would listen to a record with him from start to finish. Which may have been the reason that Boku felt off about the situation. It turned from an attempted robbery to giving a lonely baker company.