The Second Bakery Attack

The Second Bakery Attack is a short story by Haruki Murakami that deals with an uncompleted attack that the protagonist has the urge to accomplish. It’s about a recently married couple who suddenly get hungry at midnight when there’s not much food at the house. Hence, the background story of the second bakery attack comes to the husband’s mind, and he tells his wife about the previous unsuccessful bakery attack he had when he was much younger. Meanwhile, the wife wants to finish the unfinished attack, leading her husband to do it together. The common gender roles are reversed in the short story because the wife is clear and confident rather than the husband. Also, he is kind of an uxorious man who depends on his wife and follows the wife’s advice.

After they decide to attack another bakery, however, they end up robbing a McDonald’s because they couldn’t find any open bakery in the city at midnight. That’s why 30 Big Macs are another wonderful option instead of bread. The bread in the story represents a communion of being full and not being hungry anymore. In addition, they do not hurt anyone during the attack because the purpose is just to be full and satisfied. The robbery of McDonald’s is both an obligation and a necessity to achieve. 

Other important figures, which Murakami implies, are dark humor and irony. One is that they just wanted to take 30 burgers but not even two cokes because that was not their intention to steal, so the wife pays for the cokes. The other is that the man works in a law office, which is ironic because of his acts like robbing. So, his occupation corresponds to a relief of his acts and to justify his acts.

Eventually, the wife and the husband reach their goal, and they feel complete through both eating and robbing. Here, Murakami includes the themes of liberation and freedom, which give them satisfaction.