According to Aristophanes in Plato's The Banquet, in the ancient world of legend there were three types of people. In ancient times people weren't simply male or female, but one of three types : male/male, male/female or female/female. In other words, each person was made out of the components of two people. Everyone was happy with this arrangment and never really gave it much thought. But then God took a knife and cut everyone in half, right down the middle. So after that the world was divided just into male and female, the upshot being that people spend their time running around trying to locate their missing half. Haruki Murakami
About This Quote

This quote is making an analogy between gender and moral character. The idea is that gender, like morality, is neither good nor bad, but is rather a component of the self. When you are born, you fall into one of two categories: male or female. But each person has two halves to their character.

One half comes from their biological parents and the other half comes from their upbringing. That half that comes from your upbringing is just as important as the half that comes from your parents. According to the author, this means that people should not live their lives chasing after lost halves of themselves.

Instead they should appreciate what they have and remember their pasts by reflecting on what they have done.

Source: Kafka On The Shore

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