The Cat Who Saved Books

A central symbol in The Cat Who Saved Books is the labyrinths, allegorical realms that physically manifest corrupted philosophies on books and reading. Each labyrinth is a self-contained world built on a twisted truth, forcing Rintaro to confront a different aspect of how modern society devalues literature. These surreal spaces are the primary vehicle for exploring the novel’s central theme, The Corruption of Reading in the Modern World. The first labyrinth’s antagonist, for instance, imprisons books in glass cases, treating them as status symbols rather than companions. He views his collection of more than 50,000 books as a monument to his intellect, turning literature into a series of conquests. Rintaro must dismantle these flawed ideologies not only to save the books but also to clarify and strengthen his own convictions about the purpose of reading, transforming him from a passive book lover into an active defender of their soul.

Each labyrinth highlights a specific threat to meaningful reading. The second labyrinth, ruled by the Mutilator of Books, critiques the obsession with efficiency by showing a scholar who reduces literary classics to single-sentence summaries in the name of speed. He proudly condenses a famous short story to the line “Melos was furious” (76).