Kobo Abe deals with the theme of "Escape and Imprisonment" in his novel, "The Woman in the Dunes." His existentialist style of writing begs the reader to look between the lines of the text, analyze the situations the novel portrays, and pay attention to the thoughts and ideas that the author conveys. In the novel Kobo Abe states that mankind is most susceptible to imprisonment when they believe they are closest to freedom.
The novel's protagonist, Nikki Jumpei, is an amateur entomologist. At the beginning of the novel he goes missing, at which time the author states that many disappearances from society that occur can be described as "simpler escape." From this the reader knows the motive of Nikki's visit to the dunes. He doesn't feel like he belongs to his society therefore he is an outsider. He feels closer to the insects he researches that he does to the people he is supposed to be able to relate to. This is the reason behind his escape to the beach. Nikki needs to escape, if only temporarily, from his society. During his escape from his society he is taken in and imprisoned by the "society" of the dunes. What Nikki believes is his escape is really his imprisonment. When Nikki thinks he is closest to freedom, he is actually imprisoned.
During Nikki's imprisonment in the dunes he learns of other people who have also been imprisoned there. In particular he learns of a postcard salesman who escaped the imprisonment of the stressful economic society in the city and staked all he had on his postcard business. This postcard salesman came to the village in the dunes with the "intention of taking the villagers in" to make money off of postcards featuring pictures of their village. Contrary to the salesman's plans, "he had been the one taken in." The salesman escaped society temporarily with intentions of returning, but during his short escape, he too was imprisoned when he least expected it.