Purpose of a Nameless Main Character

   In most of the novels that I have read, the author reveals the main character's or narrator's name with in the first few pages. However, such is not the case in  Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Despite already having read a significant portion of the novel I have not even the slightest clue of what the narrator's name is. At first I thought this was part of my mistake but when I looked back to check I found that his name had, just as I thought, not been revealed. 

   Concealing the narrator's name, in my opinion, allows him to remain detached from what is going on around him. I think that this permits the character to seem like an observer in situations that he is actually partaking in. I am not entirely sure of why the author would want to allow him to remain detached from the situations that he is very much a part of though. I think that the act of having a nameless main character may have something to do with the fact the he says he is "not alone" in the ending of the previous chapter. In other words, Pirsig doesn't give him a name because he is not really his "own" person. Since the thoughts he speaks are not his he is not actually his own person; he is merely a body speaking the thoughts of another.  

   Its harder to envision the character in my mind since he does not have a name. A name is something so personal that it allows people to associate you with you. Without a name you are just this being who merely exists, but with a name you become someone. You go from being this collection of atoms to being an actual person.
- Talia Akerman