Norwegian Wood 

'Norwegianis a nostalgic story of loss and burgeoning sexuality.[2] It is told from the first-person perspective of Toru Watanabe, who looks back on his days as a college student living in Tokyo.[3] Through Watanabe's reminiscences readers see him develop relationships with two very different women—the beautiful yet emotionally troubled Naoko, and the outgoing, lively Midori.[4]

The novel is set in Tokyo during the late 1960s, at a time when Japanese students, like those of many other nations, were protesting against the established order.[5] While it serves as the backdrop against which the events of the novel unfold, Murakami (through the eyes of Watanabe and Midori) portrays the student movement as largely weak-willed and hypocritical.' 

Concepts and Themes :

Memory

From its beginning, the novel is immediately framed by the question of memory: the elder Toru is

painfully reminded of his time with Naoko by "Norwegian Wood" playing on the airplane

speakers, an experience that transports him back to a scene which, strangely, is absent of him,

Naoko, and anyone else. Closely connected to interpersonal understanding, memory is one of

the central aspects of love that nearly all of the characters feel: Naoko's second and most

important request to Toru is that he remember her; Reiko asks that Toru remember her and

Naoko as she leaves for Asahikawa; and Midori and Hatsumi both demand love in terms of

remembrance. One might also link memory to the pain of loneliness that seems to be felt even by

the dead, such as Kizuki, and Naoko too by the end of the novel: it is not simply that they live on

in Toru's memory, but also that they continue to be loved.

Life and Death

In a way the central problem of the novel is the existential question of staying alive—put bluntly,

this comes to something like, "Why not commit suicide?" All the characters face this question, but

especially those who are one relation away from death, so to speak, due to a family member

(Naoko, Midori) or loved one (Naoko, Toru) who has died or even taken their own life. Toru

realizes early on in his relationship with Naoko that the two of them are seeking for something

absent and lost, namely Kizuki, and because of this their love seems to pull them away from life

into the other world that is death. However, Midori acts as a counterbalance for Toru, pulling him

back into life just as Reiko does for Naoko—and for Toru, following Naoko’s death.

Time

The problem of time emerges more explicitly in Toru's and Naoko's reflections on how Kizuki,

having died, will stay seventeen forever, whereas their own ages change every successive year that is, until Naoko dies and becomes frozen at twenty-one. That the novel begins with Toru's

stating his age as thirty-seven is not insignificant, because although we cannot know how he has

spent the past 17 years, we know that he has continued to live for that time and presumably

matured, considering that he is still alive. Perhaps more than the usual bildungsroman,

Norwegian Wood emphasizes the painful inevitability of growing up and how it is tied to the

ceaseless march of time: almost every event that happens in the novel is given a date, so that the

reader can feel the passage of particular lengths of time along with Toru, who often remarks

about how another month or another year has passed.

Politics

For a novel set in one of the most politically turbulent times of modern Japanese history,

Norwegian Wood seems surprisingly apolitical. Toru usually views both the fascists in his dorm

and the radical leftist student protesters at his school with the same indifference-bordering-ondisdain and keeps to his quiet private life. Aside from the constant background that politics sets

for the story, two episodes illustrate Murakami's largely derisive attitude towards his

contemporaries: first, the drama professor's striking statement to the protesters taking over his

class that there are no problems more important than those dealt with in classical Greek tragedy;

second, Midori's complaint about the Marxist student groups, which were nothing more than

hotbeds for arrogant and sexist poseurs. In both cases, Murakami argues for the primacy of the

experience of ordinary lived life over highfalutin slogans and ideas.

Communication/Expression

One shouldn't forget that the novel itself is framed within the elder Toru's attempt to write about

his memories. At the end of the first chapter he writes of how the painful clarity of his memories

of Naoko prevented him from writing of her, but how the passage of time, a double-edged

sword, blurred those memories and enabled him to write. Similarly, Toru writes a great deal of

letters, mostly to Naoko but also to Reiko and Midori, over the course of the novel, and he also

has a great many conversations; as he realizes during an intense spell of depression when he is

unable to see anyone, his letter writing is the last thing holding his life together, regardless of his

not receiving any replies. Although Toru usually finds a way to express himself due to his honesty

and straightforward sincerity, Naoko has trouble translating her feelings into words to share with

others, and this serves as the essence of her pain. The way that characters speak in the novel

often tells us more than explicit descriptions of their personalities or emotional states.

Sickness and Deformity

Naoko, as the only character with clear psychological issues, becomes the center of questions of

what it means to be sick. Toru himself observes how her body becomes at times healthier or

sicker, corresponding to the state of her mind, such as her brokenness when she sleeps with him

and her perfection when she reveals her naked body to him. In the peculiar environment of Ami

Hostel the hidden truth is revealed that all people are sick in a way, since so long as one is human

one has certain vulnerabilities. Whereas in the real world these vulnerabilities are concealed,

leading to people's misunderstanding and hurting each other, at the sanatorium all learn to

communicate and appreciate themselves and others, which in a sense neutralizes the sickness.

Fate and Fairness

It is no surprise that there are several references to classical Greek tragedy—including one particularly explicit portion in which Toru discusses the figure of deus ex machina—considering the strong sense of inevitability and the inescapability of fate in the novel. As an inborn optimist, Toru believes that so long as he keeps walking forwards with Naoko that they can overcome any pain and difficulty; however, Naoko senses that she and Kizuki were destined to pay for having lived a utopian kind of life. Conversely, Midori expects life to recompense her with a future brimming with love in return for the toil and lack of affection she was burdened with most of her life.'

Symbolls, Allegory and Motifs 

The firefly Toru releases from the dormitory
roof (symbol)

The symbolic significance of the firefly that Storm Trooper gives to Toru is immediately

established by Storm Trooper's suggestion that Toru give it to his "girlfriend," i.e. Naoko. Toru sees

the firefly somewhat as he sees Naoko: a creature once bright and free that has lost much of its

life and become caged. Looking at its pale glow in the dark night, he thinks not of the present but

is instead flung back into memories of a past with brighter fireflies. When he frees it on the

rooftop, it is still for such a long time that Toru begins to doubt whether it is still alive; but he

waits, as any true lover waits, and finally the little bug takes flight, tracing an arc in the air that

seems to reclaim a lost past, and then flying off into the night. Although this image is very positive

for the firefly, Toru is left grasping in vain at the trail of light it left behind in his mind.

Moonlight (motif)

Although there are no explicitly magical scenes in this Murakami novel, one can be sure that

nearly anything that happens under the moonlight has been charged with a special significance

transcending everyday reality. Naoko, who already possesses a decidedly otherworldly character

due to her unnaturally clear and bottomless eyes, enters into an even stranger state when she is

in the clear moonlight. The scene in which she exposes her naked body to Toru only makes sense

if one considers the supernatural atmosphere created by the moonlight; conversely, it is only

when the clarity of the moon, and her eyes, has been blocked by the mist of heavy rain that she is

able to experience (painful) intimacy with Toru the night of her birthday when Toru sleeps with

her

Rain

Perhaps the weather condition that occurs the most frequently in the story, rain is a crucial figure

to the novel. From the very beginning of the novel when Toru's plane lands in Hamburg in the

rain to such climactic scenes as the night Toru sleeps with Naoko, rain creates a presence of the

supernatural, or at least an emotional charge that far exceeds that of everyday life. In fact, even

when there is no rain, such as the fair day when Toru and Naoko walk through the meadows near

Ami Hostel, rain makes itself felt through its absence.

Midori's hunger (motif)

Toru first meets Midori while he is having lunch. Thenceforth a great many of their dates involve

getting lunch together, as opposed to the extensive and aimless walking that Toru did with

Naoko. Moreover, when Toru first visits Midori at her home, she shows off the cooking skills,

which she has determinedly honed. Though she is small and importantly vulnerable, unlike Naoko

she is not abashed to express her hunger for love to the world, and in doing so she stirs up a

certain vitality in Toru that no one else does.

Letter writing (allegory)

If we want to identify Toru's first letter, it would either be the note that he left with Naoko the

morning after he slept with her or the letter he sent to her home after he found that she had

moved from Tokyo. It contains the crucial theme sustained through their correspondence: the

desire for understanding and dealing with pain. Apart from Toru's two visits to Ami Hostel, the

letters that he exchanges with Naoko remain his one link with her, and during the month that he

is cut off from all people, including Midori, his letter writing becomes the only thing connecting

him to the world outside himself at all, just as letter writing was for Naoko.