Norwegian Wood 2nd Reading Journal

           Although the story starts with Naoko and ends with Midori, Toru seems to be lost from the beginning to the end. Toru’s personality seems to develop as he faces with different occasions and people. However, most of the times, he seems to be passive. At the same time, he feels responsibility for his actions. This kind of attitude made him suffer from dragged relationship between Naoko.

           From the beginning, he had to endure his closest friend Kizuki’s suicide. Kizuki is also an abnormal character who seems to be isolated from other people. He really liked Toru because he could provide the secure feeling which he would probably craved for. For the same reason, Naoko wanted Toru to be close to her. After facing death of close people, she would have felt much more detached and wanted to Toru to relieve her partly. Then Toru ended up having sex with Naoko. This incident added more weight on Toru’s responsibility to take care of her. Just like Toru likes being alone, he does not want to make himself a burden for anyone. Leaving her in that situation would totally go against his thoughts. He even went to the asylum in the middle of a mountain because he cannot forget her. But that feeling was not just pure love but mixed with guilt. That suicide of her freed him from her in the end.

           Compared to Naoko, Midori is much more secure and stronger. In a sense, she loves Toru but she does not desperately need him for her own good. Although Midori and Naoko both lost her family members and other close people, the way they react to those incidents are significantly different. Whereas Naoko lost track of her life, Midori tries to hang on to it tenaciously. Although they both want Toru, their reasons are definitely different. I would say that Midori’s feeling is much closer to love.

           Unfortunately, Toru seems to be always lost. “Where was I now” was the question he asked himself at the very last part of the book. From Nagasawa to Reiko, Most of the characters that are close to Toru seem to be imperfect in some parts. This shows Toru’s role in their relationships. However, none of the relationship was started only with his effort or will. Although he is good at fitting into a system, he does not know how to live for his own. So in the end, he ends up in the “place that was no place.”