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Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Kizuki's death:
Norwegian Wood is told through Toru’s recollections of his college-aged life. But occasionally he will recall things even further in the past, such that they are flashbacks from the primary timeline of the novel. For instance, Kizuki dies before the timeline of the novel begins, so any time he appears it’s in a flashback. The flashback to the day of his suicide is particularly significant. In Chapter 2, Toru recalls the time he spent with Kizuki on the day that Kizuki would die:
It had been a nice afternoon in May. After lunch, Kizuki suggested we cut classes and go play pool or something. I had no special interest in my afternoon classes, so together we left school, ambled down the hill to a billiards parlor on the harbor, and shot four games. When I won the first, easygoing game, he got serious and won the other three. This meant that I paid, according to our custom. Kizuki made not a single wisecrack as we played, which was most unusual. We had a smoke afterward.
This is obviously an incredibly emotional memory for Toru, as it’s the last time he spent with his best friend before he died. But Toru recounts it in a straightforward way, with sparse and unsentimental sentences.
Kizuki’s death is an organizing force in Norwegian Wood. It brings Naoko and Toru together—they begin taking walks together at school after knowing each other through Kizuki. Even though they rarely talk about him, and Toru harbors guilt for dating Kizuki’s ex-girlfriend, it’s clear that they see each other as allies who understand what the other has been through. The intense grief and trauma of Kizuki’s death shapes Toru and Naoko’s lives and relationships. Both Toru and Naoko have trouble connecting with romantic partners, as they are largely closed off and elusive. They also have inherited the feeling that death is a “way out” of the struggle of life. Naoko and Toru must work to resist the pull of suicide—eventually, though, Naoko succumbs.
Related Themes:
