From the title of the novel, inspired by a Beatles song, to the quiet mountain forest where Naoko retreats in an attempt to heal her depression, Norwegian Wood is full of references to forests and woods. Throughout the book, these areas symbolize the dense, shadowy realms of both adolescence and mental illness. The novel’s title in Japanese is Noruwei no Mori—a translation of “Norwegian Wood,” the name of a popular Beatles song which Toru, Naoko, and Reiko all love. However, while the Beatles song makes reference to the tacky Norwegian wood paneling which decorates the apartment of a young woman its speaker attempts to sleep with one night, the word mori in Japanese refers not to wood as a material product but to a living wood or forest. Mori is also a conjugation of the Latin verb morior—"to die.” The novel’s title, then, is the first and most major instance of wood serving as a symbol: the name of the book itself forecasts the dark connection between forests and death.
The “wood” of the book’s title is the forest of Toru, Naoko, Kizuki, and Midori’s difficult youths. Coming of age in the context of the novel is not the process of growing older and wiser, but rather struggling against the pull of existentialism and suicidal ideation to merely survive, rather than giving into depression and ending one’s life. While Toru and Midori live in the bustling city, Naoko is far away in a mountainous forest living at the Ami Hostel, healing the depression that has overtaken her life in the wake of both her sister and her boyfriend, Kizuki, having committed suicide. Toru visits Naoko in the woods several times, but always returns to Tokyo—symbolically, though he feels the undertow of depression pulling at the corners of his life, he is always able to overcome it and pull through. Naoko, however, is terrified to leave the woods and return to society—ultimately, she is unable to make a decision about what to do and hangs herself deep in the woods surrounding the Ami Hostel. Naoko is a victim of the woods, unable to traverse the forest of her depression. Toru and Midori, on the other hand, are able to metaphorically make it out of the woods, pushing through the murky copse of their late teens and finding a way to live in spite of the sorrows and difficulties that tug at them.
Forests and Woods Quotes in Norwegian Wood
By the time the number of curves began to decrease to the point where I felt some relief, the bus plunged into a chilling cedar forest. The trees might have been old growth the way they towered over the road, blocking out the sun and covering everything in gloomy shadows. The breeze flowing into the bus’s open windows turned suddenly cold, its dampness sharp against the skin.
“That song can make me feel so sad,” said Naoko. “I don’t know, I guess I imagine myself wandering in a deep wood. I’m all alone and it’s cold and dark, and nobody comes to save me. That’s why Reiko never plays it unless I request it.”
Forests and Woods Symbol Timeline in Norwegian Wood
