Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Reality and Subjective Experience
Free Will
Desire and Irrationality
The Personal Impact of War
Social Alienation
Summary
Analysis
Toru ventures into the well alone and is surprised to discover that the baseball bat he usually keeps there is missing. As he descends into the depths of the well, he begins to feel a sense of drowsiness, and then a faint, droning buzz lulls him to sleep. When Toru wakes up, he’s in a hotel room that feels strangely familiar to Room 208, though it is subtly altered. The room, although disheveled, lacks the presence of a woman in the bed. As he contemplates his surroundings, the phone suddenly rings. When Toru answers it, there’s only silence on the other end.
The room Toru wakes up in is part of the same hotel, which is why it reminds him of Room 208. Additionally, the ringing of the phone is reminiscent of the many times where other characters, especially Malta and the mysterious woman, woke Toru up with their phone calls. The silence on the other end of the line indicates that someone wants to talk to Toru but cannot reach him.
Themes
Driven by curiosity, Toru decides to investigate further and steps out into the hallway where he experiences an eerie and overwhelming silence that muffles his voice when he tries to speak. Toru becomes entangled in a maze of doors, unsure of which path to follow.
Here, the hotel becomes a labyrinth. If the hotel is a manifestation of Toru’s unconscious mind, its dizzying structure maps on to the confusion Toru is feeling since the departure of Cinnamon and Nutmeg.
Themes
Suddenly, he hears the faint sound of a waiter’s whistle, and he instinctively follows it, hoping to find some answers. The sound leads him to the waiter, who effortlessly glides past Toru while carrying a tray of Cutty Sark whisky. Intrigued, Toru trails behind the waiter, eventually arriving back at Room 208. The waiter knocks on the door, and to Toru’s surprise, the door opens from within.
The waiter once again serves as Toru’s guide through the hotel. Once Toru finds the waiter, everything else is as he remembers it. The only difference is that the door to Room 208 opens itself, whereas previously Toru had to open the door himself. This implies that the mysterious woman’s power is growing, and she has more autonomy.
Themes
