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
Mamiya’s letter continues laying out the account of Boris the Manskinner. With Boris’s assistance, the Japanese prisoners form their own representative committee, aiming to prevent Russian officers from inflicting unnecessary violence upon them. Boris trains some prisoners as his personal bodyguards, with his favorite being a Mongolian man known as “the Tartar.”
Just like in the war, Boris quickly climbs to the top of the social hierarchy. His position assures his safety as well as the safety of his closest associates. Although he feigns as if he is a respectable politician, everyone knows the truth and therefore they fear him as much as they respect him.
Themes
Nikolai tells Mamiya that any Russian officer who dares to challenge Boris’s authority would mysteriously vanish. Over the course of six months, Boris manipulates the Japanese prisoners, instilling false hope of safety and autonomy before gradually tightening his grip on them. Any prisoner who dares to speak out against Boris gets killed. Meanwhile, Mamiya feels guilty for having facilitated the connection between Boris and the Japanese prisoners, in the first place. He has a hard time stomaching the consequences of his actions.
Boris’s actions are predictable, as he turns into the vicious tyrant Mamiya always knew he was. However, this time, things are even worse because Mamiya knows he shares some culpability for the men who died at Boris’s hands.
Themes
One day, Boris summons Mamiya for a meeting and offers him the position of his assistant, a role Mamiya knows he cannot refuse. Mamiya becomes involved in managing Boris’s illicit activities within the prison camp, which leads the other prisoners to ostracize Mamiya due to his association with Boris. Soon, the Siberian prison camp transforms into Boris’s domain, where he exerts complete control.
At this point, Mamiya’s behavior reflects his survival instincts and nothing more. He hates Boris but has no choice other than to join forces with him for the time being. He knows any other option will mean the end of his life. In this way, the decision is similar to the one he made before jumping into the well.
Themes
Eventually, Mamiya sees enough, and he resolves to kill Boris. Carefully, he plans an assassination attempt. In 1948, Mamiya learns that the government intends to return the Japanese prisoners to their home country. At this point, Mamiya has a choice to make: either he can return to his home country, or he can accept a Soviet citizenship, which Boris offers him.
Mamiya’s life starts to focus on revenge. He is a shell of the person he used to be, and he internally takes out all of his anger and rage on Boris. Meanwhile, it is unclear whether Boris sees Mamiya as a threat; if he did, then why would he offer Mamiya citizenship?
Themes
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Mamiya declines Boris’s offer, expressing his desire to return to Japan to reconnect with his family. However, before he leaves for Japan, Mamiya decides to kill Boris. When Boris is alone in his office, Mamiya sneaks in, steals Boris’s gun, and then points it at Boris’s head. To Mamiya’s surprise, Boris reveals that he has known of Mamiya’s intentions for a long time and that the gun is not loaded.
Despite all of Mamiya’s planning, Boris immediately bests him. Although he is a savage, Boris is an intelligent man, who knows where his enemies lie in wait. Most likely, he made Mamiya his partner so he could keep a close eye on him.
Themes
Boris nonchalantly retrieves two bullets from a drawer and tosses them to Mamiya, challenging him to attempt the assassination. However, Boris warns Mamiya that he must never disclose Boris’s secret dealings to anyone if he fails. Mamiya loads the gun but misses his first shot. Just as he prepares to take the second shot, the Tartar enters the room with his gun drawn. Mamiya shoots and misses a second time. Boris taunts him, asserting that Mamiya can’t kill him. In a final curse, Boris condemns Mamiya to a life devoid of happiness and forces him to return to Japan, forever burdened by the weight of his failure.
Boris’s behavior suggests he is not afraid of Mamiya or death. Mamiya’s failure to kill Boris results in a feeling of shame that he is never able to shake. It is a large reason why Toru finds Mamiya in such a broken state. It is one final indignity that Mamiya suffered as the war ended. To make matters worse, Mamiya returns home to find his family dead, so he truly has nothing and no one else to care about. From this moment on, his existence turns into suffering.
Themes
