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Motif
Explanation and Analysis—Life and Death:
Throughout Norwegian Wood, life and death are portrayed as very close to each other. They are inseparable, intertwined forces that act equally on the narrative and characters—an idea that recurs throughout the novel and forms a motif. This is a crucial part of Toru’s worldview, as he explains in Chapter 2:
The night Kizuki died, however, I lost the ability to see death (and life) in such simple terms. Death was not the opposite of life. It was already here, within my being, it had always been here, and no struggle would permit me to forget that. When it took the seventeen-year-old Kizuki that night in May, death took me as well.
This relationship between life and death exists throughout the novel. For one, most characters have had their lives changed by death. Naoko and Toru were both deeply traumatized by Kizuki’s death; Naoko’s brother killed himself, too. Midori’s father is dying while she is in college. Reiko has struggled with suicidality. These characters have all seen the effects of death on their lives and relationships, and they feel the constant pull of death as they move through the world.
Several moments in Norwegian Wood epitomize this idea. One is the sanatorium. The Ami Hostel helps its residents stay alive, but it is surrounded by the woods, which symbolize death. Additionally, characters like Reiko stay for far longer than needed because life at the sanatorium is seen as easier than the real world. As such, it becomes a liminal space between life and death where both exist at once.
When she does leave the Ami Hostel, Reiko plans to move to Asahikawa. In Chapter 11, Murakami writes,
“It wasn’t my own strength that got me out of that place,” Reiko said. “It was Naoko and you. I couldn’t stand it there without Naoko, and I had to come to Tokyo to talk with you. That’s all. If nothing had happened I probably would’ve spent the rest of my life there.
I nodded. “What’re you planning to do from now on?” I asked Reiko.
“I’m going to Asahikawa,” she said. “Way up in the wilds of Hokkaido!
In Japan, Asahikawa is seen as the door between the world of the dead and the world of the living. Even as Reiko finally leaves the Ami Hostel and enters the real world, then, she immediately seeks another place where life and death coexist.
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