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Allusion
Explanation and Analysis—Norwegian Wood:
The novel’s title, Norwegian Wood, is an allusion to the Beatles song of the same name. The song comes up several times throughout the novel. Adult Toru begins narrating the novel after hearing the song on a plane in Chapter 1:
Once the plane was on the ground, soft music began to flow from the ceiling speakers: a sweet orchestral cover version of the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood.” The melody never failed to send a shudder through me, but this time it hit me harder than ever.
Hearing the song takes him back to memories with Naoko, who loved “Norwegian Wood.” She often asked Reiko to play it on her guitar, even paying for the request. The allusion to the Beatles situates the characters in the time and cultural landscape of the late 1960s, when the story takes place. Most of the happenings of the 60s—such as the protests against their university—remain in the peripheries of the novel. But the title anchors the story in the pop culture of the West in the 1960s.
In Chapter 6, after Reiko plays the song, Naoko explains why she loves it so much:
“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.”
Naoko’s sadness brings out the darker side of adolescence, complicating the upbeat lightness generally associated with the Beatles and the song. This is in line with the novel's broader theme of adolescent despair. Naoko generally seems as if she is wandering in a dark wood with nobody to save her—so it makes sense that she would see the song in the same way.
Reiko plays the song again before she and Toru have sex. Their union is an ecstatic encounter, but Naoko lurks in the background, even potentially possessing Reiko’s body. The role of the song in the scene thus highlights Naoko’s presence in the background.
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