The world between life and death, Norwegian Wood (Sam)

 “I tried to write to Midori, but I gave up after several false starts and wrote to Naoko instead.” p. 253

One of the first things that Toru notices when he meets Midori is her short hair. To appear more girlish and for the reward of Toru’s attention, Midori decides to grow her hair out. However, on their date, to Midori’s dismay, Toru does not notice anything. In fact, he notices nothing that day as his attention is bound to the pain he feels in his heart. His attention is bound to a person that cannot go on with life, neglecting the living, breathing person in front of him.

This is a common recurrence in the book - when someone that we love dies, we become detached from the living world around us. We enter a purgatory where we do not inhabit the world of the dead, but we certainly do not inhabit the world of the living. When there, no one can reach us, and we cannot reach them. Naoko inhabits this world throughout the novel, and ironically, Toru replaces her position in this purgatory once she moves on to the actual world of the dead. This is a central idea in the Japanese animated movie 5 cm Per Second by Makoto Shinkai. Actually, that is my favorite movie of all time, and Norwegian Wood is my favorite novel of all time. That movie does not deal with death, per say, but it wrestles with the idea of being in love with someone who is not in love with you. As you two are together, you think of them, and they think of somebody else. Midori’s pain becomes a little more understandable when you consider how madly in love she is with Toru, but Toru is not even thinking of her - he is thinking of Naoko. All the while Naoko is with Toru, she only wants Kizuki. All the while that Toru is with Midori, he truly wants Naoko. 

Memory is a central component of the novel. Memories come and go of Kizuki and Toru riding bikes. Whenever he is eating celery, Toru is reminded of Midori’s dying father. At the end of the novel, when Toru is distressingly sorting through memories of Naoko, in those memories, he knew what she was doing (feeding animals), what she was wearing (yellow rainwear), etc. However, as time goes on, some memories begin to fade, such as what Naoko even looked like. However, the sensations that stem from trauma never disappear. Toru will always unravel upon hearing the song “Norwegian Wood.” The seasons may separate him from Naoko as they cycle on, and he may no longer remember her face well, but his body will never forget the memories. Whenever the first few strings of “Norwegian Wood” come on, his body will immediately bring him back to that place of hurt. After all, that is what trauma/PTSD is in simple terms - the mind experiences sensations that make the victim believe that they are back in that state of suffering/danger, and it is unable to convince itself that the current experience is not real. On its own, the song is neutral. However, Toru’s mind now associates it with the suffering he experienced, and for the rest of his life, that will never change.