Immersed in the world of 1960s Tokyo, Norwegian Wood is a novel by Haruki Murakami, published in 1987. beginning seemed very foreign and dark, Norwegian Wood proves that even over the span of almost fifty years, not much changes on a social level. Toru Watanabe is a university student in Tokyo, who falls in love with the attractive but unstable Naoko, and later with the lively and demonstrative Midori. Watanabe is a serious person by nature, but like most things in life, appearances can be deceiving as he cares more than he allows himself to show. Naoko, afflicted and tormented by mental illness, serves as an entry into Watanabe's life as she is the only woman Watanabe initially takes a liking to. Midori, the last of the two main love stories, is too mentally tormented by the death of her loved ones, yet she seems to be more compos mentis than Naoko. Both Naoko and Midori like Watanabe for different reasons, one is more for comfort and the other is more for actual physical attraction. 1960s Tokyo is the backdrop for Norwegian Wood as Watanabe navigates love, life and death; However, familiarity breeds contempt, and the things worth appreciating in life are always fleeting. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Toru Watanabe, the protagonist and narrator of Norwegian Wood, faces complicated circumstances as he tries to discover who he is and what his place in the world means. The truth is, and Watanabe himself states this, "In the ten months between Kizuki's death and graduation, I could not find a place for myself in the world around me" (24). Watanabe is deeply hurt, and it took him two chapters to admit it and ten chapters to prove it. Reiko, Naoko's roommate at the Ami Hostel, notices Watanabe's distress and gives him advice: "If you want to take care of Naoko, take care of yourself too" (116). Watanabe, initially perpetually in love with Naoko, finds himself between a rock and a hard place loving both girls for different reasons. Watanabe bonds with Naoko after Kizuki's death, only to find himself at her mercy when she desperately needs comfort. Midori, however, enters Watanabe's life suddenly, lively and extroverted, with an inventive imagination accompanied by her hidden but depressing past. Watanabe is complex at his core because he is desperately trying to find himself. Watanabe went to Tokyo, over 600 miles away from his home, to find a new environment and discover the meaning of his life, which ironically, seems to be the same for Naoko. Watanabe accurately portrays the 1960s with his description of his roommate's radio calisthenics. and nude photos in his dorm, as well as use of pay phones, repeated mention/singing of Beatles songs, and even mental health treatments. Luckily Watanabe is a very visual person and an observer by nature, making sure to pick up on the smallest details and calling things as he sees them. The environment around Watanabe seems very strange to him, and to me too, considering I had no idea what 1960s Tokyo was like, and Watanabe didn't know either before going to school there. Even as the story progresses, the differences and similarities between modern-day New York, where I go to college, and 1960s Tokyo, where the novel is set, eventually became similarities. Watanabe's room is identical to mine and his friends are also very similar to mine. All the walks, going out for a drink or a coffee, studying until late at night, sentimental problems, problems infinding oneself and the suicide/death of loved ones are all factors in Toru's reality, as well as mine. Although it is not Watanabe's intention, the psychiatric treatments of Tokyo in the 1960s are shown very clearly as many people that Watanabe and other characters in the story know, commit suicide, probably due to lack of access to useful resources or support. Naoko, still mourning the suicide of her boyfriend Kizuki and her older sister, cannot determine her own existence in the world. Naoko's emotional stability is severely damaged and this results in an extended stay at Ami Hostel, a mental institution for psychiatric patients. Naoko's illness brings with it deep feelings of remorse and guilt as she is shocked by Kizuki's death and memory: "So, if Kizuki had survived, I'm sure we would have been happy together, loving each other and gradually becoming unhappy... Because we should have given the world back what we owed it” (128) Naoko feels like she and Kizuki avoided facing the realities of life and didn't "pay the bills when they were due" (128), resulting in Kizuki's suicide. Kizuki and his stay at the Ami Hostel. Toru confesses his love for Naoko and his determination to be there for her at her disposal, Naoko's only response is "You're wasting your life dealing with me " (146). The love between Naoko and Kizuki is important to consider, because it is drastically different from the love that forms between Naoko and Watanabe. The relationship between Naoko and Kizuki is built on many years of trust and feelings and is built organically since they were both three years old, as opposed to Naoko and Watanabe, which feels more like a doctor-patient relationship since Watanabe is there for the sole purpose of comfort. Naoko and Watanabe having sex made things more complicated as Naoko cried on all fours because Naoko failed to enjoy sex with Kizuki, causing some of her guilt. I find that Naoko contradicts many of the things she says, perhaps due to the circumstances of her “illness”. It is ironic that Naoko tells Watanabe, “the dead will always be dead, but we must continue to live” (111), knowing the outcome of her life. Midori, Naoko's opposite, is more of a true partner to Naoko because her relationship with Watanabe begins as a friendship, without a bond formed by the memory of a lost loved one. Midori, often expressing the sexual thoughts she has about Watanabe, wants to date Watanabe and have a real relationship with someone, something Midori has lacked her entire life. Midori took care of her grandparents, mother, and father before they all died. Midori doesn't have great relationships with these people as she treats them all with a bit of contempt and derision. Midori, sexually frustrated with the boyfriend she has when Watanabe first meets her, is even more willing to perform carnal acts with Watanabe. Midori expresses the way the people in her life build up her personality: "My father, my mother, they never paid me the slightest attention, and my boyfriend, well, he's just not that kind of guy" (227) . However, there is more to Midori than meets the eye as her reaction to her father's death is not a sob or some other natural reaction, but a saying "we are used to funerals" (196). The main characteristic that draws Watanabe and Midori together is their ability to act apathetic towards things, when they care much more than they vocalize. For example, in chapter two, Watanabe says "when he took seventeen-year-old Kizuki that night in May, death took me too" (25), confirming that Kizuki's suicide has a deeper impact on Watanabe's life than he acknowledges. Kizuki's death causes Watanabe's breakdown in the chapters?”