he Literary analysis of Norwegian Wood Chapter 10
Time is flying and Toru is struggling to maintain his balance between sentiments plus accountability. He has stopped seeing other women or sleeping with them. Yet, there is some kind of danger he has with his feelings for Midori that could sabotage his relationship with Naoko. Still, he was trying his best to conform to the situation and make everyone happy. This all is included in the literary analysis of Norwegian Wood Chapter 10.
When Toru visited Ami Hostel in Norwegian Wood Chapter 10, the details are not well described. Naoko’s mental health is declining and the three of them enjoyed most of their time hiking. She is speaking less and has become cold just like snowy walks or white mountains. It is unknown what is going on inside her mind, it seems something like a vision of death.
Although Naoko is going through an unpredictable state of her mind, she does not miss a chance when could please Toru through sexual contact. She has this faith that with sex, two people can get closer, and with that idea, she seeks to amuse Toru.
Though Naoko wants to do more than her capacity, her fear of physical intimacy is destroying her courage. She is fragile, and wants to have a life with Toru at the same time. This fear kept her inside the walls of Ami hostel and she stays reluctant to move to the actual world outside her brain.
Toru is dealing with his life’s problem with super smoothly and moderately. His entire attention is on the Naoko coming to Tokyo and living with him. Everything is dependant upon Naoko leaving the Ami Hostel and moving back to life. It is up to Naoko now whether she get convinced for it or not.
When Toru was resolving his matters and assisting Naoko in coming out of her zone, he was continuously neglecting Midori. He had been running away from the bond that both of them shares. This was the time that he has to face that friendship at last.
Toru seems miserable and alone in his past, but in the present, he is lenient with whatever happened. It could be the time effect that the sentiments of his emotions are not same as before. They are clouded with the passing time.
In Reiko’s letter, Toru gets to know that Naoko’s condition is not improving and she is slipping away. He was aware of all these worst coming her way because her struggles were defining it very well. Toru is shattered with the news that Naoko is losing all hopes of recovering from this grief, which is consuming her soul.
In the overall novel, there is a pattern going on in which Toru is bouncing between choosing Naoko or Midori. In this quest, he is actually unable to choose any of them.
Toru is used to of keeping the memories of his dead or sick loved ones with him. By keeping all those people happy, he has been unfair to himself. He has stopped giving complete time to his personality. He feels like dwelling in this life style and unable to come out of it.
Like always, Midori is concealing her emotions behind her sexual teasing and jokes with Toru. Though, this time, she is careful of connecting with him emotionally once again.
Toru and Midori spent their time together in afternoon and did not talk much that day. During his silent afternoons with Naoko, he feels very comfortable. Today, the silence between him and Midori is giving him indication that not everything is right.
There are many issues that Midori sees in Toru. She is always open with him, while he is constantly shutting himself somewhere and not coming out of his shell. Her frustration is now piling up because Toru is not letting her help him. He is lost inside him and that is driving Midori insane. Toru’s habit of detaching himself from the people around or those who likes to get close to him. He does not want to cause anymore emotional trauma. Due to this, people were mostly left hurt. This time, Midori did not leave herself become a victim of Toru’s this behaviour rather she confront him about it. She wrote everything in a letter and told him that she is not going to put up with any embarrassment or disappointment anymore.
Once again, when Toru could not say it all to Naoko, he reached out for Midori. He is thinking about both of them, but could not get close to them. When he wrote to Naoko, he talked about their physical closeness.
Toru is also unknown to whereabouts of Naoko. A zero response from her means that she does not want to talk to him. Maybe this is the end of their relationship.
Spring went by just lonely for Toru. His behaviour of abandoning people and staying isolated was actually backfiring him. He felt like going with anyone who would give him any attention.
The mental state of Naoko is not stabilizing anymore. All that time, he has waited for her to recover from her state so that they could live together. It is getting clear to him now that his wait is nothing more than an illusion. Naoko is in the state from where she cannot recover any sooner. He also felt like as if he is over pressuring her to get well.
All of this has taught Toru that what is the importance of being open to others and communicating with others. After many months, Midori finally met him and gave him a chance that whether he has changed himself or not. Toru, somehow got successful in earning his chance with Midori.
Midori is still able to express her emotions and experiences with Toru, even though, he had been really mean to him. She told him about her feelings. After all that time, Toru is finally sharing his feelings with her, it proves that she is able to have some influence on her.
Midori wants to be with Toru and expecting from him. Toru, on the other side is not doing same. He is sailing in two boats and being unfair to both of them along with that with his own life as well.
Midori clearly tells Toru that his wait for Naoko is nothing more than waiting in midst of nowhere. Midori is sure improvising Toru’s life if he let her do that.
Toru getting closer to Midori
Toru begins to explore the edges of sentiments, physical intimacy, and sexual vulnerability with Midori. He loves and does not want to hurt her at the same time. Moreover, he wants to keep the love of Naoko in his heart as well.
This is the hidden fact that Toru is well aware of his feelings and he is just not letting them out of him. The way he manipulates his feelings just in order to avoid connecting with the people is his trick. He wrote a letter to Reiko and seek advice from her. In the letter, he wrote about his feelings and expressed them. He is just not saying all this to the deserving people.
In literary analysis of Norwegian Wood Chapter 10, we see that apart from being Naoko’s roommate and close friend, Reiko has become very honest friend to Toru as well. Her advices to Toru shows that she wants him to move forward in his life and do not stay stagnant at one place. She wants him to go with his heart and even it leads to hurting Naoko.
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