Norwegian Wood: Chapter 11 Summary & Analysis

In August, Naoko dies. Reiko writes to Toru several times, expressing her grief and urging him not to blame himself. Toru, however, is unable to answer her letters. He attends Naoko’s funeral in Kobe, but, upon his return to Tokyo, decides he needs to leave the city. He spends several days going back and forth from the movies, seeing everything new, and writes letters to his landlord, his employer, and Midori, telling them all he’ll be away for a while. He begs Midori to wait for him, though he doesn’t explain what has happened or where he’s going. After withdrawing all his money from the bank, Toru goes to the Shinjuku Station and takes the first train out of town.

Toru’s travels take him all over the country, but he has no real sense of where he is or where he’s going at any given time. He barely pays attention to the names of the towns and villages he passes through as he takes buses or hitchhikes all over. He bathes and shaves rarely and mostly sleeps outdoors in a sleeping bag. One day, he calls Midori, but when he refuses to tell her where he is or what he’s doing, she hangs up on him. Toru cannot bring himself to accept the truth of Naoko’s death, and finds himself haunted by images of her each and every night. Occasionally, he has visions of Naoko telling him how nice, peaceful, and easy death is.

One evening, Toru is crying on the beach when a kindly fisherman approaches him and asks what’s wrong. Toru answers without thinking that his mother has died. The fisherman empathizes with Toru’s grief, stating that he, too, has recently lost his mother. Toru accepts a cigarette, some food, and even money from the fisherman. But as the man walks away, Toru is overcome with pain and self-loathing. He realizes he needs to return to Tokyo, so he pulls himself together, gathers his things, and walks to the nearest railway station. At the station he buys a newspaper and, upon seeing the date—October 2nd, 1970—realizes he has been traveling for an entire month.

Toru is slightly depressed to realize that he is returning to Tokyo in much the same state as when he left: grieving Naoko, longing for Midori, but afraid to abandon either girl. Toru returns to his cottage but doesn’t leave the house for several days. In his depressed, wild state, he finds himself having conversations with Kizuki, congratulating his old friend on “finally [making] Naoko [his.]” Kizuki and Naoko, Toru realizes, have both succeeded in dragging him “into the world of the dead.”

On his fourth day back in Tokyo, Toru receives a letter from Reiko—she says she hasn’t been able to get in touch with him and is concerned for his well-being. That night, Toru calls Reiko at the Ami Hostel and tells her he’s all right. Reiko asks if she can come visit Toru the day after tomorrow—she is leaving the Ami Hostel, having decided it is finally time for her to move on. Toru is shocked, but happily agrees to meet her at Tokyo Station the day after tomorrow. 

Two days later, Toru arrives at Tokyo Station to meet Reiko and spots her in the crowd almost immediately. He’s comforted by her familiar, wrinkly smile, and is happy to see that she has her guitar with her. On the way back to Toru’s neighborhood, Reiko confesses that she’s terrified of being out in the world and has no idea what to do. Toru assures her that she’ll be fine—her strength has taken her this far. Reiko admits that her strength isn’t what got her out of the Ami Hostel; if Naoko hadn’t died, she says, she probably would have stayed forever.

Toru asks Reiko what she’s planning on doing, and she tells him she’s going to Asahikawa, a town “way up in the wilds” of Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island. She is going to teach at her friend’s music school, and while she’s relieved to have a job, she’s not particularly excited about the location. Toru says he's been to Asahikawa—it’s “got its own special atmosphere.” Reiko asks Toru if he’ll come visit her there, and he says he will. Reiko asks if she can stay with Toru for a few days, and he says she’s more than welcome. He promises he’ll do anything he can to help Reiko readjust to the world.

On the walk from the station to Toru’s cottage, he feels a familiar sensation walking beside Reiko. After several blocks, he realizes that walking with her feels just like walking the streets with Naoko used to feel. As they stroll Toru senses a hint of autumn on the breeze and realizes fall has arrived, “increasing the distance between [him] and the dead” even further.

Toru and Reiko arrive at his cottage, and Reiko goes to visit Toru’s landlord to bring him a box of sweets and introduce herself—she wants to be a good guest. After visiting with the landlord, Reiko returns and joins Toru on the porch. She lights a cigarette and tunes Toru’s guitar, then asks him if he likes her blouse. He says he does, and Reiko reveals that it’s Naoko’s. The two of them were the same size and often traded clothes. In fact, the only “suicide note” Naoko left, Reiko says, consisted of one line scribbled on a pad: “Please give all my clothes to Reiko.” 

Reiko asks if Toru wants to hear about the end of Naoko’s life, and Toru asks her to tell him “everything.” Reiko reveals that after her last letter about Naoko, in which she told Toru that Naoko seemed to be improving, Naoko’s mother called Reiko to ask if Naoko could come for a visit at the Ami Hostel to pack up her things. Reiko agreed, and the next day, Naoko arrived. Reiko was pleased to see that Naoko looked healthy and was able to smile, joke, and laugh. Naoko seemed to have a real desire to get well, and even expressed interest in living with Reiko in the “real world.”

Reiko helped Naoko sort through and pack up her things and found it odd when Naoko decided to burn her diary and letters, but figured it was a part of Naoko’s decision to move on and get well. After dinner, Reiko played Naoko all her favorite Beatles songs, and then Naoko began to describe, unprompted and in great detail, the night she and Toru had sex on her 20th birthday. Naoko described her and Toru’s lovemaking in reverent terms—but at the end of the story, admitted she feared she’d never be able to have sex again for fear of letting another person “violate” her, then broke down in tears. Reiko helped Naoko calm down, bathe, and get into bed, and the two of them went to sleep.

In the morning, Reiko says, she woke to find that Naoko was gone and had taken a flashlight with her. Reiko found Naoko’s sparse note and then gathered a group together to search for her in the woods surrounding the dormitories. After five hours, the search group found Naoko—she had hung herself in the forest using a piece of rope she’d brought to the hostel.

Reiko requests a special dish, sukiyaki, for dinner, and goes with Toru to the store to buy all the ingredients. She helps him prepare dinner, then plays guitar while it cooks. Toru asks her if she’s planning to see her family before heading north, but Reiko insists she isn’t—she’s “all through as a human being,” and the important parts of her are dead. Toru, unsure of what to say, tells Reiko she looks nice in Naoko’s clothes.

After dinner, Reiko asks Toru about Midori. Toru tells her that he loves Midori but can’t stop feeling as if being with her would be a betrayal of Naoko. He and Naoko were together so long “at the border between life and death,” bound by Kizuki’s loss. Toru feels he turned his back on Naoko when she needed him but can’t help wondering if Naoko would always have chosen death. Reiko warns Toru that if he hurts Midori again, the wound he creates may be too deep to fix.

After a visit to the public baths, Reiko and Toru return home and decide to have their own little funeral for Naoko. Out on the verandah they pour wine and light matches. Reiko takes out her guitar, announcing her intention to play every song she knows. Reiko plays a ton of Beatles songs as well as some classical music and jazz standards. Toru and Reiko continue drinking as Reiko plays over 40 songs. For her final song, number 50, she decides to play Naoko’s favorite, “Norwegian Wood.” When she’s done, Reiko puts her guitar down and asks Toru if he wants to have sex.

Toru and Reiko head inside and begin making love. Toru feels that sleeping with Reiko is “the most natural thing in the world.” They have sex four times, talking and laughing through each round of lovemaking. At the end of the night, Reiko asks Toru to tell her she’s “done enough to last a lifetime,” but Toru tells her that there’s no way of knowing that.

The next day, Toru walks Reiko to Ueno Station so that she can take a long train ride to Asahikawa. He promises to visit her soon and write to her in the meantime. Reiko tells him that she’s scared, but he assures her that she’ll be more than fine. Reiko begins crying and promises Toru she’ll always remember him and Naoko fondly. Toru kisses her, aware that people around them are staring but impervious to their glares. The two of them are alive, he reasons—they must make use of that fact.

After saying goodbye to Reiko, Toru calls Midori from a pay phone. He tells her he needs to talk to her right away—there are “a million things” for them to discuss, but all he wants in the entire world, he says, is Midori. Midori is silent for a very long time before asking Toru where he is. Toru ponders the question. He has no idea where he is, and as he looks around at the “shapes of people walking by to nowhere,” he calls out for Midori from the “place that [is] no place.”