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Naoko
Toru’s secondary love interest, Midori, is a bright, talkative, adventurous student at Waseda University. A free-spirited drama major who says whatever is on her mind—most of the time, at least—Midori is Naoko’s polar opposite in almost every way. Dramatic, provocative, and opinionated, Midori strikes up a friendship with Toru after borrowing some class notes from him one afternoon. Toru finds himself charmed by her easygoing nature, emotional openness, and ability to talk about the traumatic events in her past with humor rather than gravity. Midori attended a private girls’ school which left her feeling bitter and disdainful towards the upper-middle class—she is grateful to study at a public university where she can be around people like her. Midori helps to run her family’s shop, the Kobayashi Bookstore, and tells Toru that her father has been living in Uruguay since her mother’s death from a brain tumor years earlier. Toru eventually learns, however, that Midori’s father, Mr. Kobayashi, is actually in a local hospital, dying of the same malignancy that took her mother’s life. In spite of all the loss she’s faced, Midori opens her heart to Toru again and again, and seeks to fully enjoy her own life. In this regard, Midori struggles to teach Toru that he doesn’t have to be aloof and disconnected in the face of the losses he’s suffered—rather than resign himself to grave ponderings about death, everything about her suggests, she should instead radically commit to living while he’s able to do so. Ultimately, the novel remains ambiguous as to whether Toru ever lets Midori get through to him and whether they’re able to pursue the relationship they both seem to want—though Midori is frustrated by Toru’s constant prioritization of Naoko over her, it seems as if she might be open to reconciliation, and yet by the novel’s end Toru is so bewildered and isolated by everything he’s been through that he may very well be unable to even recognize the vital, vibrant Midori any longer.
Midori Kobayashi Quotes in Norwegian Wood
The Norwegian Wood quotes below are all either spoken by Midori Kobayashi or refer to Midori Kobayashi. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 6
Quotes
She exposed her nakedness to me this way for perhaps five minutes until, at last, she wrapped herself in her gown once more and buttoned it from top to bottom. As soon as the last button was in place, she rose and glided toward the bedroom, opened the door silently, and disappeared within.
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Chapter 7
Quotes
“What marks his plays is the way things get so mixed up the characters are trapped. Do you see what I mean? A bunch of different people appear, and they’ve all got their own situations and reasons and excuses, and each one is pursuing his or her own brand of justice or happiness. As a result, nobody can do anything.”
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A week went by, though, without a word from Midori. No calls, no sign of her in the classroom. I kept hoping for a message from her whenever I went back to the dorm, but there were never any. One night, I tried to keep my promise by thinking of her when I masturbated, but it didn’t work. I tried switching over to Naoko, but not even Naoko’s image was any help that time. […] I wrote a letter to Naoko on Sunday morning.
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Chapter 9
Quotes
“Know what I did the other day?” Midori asked. “I got all naked in front of my father’s picture. Took off every' stitch of clothing and let him have a good, long look. Kind of in a yoga position. Like, ‘Here, Daddy, these are my tits, and this is my cunt.’”
“Why in the hell would you do something like that?” I asked.
“I don’t know, I just wanted to show him.”
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Chapter 10
Quotes
“Let me just tell you this, Watanabe,” said Midori, pressing her cheek against my neck. “I’m a real, live girl, with real, live blood gushing through my veins.”
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Chapter 11
Quotes
Gripping the receiver, I raised my head and turned to see what lay beyond the telephone booth. Where was I now? I had no idea. No idea at all. Where was this place? All that flashed into my eyes were the countless shapes of people walking by to nowhere. Again and again, I called out for Midori from the dead center of this place that was no place.
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Get the entire Norwegian Wood LitChart as a printable PDF.
Midori Kobayashi Quotes in Norwegian Wood
The Norwegian Wood quotes below are all either spoken by Midori Kobayashi or refer to Midori Kobayashi. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 6
Quotes
She exposed her nakedness to me this way for perhaps five minutes until, at last, she wrapped herself in her gown once more and buttoned it from top to bottom. As soon as the last button was in place, she rose and glided toward the bedroom, opened the door silently, and disappeared within.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7
Quotes
“What marks his plays is the way things get so mixed up the characters are trapped. Do you see what I mean? A bunch of different people appear, and they’ve all got their own situations and reasons and excuses, and each one is pursuing his or her own brand of justice or happiness. As a result, nobody can do anything.”
Related Characters:
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A week went by, though, without a word from Midori. No calls, no sign of her in the classroom. I kept hoping for a message from her whenever I went back to the dorm, but there were never any. One night, I tried to keep my promise by thinking of her when I masturbated, but it didn’t work. I tried switching over to Naoko, but not even Naoko’s image was any help that time. […] I wrote a letter to Naoko on Sunday morning.
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Chapter 9
Quotes
“Know what I did the other day?” Midori asked. “I got all naked in front of my father’s picture. Took off every' stitch of clothing and let him have a good, long look. Kind of in a yoga position. Like, ‘Here, Daddy, these are my tits, and this is my cunt.’”
“Why in the hell would you do something like that?” I asked.
“I don’t know, I just wanted to show him.”
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Chapter 10
Quotes
“Let me just tell you this, Watanabe,” said Midori, pressing her cheek against my neck. “I’m a real, live girl, with real, live blood gushing through my veins.”
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Chapter 11
Quotes
Gripping the receiver, I raised my head and turned to see what lay beyond the telephone booth. Where was I now? I had no idea. No idea at all. Where was this place? All that flashed into my eyes were the countless shapes of people walking by to nowhere. Again and again, I called out for Midori from the dead center of this place that was no place.
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