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Book 2, Chapter 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Reality and Subjective Experience
Free Will
Desire and Irrationality
The Personal Impact of War
Social Alienation
Summary
Analysis
Not knowing where else to go or what else to do, Toru decides to head to May’s house. May sees him outside and greets him. Toru asks May for a favor; he wants her to call Kumiko’s office and ask if Kumiko is there. May does as he asks. When she gets off the phone, May reveals that Kumiko still has not come into work. In fact, she has missed work for two days straight. Toru thanks May for her help and then returns home, hoping that someone will call him and explain what is going on. While walking around his neighborhood, he realizes that he has not heard the wind-up bird for some time and wonders why.
If the wind-up bird is responsible for winding the spring of the world, then Toru’s aimlessness can be explained by the wind-up bird’s absence. In this section, Toru has no idea what to do or where to go, and his life takes on a feeling of unreality. Toru needs the external world to stimulate him; otherwise, he will continue to wander aimlessly.
Themes
At home, Toru sits and wonders what could have happened to Kumiko. He thinks about how strange the last few days of his life have been and tries to make sense of it all. Suddenly, Toru feels sleepy, and so he clumsily makes his way to his bedroom. While asleep, Toru has another sex dream about Creta Kano. Like before, she performs oral sex on him. However, this time, she is not naked; rather, she is wearing Kumiko’s dress.
Toru’s sudden feeling of sleepiness comes out of nowhere, as though an external source thrusts it upon him. Alternatively, he could be exhausted from the insanity of the last few days. Additionally, in this section, Creta and Kumiko are symbolically linked through the kimono. In Toru’s dream, it is as if Creta has replaced Kumiko.
Themes
In the dream, Toru asks Creta about her relationship with Noboru, and she tells him not to think about it. Then, she tells Toru to leave everything to “them.” Toru wonders who “they” could be. Moments later, the lights in Toru and Creta’s hotel room shut off, and Toru hears a mysterious voice, which orders him to forget everything. Toru recognizes the voice as that of the mysterious woman.
“They” could refer to Creta and Malta, or it could refer to the mysterious or unexplainable forces that govern the world. Additionally, it is worth mentioning that Toru’s dreams about the mysterious woman and Creta always take place in a hotel room.
Themes
Toru wakes up to find he has had another wet dream. He cleans himself up and wonders what to makes of his recent dreams. He doesn’t understand why such strange and sexual dreams are occurring during this stressful period of his life. He also thinks about the relationship between Creta and the mysterious woman. For some reason, the mysterious woman sounds familiar, but Toru cannot figure out where he knows her from. He is almost certain she is not an ex-girlfriend.
Kumiko, Creta, and the mysterious woman are all connected, but the exact nature of their relationship remains obscure. One similarity is that Toru has a sexual relationship with all three of them, though his sexual experiences with Creta remain confined to his dreams.
Themes
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In the evening, May comes over to keep Toru company. May asks Toru if anything good has happened since they spoke last, but Toru has nothing to report. Then, May asks Toru if he thinks she is pretty. Toru says that she is. May thanks him and then says that her ex-boyfriend used to insult her and call her ugly constantly. Toru assures her that her ex-boyfriend was just being cruel—as young people often are—and that she is certainly attractive.
Throughout the novel, Toru internally notes May’s attractiveness, and their conversations occasionally contain sexual undertones. That said, their relationship in this scene seems to adopt a father-daughter dynamic. May does not have adults to look to for guidance, so Toru is doing his best to mentor her.
Themes
May switches the conversation topic to Kumiko. She asks Toru if he will take Kumiko back if it turns out she ran off with another man. Toru tells May that her question is difficult for him to answer. At this point, he does not know what he would do. After this conversation, May leaves and wishes Toru good luck. Just before bed, Toru gets a call from Malta. She asks to meet Toru at the Pacific Hotel the following day because she wants to talk to him about Kumiko. She also tells him that Noboru will be there with her.
Toru does not tell May that he thinks Kumiko ran off with another man; May manages to figure it out on her own. This speaks to May’s general intelligence as well as the fact that the most likely reason for Kumiko’s disappearance is, in fact, an affair. However, the sudden meeting with Malta, as well as Noboru’s presence, suggests there is more to the situation than Toru knows at this point.
Themes
