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Book 2, Chapter 5
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
Toru sits and thinks at the bottom of the well. He contemplates the origins of his relationship with Kumiko. Apparently, they met because they were both visiting people in the same hospital. Because their visits were frequent, they kept running into each other and would keep each other company. One day, Toru invited Kumiko to come to the local aquarium with him. Kumiko accepted the invitation, and they had their first date together. Toru remembers that the aquarium had a special jellyfish exhibit at the time, which impressed Kumiko.
The novel constantly leaves room for ambiguity as to whether Toru is in control of his own life. This ambiguity suggests that there are different forms of control. Certainly, there are many moments throughout the novel where luck plays a role in the outcome of Toru’s life. For instance, he only meets Kumiko by mere chance. Had that not happened, his life would have gone down an entirely different path. While the random nature of the world does not imply a lack of free will, it does demonstrate that, even with free will, a person is limited in their ability to control the interactions with others and chance circumstances that influence the course of their life.
Themes
Toru also remembers telling Kumiko that he hates jellyfish because they stung him a lot when he was a kid. Still, Kumiko finds something fascinating about them. She says that jellyfish navigate a mysterious portion of the world, which she cannot experience herself. For this reason, she finds them to be mysterious and extraordinary creatures.
The mysterious portion of the world Kumiko mentions mirrors what Toru is doing in this very moment. He has plunged into the depths of a well to explore the mysterious part of his existence that he could not access before. Perhaps Kumiko’s disappearance relates to her desire to do the same.
Themes
After their time at the museum, Toru and Kumiko start seeing each other multiple times each week. Toru enjoys the dates and Kumiko’s company, but he is not sure she likes him in return. There’s something about her that he can’t not understand—something that seems distant somehow. He worries that she might have a boyfriend.
The distance Toru feels between himself and Kumiko is akin to their relationship at the beginning of the novel. Although there is love between them, something is missing. Both are distant, and neither knows what the other is thinking.
Themes
However, when Toru asks Kumiko if she is seeing someone else, the question surprises her. Kumiko does not directly answer the question but continues to date Toru and eventually has sex with him. Given her actions, Toru assumes Kumiko must not have a boyfriend and accepts that there is just something about her that he does not entirely grasp. Over the next few years, Toru and Kumiko fall in love with each other, eventually marrying after Kumiko finishes college. Back in his present state of mind, Toru tests his rope ladder to make sure it will not go anywhere. Then, he goes to sleep.
Although Toru and Kumiko fall in love with each other, there is still something missing from their relationship, at least in this memory. Toru speaks of loving Kumiko but never of connecting with her on a deeper level. There is something superficial about their love for each other, which Toru has yet to grasp. This shallowness is what leads Toru to wonder whether he ever knew the real Kumiko at all.
Themes
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