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Book 3, 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
Toru is desperate for a miracle to obtain the funds necessary to purchase the land. Growing weary of staying cooped up at home, he ventures into the city for the first time in months. Like before, he does not do anything in particular. Instead, he simply observes people on the streets. As he looks around, Toru notices that the city possesses a vibrancy that he has not witnessed for some time.
Not knowing what else to do, Toru once again turns to his uncle’s advice. Still, he is without family and friends to help him, so he goes out looking for a sign from the universe. Again, Toru’s desires contradict each other and are thus irrational: he simultaneously wants control of his own life, while secretly wishing that someone will come along and do everything for him.
Themes
On the eighth day of Toru’s people-watching routine, a woman (later revealed to be Nutmeg) who previously stopped and conversed with Toru months ago sits down to talk with him. During their first encounter, she asked if Toru needed money. Now, Toru confides in her that he does indeed require money: specifically, eight million yen. In response, the woman provides Toru with a card and instructs him to visit the address written on it the following afternoon.
This is another moment in the novel that is either an extraordinary coincidence or proof that some sort of larger force is guiding the trajectory of Toru’s life. After all, Toru requests a huge amount of money, and the woman acts as though she can get it for him. For reference, eight million yen in the 1990s would be worth over $100,000 today.
Themes
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