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Book 3, Chapter 25
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
The document narrates the harrowing story of Nutmeg’s father, who survived the zoo massacre. The morning after the tragic event, the vet wakes up early and struggles to accept the new reality he finds himself in. Despite his overwhelming grief, he tries to find solace in the surviving animals that still depend on him. The vet contemplates the concept of free will and acknowledges that it is an illusion.
Notably, neither Cinnamon nor Nutmeg has any knowledge of what happened to Nutmeg’s father. As such, unless some sort of all-knowing entity wrote this file, everything here is either conjecture or made up entirely. One way to understand this document is that it is Cinnamon’s way of grappling with his family’s place in history.
Themes
Nutmeg’s father—who bears a strange mark on his face—does his best to accept his current situation. He yearns for his wife and daughter, but he understands they also have their own paths and destinies, separate from his. Determined to make the most of his position, he goes to the zoo and begins feeding the remaining animals with the help of two Chinese boys.
The strange mark on the face of Nutmeg’s father is a clear connection to Toru. In fact, if the mark were real, it would explain why Nutmeg came to Toru in the first place; the mark reminded her of her father, and she took it as a sign that her and Toru’s paths should cross.
Themes
However, the young lieutenant responsible for the massacre disrupts the feeding as he returns to the zoo with his troops. The officer steals the cart and mule that Nutmeg’s father needs to feed the animals, despite the vet’s protests. Then, the lieutenant forces four Chinese men wearing baseball uniforms into a clearing and makes them dig graves.
This scene is reminiscent of the story Mamiya told Toru at the beginning of the novel. There is a sense of foreboding surrounding the entire scene, and it looks like an atrocity is about to occur.
Themes
Curiosity gets the better of Nutmeg’s father, and he follows the men to the clearing, where he witnesses a disturbing scene. The lieutenant uncovers the cart to reveal four dead bodies—the deceased are also Chinese men, and they’re also wearing baseball uniforms. The lieutenant orders one of the surviving Chinese men to bury the bodies and then he executes three others. The Japanese soldiers execute the men using bayonets to ensure that their suffering is prolonged.
Again, Murakami captures the surreality of war. Not only are the bodies themselves difficult to comprehend, but the addition of the baseball uniforms creates a bizarre juxtaposition. While Mamiya’s story emphasized the barbaric violence the Japanese suffered, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle does the opposite. Here, the Japanese are the ones responsible for the barbarism.
Themes
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The executed men were Chinese recruits who had turned against their Japanese instructors and fled in baseball uniforms. The lieutenant orders one of his soldiers to use the same baseball bat a Chinese man used to kill the Japanese officers to execute the remaining Chinese man. The soldier strikes the man’s skull, and as Nutmeg’s father inspects the body, the Chinese man unexpectedly grabs his wrist and pulls him into the grave. The lieutenant shoots the Chinese man in the head, causing him to release the veterinarian’s hand.
The baseball bat is another object that links Toru’s life with this story. In both cases, someone gets bludgeoned with a baseball bat. In fact, this detail is so surreal and out of place, that it feels like it must have come from Toru’s life. It seems that whoever wrote The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (meaning the story on the computer) wants Toru to be aware of that he is a part of some larger conspiracy. Of course, as always, there is the possibility that the similarities between Toru’s life and the story are merely coincidence.
Themes
The experience profoundly impacts one of the soldiers who helped carry out the executions. In his sorrow, he hears the sound of the wind-up bird, as he tries to piece together what has become of his life. After the zoo incident, the soldier would go on to witness the Chinese hang the lieutenant as retribution for the execution of the Chinese recruits. Nutmeg’s father, on the other hand, would meet his end a year later in an accident.
The wind-up bird’s presence is another reminder that there is a possibility that a higher power predetermined everything, even the executions. Alternatively, it's possible that everything in the story is fake and did not happen. However, if the latter is true, how does someone other than Toru and Kumiko know about the wind-up bird?
Themes
