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Book 3, Chapter 2
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
One night, a young boy (later revealed to be Cinnamon) awakens to a distinct chirping sound that fills the air. Intrigued, he peers out of his window, scanning the trees in search of the source of this peculiar bird-like noise. The boy is keen to discover the source of the noise, but despite his efforts, he cannot locate the elusive bird. A few nights later, the boy hears the sound again. He slowly opens his curtains, doing everything he can not to frighten whatever is making the noise.
For the first time, the novel shifts to a new perspective. At this point, the identity of the young boy from whose perspective the chapter is told is unknown. Notably, the bird he hears is reminiscent of the wind-up bird, though the boy never confirms what is making the noise. Given the wind-up bird’s significance to Toru, though, it’s reasonable to guess that this boy is connected to Toru in some way.
Themes
To his surprise, the young boy (Cinnamon) notices two men dressed in dark clothing standing in the garden, one of whom is wearing a hat. As the bird resumes its melodic tune, the shorter man, who resembles the boy’s father, climbs up the pine tree. His partner, a taller man, departs momentarily but quickly returns with a shovel and a large cloth bag. The taller man begins to dig a hole at the base of the pine tree. When the hole is finished the taller man picks up the bag. From the bag, he retrieves an object the size of a cat and carefully places it into the hole.
It is difficult to know what to make of this incident. Like much of what happens to Toru, the young boy’s account reads like a dream. At the very least, his reality has a surreal feeling to it. There are some similarities to notice between Toru and the boy’s stories. In addition to the wind-up bird, the mention of the cat links Toru’s experience to this boy’s. These similarities might suggest that this chapter relates one of Toru’s boyhood memories, though the narration intentionally withholds the young boy’s identity.
Themes
Once again, the bird sings its enchanting melody. The tall man then fills the hole he had dug and departs from the scene. Strangely, the bird never sings again. The young boy (Cinnamon), determined to uncover what became of the man in the tree, struggles to stay awake. However, sleep ultimately overpowers him, leaving the outcome of the encounter a mystery.
If the bird the young boy hears is the wind-up bird, then there is a sense that the bird is driving whatever is going on outside of his house. The passage ends when sleep overpowers the boy, just as it did Toru earlier in the novel.
Themes
