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Book 3, Chapter 3
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 successfully locates the workplace of the women (Nutmeg) he encountered while people-watching the other day. The workplace is called Akasaka Fashion Design. A well-dressed young man (later revealed to be Cinnamon) who remains silent throughout their encounter, grants Toru entry and remains unresponsive even when answering the phone. Eventually, he silently gestures for Toru to follow him. In another room, a man holds up a pair of swim goggles and instructs Toru to put them on. Although the man does not speak, Toru can understand him perfectly. Once the goggles are on Toru's face, the man signals that everything will be all right and then exits the room.
Everything about Toru’s experience at Akasaka Fashion Design is surreal. From Cinnamon’s lack of speech to the goggles that Toru puts on his face, nothing lines up with what one would expect from a fashion design company. As always, Toru does not question what happens to him; he merely allows others to guide him, no matter how strange things get. Perhaps his willingness to go along with anything partially demonstrates how much he wants the money for the house.
Themes
Soon after, Toru senses the presence of a woman in the room with him. She leans in close and licks the mark on his face, which arouses him. Toru attempts to disconnect his mind from his body. Before long, he is successful. He can feel both his physical body and something else, which is an extension of his mind. Eventually, Toru orgasms and the woman leaves. After her departure, the young man (Cinnamon) returns and removes the goggles from Toru’s face. Then, he guides Toru to the bathroom so he can clean himself up. Toru cleans up and exits the bathroom. The young man hands Toru and white envelope, and then Toru heads home.
Again, Toru’s experience reads more like a sexual fantasy than reality. During the experience, Toru’s mark is treated as something that grants and allows one to receive sexual pleasure, though the details of this interaction are characteristically obscure. Despite the strange circumstances Toru finds himself in, he continues to go along without questioning anything.
Themes
On his way to the train station, Toru stops for a beer and opens the envelope, which contains 200,000 yen. Before going home, he stops at a shoe store and buys himself a new pair of sneakers. When he gets home, Toru once again feels an overwhelming sense of loneliness. He wishes more than anything in the world that he had someone to talk to.
Seemingly, Toru got paid for letting a woman bring him to orgasm. However, the money the young man gave him is far from what he will need to purchase a home. Nonetheless, it is a significant amount of money, especially given the “job” he performed.
Themes
Suddenly, an interesting thought cuts through the loneliness. Toru realizes that he essentially traded his body for money, just like Creta. While he did not engage in sexual activity with anyone—at least not in the traditional sense—he went to a specific location, allowed someone to touch him, and was paid for his time. This realization makes Toru feel closer to Creta. He thinks he understands her more than ever before because of this experience. Additionally, Toru feels like his life has just entered a new phase. He senses that something notable will happen to him soon. Soon, just as Toru predicated, something remarkable does happen. Toru goes to the grocery store, and when he returns home, he finds his missing cat sitting on his doorstep.
Out of nowhere, a number of realizations and coincidences occur almost simultaneously. Indeed, Toru’s new “profession” does link him to Creta, even though there are certainly fundamental differences in their respective experiences. Toru’s new job comes with a newfound sense of purpose, which, in return, cheers him up. Even better, the cat has finally returned. If the cat is a symbol of Toru and Kumiko's love, then that would imply that Kumiko herself might return soon. However, nothing in Toru’s surreal world is quite so simple or predictable.
Themes
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