The little boy in the window

[Samantha]

I really enjoyed this book, but the one thing that I've never been able to figure out, and which other people I've talked to seem to gloss over, is the boy in the window who witnesses the men outside in the tree. What does this have to do with the story? I imagined that his house must've been near the well, but this was never revealed. What are your thoughts?

[Ursula]

the boy is Cinnamon Akasaka, in my opinion. And probably the incident was the reason why Cinnamon never talk again.

[T.D.]

Yes, I agree. The boy is Cinnamon and he loses the ability to speak following this event, which initiates him into the world of the wind-up bird. He would have come to this through his lineage, as his maternal grandfather (Nutmeg's father) was marked and heard the bird's call, too. The well, while significant, is not the central motif. It is only one way of accessing the labyrinth. The bird is the thing that ties them all together. That's my take on it, anyway.

[Mark]

That is a disturbing story which shows extreme existential anguish.

I feel the wells are central to the book, though, as a path to the underworld/subconscious.

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[Natalia]

Ursula wrote: "the boy is Cinnamon Akasaka, in my opinion. And probably the incident was the reason why Cinnamon never talk again."

That's what I thought. He was the only person that came to mind.

[T.D.]

I agree that the wells are central to the book, and they are clearly central to Murakami, because they keep showing up in his work. They serve a different plot function from the wind-up bird, though. With this particular book, it is the bird rather than the wells that tie all of the "marked" or "blessed" (or whatever you want to call them) characters together. Not all of them use a well to reach the labyrinth; but all of them who are in some way "doomed" begin to hear the bird just before crisis strikes and their life paths are shifted forever.

[Mark]

Isn't the bird-call more of a harbinger than a method or means of accessing the underworld/subconscious?
It is definitely a marker of an important psychic shift in each case.

[T.D.]

Well, yes, I do believe the wind-up bird is a harbinger, but I also wondered whether it might not be something like a psychopomp from Greek and other mythologies (bird messengers who carry souls to the underworld). The bird is also the primary linking symbol, since all who hear its call end up being marked or otherwise indoctrinated into the labyrinth/underworld/collective unconscious, etc. Then again, I am no Murakami expert. I love his work, but these are only my thoughts as I read him, not based on anything he's said himself in interviews, etc. (though I'd love to hear some interviews with him).

[T.D.]

There are a few basic things I am sure about with this book, but only because they are made manifestly evident in the text itself - one of those being the identity of the boy at the window. The boy loses his voice after trauma in the RL - murder of his father - and a frightening indoctrination into the underworld via witnessing the mysterious men outside his window, one of whom looked like his father. Nutmeg later explains to the protagonist how her son stopped speaking entirely when he was a child, etc. Too much overlap to be coincidence. If that boy were not Cinnamon, there would be no reason to have that story in the book. While I can state that with certainty, there is little else I could say is absolutely clear or that seems to offer only one interpretation.

[Mark]

td wrote: "Well, yes, I do believe the wind-up bird is a harbinger, but I also wondered whether it might not be something like a psychopomp from Greek and other mythologies (bird messengers who carry souls to..."

Excellent observations, td!

[T.D.]

Mark, thanks. I just read your exploratory piece on Murakami's work on your blog, and enjoyed it very much. More things to think about! I have not read Norwegian Wood yet, but I am on a Murakami roll ... next up is Kafka on the Beach for me. (P.S. quick note, which I mean to be helpful and not annoying, so sorry if so: you have a typo in your post: "it" instead of "id" when referring to Freud.)

[Mark]

td wrote: "Mark, thanks. I just read your exploratory piece on Murakami's work on your blog, and enjoyed it very much. More things to think about! I have not read Norwegian Wood yet, but I am on a Murakami ro..."

Hi td. I checked back and I did use 'it' for the subconscious, and I did that as in German, that is what 'Id ' means and I think Freud used that term to indicate the non-human aspect of the sub-conscious. In Schopenhauer too, who influenced Freud, the cosmic 'Will' is non-human and without reason.
Anyway, that's for your insight about the psychopomp, which didn't t occur to me!

[T.D.]

Mark wrote: "td wrote: "Mark, thanks. I just read your exploratory piece on Murakami's work on your blog, and enjoyed it very much. More things to think about! I have not read Norwegian Wood yet, but I am on a ..."

Ah, interesting! I never knew that "id" meant "it" in German. Cheers

[Priyanka]

I also thought the boy was Cinnamon - it would fit in very well. But what about his fathers gruesome murders and what was with the heart, probably the fathers heart being buried under the tree and the two men - one of whom climbed the tree ...

[Lee]

This is a book I'd like to explore in a book club. I read it last year, and right now I'd believe anything anybody told me about it. I need to read it again.

[Ursula]

L.S. wrote: "This is a book I'd like to explore in a book club. I read it last year, and right now I'd believe anything anybody told me about it. I need to read it again."

Murakami's works have to be read many times. And every time you read it, you'll find new things you didn't notice last time you read it. God I would very much like to discuss Murakami with everyone!

[Peter]

I had a thought about the man who climbed the tree. Mr Honda had said to go to the deepest well or the tallest tower. If wells help you move into the other world, perhaps climbing a tree does too.