I have been blankly pondering about a part from Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Woods these days. I do not remember which chapter.
I just remember the dialogue between Watanabe, the main character of the novel and Naoko, his quasi-girl friend who is in a mental asylum.
He tells Naoko that she can solve her problem -not getting moist despite her desire to make love - by relaxing.
But Naoko says that she is afraid that she would be disintegrated and blown by wind if she quit the efforts to keep her integrity.
Watanabe tells her that her that problem is mental so she can overcome it.
She angrily replies to him that all her problems are mental.
Well, she has a belief that she'd lose her integrity if she relaxed. And this seems to be the major cause of her sufferings. She is to hang herself later...
No one knows what happens if she can relax. She just keeps the fear without any ground. Too bad that nobody around her knows how to challenge her limiting thoughts.
She has just confused a metaphor and what would really happen. We tend to equate two things that would not form an equation without a lot crooked thoughts. I guess if Watanabe knew this, she would not have to end her own life...
I have no idea why I have been pondering this. Perhaps someone is in need of this kind of help now...
I wonder why this publisher uses the advertisement pictures from the 1930s Shanghai for the works of the modern Japanese novelist... It is very very weird.
2 件のコメント:
I love norwegian wood, as i do most of murakamis works. I am a huuge huge fan of his.
As for naoko- i did never really try to analyse her when reading this book. My focus was more on watanabe and his last girlfriend, the a little bit crazy one. I always saw naoko as a background guiding figure. Something like Watanabe's past. i didn't really take her in as a person, but more as his experience. That's why i think she was doomed to die from the beginning. same as his best friend. it was the 'haunting past' that murakami incorporated into watanabes present. To me they were just phantoms and not charactersin the book...
but like your way of mentioning her..
i agree with marley. Actually he stole this from me when we were once talking bout it.. haha
but I surely see your point as well Yokoyama-san
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