83 pages • 2 hours read
Haruki Murakami, Transl. Jay RubinThe Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1994A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Birds
Birds are an important motif in the novel. The title is named for a mysterious and hypothetical bird that controls the universe. Toru must metaphorically become this wind-up bird in order to seize control of his psyche. The wind-up bird is a symbol of free will and inherited traumas.
Birds are also re-symbolized through the allusion to The Thieving Magpie. The story of The Thieving Magpie only includes a bird at the very end, when a magpie flies into a rich man’s home and steals his cutlery, giving the man an opportunity to accuse his servant of stealing from him and sending her to prison. In a moment, and because of the random whims of a random bird, the woman’s entire life is changed. There are commonalities between this story and the novel.
A statue of a bird is the element of the abandoned Miyawaki house that first interests Toru. That the statue that draws him to the house and therefore the well is a bird is not a coincidence. The wind-up bird welcomes another version of the wind-up bird into the depths of the well.
Deep, Dry Wells
Mr. Honda is the first character who brings up dry wells. He advises Toru to find the deepest well to make his energies align with the universe. Toru ends up taking this advice literally. It is notable that Mr. Honda saved Lieutenant Mamiya from a deep and dry well during their time in Mongolia. Did Mr. Honda learn about the power of the well from Lieutenant Mamiya, or are wells a portal to another world? In this novel, the deep, dry well is a space of fundamental transformation. Without the function of the well, there would be no Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.
The Telephone
Telephones are a symbol for yet another portal. The first two parts of the novel are filled with moments in which Toru’s reveries or routines are interrupted by strange and unwelcome telephone calls. They are the primary mode of communication for the characters and pose a juxtaposition between contemporary Japan and historical Japan; Lieutenant Mamiya, a product of an older Japan, only communicates to Toru through letters. May Kasahara also writes Toru letters, emphasizing her mature wisdom. Furthermore, telephones are the marker of different universes. In the “real” world, telephones work. But in the alternate world of the mysterious hotel, telephones don’t work. Thus, the telephone helps solidify Toru’s identification of which world he is in.
Mackerel
Mackerel the cat is a symbol of Toru and Kumiko’s marriage. Toru didn’t care about getting a cat, but Kumiko really wanted one. When the cat goes missing, Kumiko contacts Malta Kano. But the missing cat is only a red herring for what Kumiko is avoiding in her relationship with Toru. When the cat disappears, Kumiko and Toru’s marriage disintegrates. When the cat returns, communication between the couple resumes.
The Facial Mark
Toru’s facial mark is a symbol for his newfound power. The mark is a physical manifestation of his mental and emotional journey in the well. It also helps Nutmeg see Toru as a fellow healer. But when Toru’s mission in the well is over, the mark disappears, thus signaling his return to “normal.”
Related Titles
By these authors
