Background of the Study
2 and tend to be alone. Those who withdraw themselves from society might have
difficulties in establishing relationship with others. People who have difficulty in establishing relationships will have negative effect, for instance: loneliness.
Loneliness is an unpleasant psychological experience which occurs in human being’s life. According to Perlman and Peplau 1984, a person’s characteristics
such as shyness, low self-esteem, introversion, and lack of social skill are able to trigger loneliness. Dissatisfaction with the quality of actual relationship and the
loss of an important relationship through death or breaking up can also cause loneliness.
People can be lonely or feel the loneliness while they are in the middle of a crowd. Baron and Byrne 1987 state that loneliness can be a situation when a
person feels isolated and friendless although he or she is in the midst of crowd p. 521. People can feel lonely while being surrounded by others because there is no
desire for social interaction or they are unsatisfied with the relationship that is currently available. Losing the beloved one by death can also make a person feel
lonely. It is supported by Perlman and Peplau 1984 who say that the loss of an important relationship through death, divorce, or breaking up is a factor of
loneliness p. 23. When a person suffers from broken heart or losing the beloved one, psychologically, he or she will feel the sadness. When someone feels sad,
physically, he or she probably will express the sad feelings with negative behaviors. One of the examples is the person will close himself or herself from
others, which can lead into loneliness.
3 Losing beloved one because of death is one example of the events which
happens in our real life. Normally, the sad feelings will slowly disappear and new hopes to start a new life will come as well. However, if the sad feelings stay in
one’s heart for a long time, it will influence his or her life. The condition of losing a beloved one happens in Toru Watanabe, the major character of Haruki
Murakami’s Norwegian Wood. Toru Watanabe has lost his best friend and he experiences loneliness during his adolescent.
Set in Tokyo in the 1960s, the story focuses on Toru Watanabe, a university student who is haunted by the suicide of his best friend named Kizuki,
which brings him into his loneliness and withdrawal toward society. Toru falls in love with Naoko, Kizuki’s girlfriend who is isolated in her own mind. The death
of Kizuki affects Toru and Naoko deeply and it also brings Naoko into depression. Both decide to attend college in Tokyo where they can get away from their past
memories. After a chance encounter on a train, Toru reignites his friendship with Naoko and recalls his love to Naoko. As their relationship deepens, it becomes
apparent that Naoko is encountering depression. When they are separated, Toru hopes that Naoko will recover, but his life becomes more complicated when he
meets an outgoing girl named Midori. In this study, the writer uses a novel as the subject of the study. According
to Holman and Harmon 1986, novels are representations in fictional narrative of life or experience p. 336. Novel, as one example of literary works, presents the
reflection of human life which involves various characters and conversations in order to make the story more alive. Novel is the reflection of life because what
4 happens in the novel also happens in the reality. Novel also brings out many
things in life which the readers have not experienced before. When reading a novel, the readers are invited to visualize what they are reading with their own
imagination and, if possible, act as if they were one of the characters in the novel. In addition, by reading the novel, the readers are able to get and learn some life
values provided in the story. The writer chooses Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami because this
novel presents the real life events, i.e. losing beloved one and how to cope with the grief. Besides, the sense of loneliness happens in the life of most characters,
including Toru Watanabe as the major character. Toru withdraws himself from society and he feels lonely although he is in a crowded place. The suicide of his
best friend makes Toru deal with the grief and the loss of his beloved one. From all those statements, the writer finds that the sorrow of loss is
unavoidable. When a person unable to deals with the grief of losing and step forward, he or she will stick to the past and it might cause loneliness. Therefore,
the writer wants to see the causes of loneliness as experienced by Toru Watanabe in Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood.