Approach of the Study

his four friends tell him not to see them anymore. Tsukuru does not know the reason why he is abandoned by his friends sixteen years ago. Until one day, he meets Sara. Sara helps Tsukuru in finding out the reason of him being abandoned by his friends. a. Reserved In the beginning of the story Tsukuru is characterized as a reserved man who is unwilling to show feelings. The story begins with the description of his routines in college. It seems like he has no desire to make friends or do outside activities. Tsukuru repeats the same activity everyday. He prefers to be alone. It can be seen from the description of his daily activity in college. When the sun rose, so would Tsukuru─he’d brush his teeth, throw on whatever clothes were at hand, ride the train to college, and take notes in class. He clung to this daily routine. He only spoke to people when necessary, and after school, he would return to his solitary apartment. He didn’t read any newspaper, didn’t listen to music, and had no sexual desire to speak of Murakami, 2014: 2. The quotation above shows Tsukuru’s activity during his college life. He only speaks to people when necessary so most of the time he spends his time alone. He wakes up in the morning, goes to school and back straightly to his apartment as soon as the class is over. He does not have the spirit to live a life by having a relation with other people. Based on Murphy’s theory, the characteristic of a character can be seen from the way the author describe a person’s mannerisms, habits or idiosyncrasies Murphy, 1972: 1730. From the statement above, the writer can see the characteristic of the main character as a reserved man by using Murphy’s theory. In Tokyo, he does not have any close friend. In addition, he does not want to make any single friend. It can be seen from his conversation with Sara when they mee t for the first time. “You never made even one friend in Tokyo?” Sara narrowed her eyes and looked at him. “I don’t know why, but I just couldn’t,” Tsukuru said. “I guess I’m basically not very outgoing Murakami, 2014: 21.” Tsukuru’s characteristic can be seen from the conversation between him and Sara. Tsukuru does not mind if he does not have any friend in Tokyo. He also admits that he is not very outgoing. He prefers to spend his time alone. Based on the conversation of the main character with another character, the writer can analyze the characteristic of the main character by using Murphy’s theory. In his book, Murphy states that the characteristic can be seen through his speech Muprhy, 1972: 164. From his words, Tsukuru admits that actually he is a person who is not very outgoing. He rarely express his feelings, so it does not matter if he does not have a friend at all. Back in high school, Tsukuru has four best friends. He meets them in high school. Two boys and two girls. The five of them are classmates at a public high school in the suburbs of Nagoya. He feels comfortable with his four friends. Even though Tsukuru is the only one who lives in Tokyo, but whenever there is a school vacation he will come back home immediately. Nagoya is his hometown. The only place where his family and friends live. So he does not mind if he does not have any single friend in Tokyo. Tsukuru learns that people in Tokyo are different from his hometown. He never meet anyone he feels like getting to know better. He also reads constantly, more than he ever had before. One day when he comes back to Nagoya for holiday. He starts to contact his friends to let them know that he is coming home. He calls his four friends, but he cannot get in touch with any of them. Eventually, one of them call him back. It is from Ao. Ao tells Tsukuru not to call them anymore. Tsukuru asks Ao to tell him