A Loner The Description of Toru Watanabe
28 “Do you always travel alone like that?”
“Uh-huh.” “You enjoy solitude?” she asked, leaning her check on her hand.
“Travelling alone, eating alone, sitting off by yourself in lecture halls…” “Nobody likes being alone that much. I don’t go out of my way to make
friends, that’s all. It just leads to disappointment.” pp. 70-71. Toru’s conversation with Midori depicts that Toru does not want to insist himself
to make friends because he thinks it will hurt and disappoint him. He is afraid of being left behind after he finally gets friends and builds a good friendship.
Besides, Toru still has an emotional wound after Kizuki’s suicide since Kizuki is
the one and only best friend he has. Toru also confesses his reason why he likes to do things alone when he
talks with Reiko, Naoko’s roommate in sanatorium. When Toru has a chance to visit Naoko’s sanatorium, Toru has a conversation with Reiko and he explains
why he tends to be a loner and it is because he loves to do things alone by himself. Moreover, Toru also says that he is not good at playing games with other people
and he cannot get into them as well. “Just kidding,” she said. “Don’t get mad. But really, though, what are you
good at?” “Nothing special. I have things I like to do.”
“For instance?” “Hiking trips. Swimming, Reading.”
“You like to do things alone, then?” “I guess so. I could never get excited about games you play with other
people. I can’t get excited about games you play with other people. I can’t get into them. I lose interest.” p. 153
The previous excerpt reveals that Toru loves to do things alone because Toru loses
his interest in activities with other people. Another proof reveals that Toru is truly a loner can be seen from his senior
high school time. Before moving to Tokyo, Toru has already shown his
29 unsociable characteristic. Toru does not have a lot of friends at school and he only
has Kizuki and Naoko as his close friends. It is proved from how Toru says about his relationship with o
thers. “And Kizuki was my only friend. There was never anybody I could really call a friend, before him or after him.” p. 170. His
utterance points out that Kizuki is Toru’s best and only friend in high school and
he does not have a close friend like Kiz uki after Kizuki’s death. Toru also makes
friend with Naoko who was Kizuki’s girlfriend. The three of them always stay
together most of the time and embrace happy life. Unfortunately, the relationship between Toru and Naoko does not last for long because Kizuki has committed
suicide leaving Toru and Naoko to a long life without him. Since there is nothing to bond them, both Toru and Naoko go their separate ways.
Murphy 1972 also says that a person’s character can be seen from what a person is thinking about p. 171. In this case, Toru is described as a loner from
the way he thinks of his preference for living. When Toru moves to Tokyo as a freshman and chooses a place to live in, he thinks that it will be better for him to
rent an apartment where he can live alone. Although he is new to Tokyo and new to live alone, Toru does not seem to be afraid and he chooses to live alone rather
than shares a room with a friend. On the other hand, his anxious parents have found a private dormitory to live in due to its low expenses and facilities.
For my part, I would have preferred to rent an apartment and live in comfortable solitude, but knowing what my parents had to spend on
matriculation fees and tuition at the private university I was attending, I was in no position to insist. And besides, I really didn’t care where I live.
p. 14
30 Toru’s preference for living alone rather than live in the dormitory with a
roommate reveals that Toru enjoys of being alone. Mihalo 2009 also states in his study that Toru’s preference for living alone proves that Toru readily recognizes
his inclination towards spending life alone. Thus, it shows that not being engaged with other people by living alone is something that Toru willingly decides to do.
In the dormitory, Toru makes a good friend with a guy named Nagasawa and both of them share the same interest to read books. Nagasawa is the only
person in the dormitory who has read Toru’s favorite book at that time entitled The Great Gatsby. Nagasawa occasionally takes Toru with him when he goes to
the bars and picks up girls for one night stand, but Toru soon does not find satisfaction by sleeping with other girls and becomes tired of this habit. Toru
thinks that his relationship with Nagasawa stands in stark contrast to his relationship with Kizuki p. 43. Although Toru is quite acknowledged in many
ways, he never opens his heart and discusses his personal life or problems with Nagasawa because Toru ever saw him drunk and tormenting a girl. Moreover,
Toru still cannot open up his heart towards Nagasawa because of Kizuki’s suicide.
Toru thinks that he lost one person to whom he could speak honestly of his feelings when he lost Kizuki p. 56. Toru and Nagasawa never really connect and
they do not have deeper understanding of one another because Toru never told about his personal things to Nagasawa.
Based on Toru’s thought, Toru seems reluctant to open up to anyone after the loss of his best friend.
Toru’s inability to show his openness and speak honestly about his feelings can also be seen from what other characters say about Toru. Murphy
31 1972 explains that a person’s character can be described through the opinions of
other characters p. 162. In this case, Nagasawa comments on how tight-lipped Toru is when it comes to his personal life p. 272. Toru never tells Nagasawa
about his personal life although they already get along well together. Toru’s reluctance to be open is also experienced by Midori, a girl from
Toru’s drama class. When Midori has her problems, Toru listens to her and even helps her. However, when Toru has his problems, he just keeps it by himself and
is unwilling to tell Midori. The next paragraph is an excerpt from Midori’s letter
that proves that Kizuki’s death affects Toru’s openness with other people.
But don’t get me wrong. I’m not totally mad at you. I’m just sad. You were so nice to me when I was having my problems, but now that you’re
having yours, it seems t here’s not a thing I can do for you. You’re locked
up in all that little world of yours, and when I try knocking on the door, you just sort of look up for second and go right back inside. p. 334
Toru’s inability to speak honestly about his feeling makes a distance between him and others around him. Besides,
Toru’s choice to be a secretive person who does not share his personal life proves that Toru never really seems to form a close
friendship with those around him since Kizuki’s suicide. As a result, Toru tends to
be alone instead of being with his friends. In Norwegian Wood, Toru is always alone whenever he is. Toru
recognizes that he makes conscious choice to be alone. The description of Toru as a loner can be seen from his reaction as what Murphy 1972 states that the way a
person reacts to various situations and events gives the readers information about a person’s character p. 168. Toru starts his new life in dormitory and university.
However, Toru hardly knows anyone in dormitory and university because he
32 decides to establish a proper distance between himself and everything else p.33.
He decides to distance himself and everything else because of Kizuki’s suicide.
The loss of Kizuki makes Toru believe that Toru will forget Kizuki’s death by
keeping a distance from anyone and everything else. Living in dormitory and going to the university do not make Toru become
more sociable as well. Toru hardly knows anyone in the dormitory, except Nagasawa and Storm Trooper, because Toru tends to keep a distance from him
and others p. 39. Storm Trooper is Toru’s stuttering and fastidious roommate. He is called as Storm Trooper because he always wears the same outfit when he
goes to classes: white shirt, black pants, black shoes, navy blue sweater, a uniform jacket, and black briefcase like a typical right-wing student. He wears that kind of
uniform because he does not want to be bothered choosing clothes p. 21. Storm Trooper actually seems to be a nice guy because he always keeps the room clean,
like washing the curtain and airing their mattresses. After Toru’s first year of
college, Storm Trooper moves out from dormitory without any clear explanation and leaves the room entirely to Toru. Although his roommate is annoying, Toru
thinks and even misses Storm Trooper after he is leaving. But still, he enjoys living alone in the dormitory pp. 66-67.
During his college life, Toru also tries to keep a distance from others in college. He goes to class more faithfully than ever although the lectures are boring
and he will sit by himself in the very front row of the lecture hall, speak to no one, and eat alone p. 56. It proves that Toru decides to isolate himself from those
around him. He makes no friends in classes and decides to isolate himself from
33 his classmates by being alone in the class and cafeteria and talking to no one. In
addition, Mihalo 2009 also states in his study that Toru prevents himself from building a relationship and interacting with his classmate which makes him feel
lonely. It shows that his act of isolating himself from others is a conscious choice he has made. Besides, it also seems that Toru does not show any efforts to make
friends as well. Through character
’s past life, speech, thought, reaction and character as seen by another
, it can be concluded that Toru is a loner. Kizuki’s death leads Toru into loneliness in many ways. He is more interested in being alone than
spending time with other people. Even when he has a friend, he is unable to open up his heart and share his feeling with anyone because he has already lost Kizuki,
the person to whom he is able to speak honestly about his feeling.