34 head p. 148.
Toru’s description about himself describes that he is just an ordinary guy.
According to Murphy 1972, the way a person reacts to various situations and events also
gives the readers information about a person’s character p. 168. When Toru is in college time, he is an ordinary youth at a revolution time where
the student strikes happen and it is proven from the way he reacts toward those situations. Toru only watches
his fellow students protest about the “established order”, then slinks back to class so as not to fall the course pp. 64-65. He is
detached from the student strikes and revolutionary movement which occurs around him. He manages to isolate himself more than ever from his classmate.
None of the students speak to him and he does not speak to none of them as well p. 65. Instead of joining the student strike, Toru chooses to study and attend the
classes. Toru’s reaction towards the student strikes shows that he is an ordinary
student. Murphy 1972 also
says that a person’s appearance helps the readers to obtain the
description of one’s character p. 161. In Norwegian Wood, Toru’s simplicity can be seen from the way he gets dressed. When Toru is invited to have
dinner with Nagasawa and Hatsumi in a fancy French restaurant to celebrate Nagasawa’s passing of the Foreign Service exam, Toru only wears an ordinary
blue blazer while Nagasawa wears an expensive-looking gray suit and Hatsumi wears gold earring, a beautiful deep blue dress, and a pair of tasteful red pumps
p. 270. From the way Toru gets dressed, it describes his simplicity. As
35 conclusion, the previous descriptions of Toru which is based on his speech,
reaction, and personal description prove that Toru is an ordinary person.
3. A Caring Person
Living in the dormitory makes Toru think that he has bad luck since he shares a room with an annoying and meticulous friend, who is known as Storm
Trooper. Storm Trooper always wakes up earlier and does Radio Calisthenics which broadcasts every morning in the radio. Storm Trooper’s morning habit
annoys Toru who is still sleepy, especially when Storm Trooper does the jumping part that makes the bed bounce every time he hits the floor. Although his
roommate always annoys him, it does not make Toru be ignorant towards Storm Trooper.
According to Murphy 1972, a person’s reaction towards particular situation can give clues to the readers about a person’s character p. 168. Toru’s
caring towards Storm Trooper is depicted from his reaction when Storm Trooper is sick. Toru decides to nurse his sick roommate and even cancels his appointment
to watch a concert with Naoko. At the end of January, Storm Trooper went to bed with a raging fever,
which meant I had to stand Naoko up that day. I had gone to a lot of trouble to get my hands on some free tickets for a concert. Naoko had been
especially eager to go because the orchestra was performing one of her
favorites, Brahms’s fourth symphony. But with Storm Trooper tossing around in bed on the verge of what looked like an agonizing death, I
couldn’t just go off and leave him, and I couldn’t find anyone crazy enough to nurse him in my place. I bought some ice and used several
layers of vinyl bags to hold it on his forehead, wiped his sweat with cold towels, took his temperature every hour, and even changed his undershirt
for him. p. 49
36 Toru is unable to leave Storm Trooper alone with his severe fever. He decides to
nurse his roommate by himself and cancels his appointment he has already made with Naoko although he has gone some problems to get free tickets. Toru knows
that the other dormitory residents are unwilling to take care of his sick roommate. Thus, Toru passionately nurses his sick roommate by giving a hot compress,
taking his temperature even changing the undershirt. What he has done for Storm Trooper proves that Toru cares for Storm Trooper although his roommate is an
annoying and weird person. Toru has a good friend since senior high school; she is Naoko, Kizu
ki’s ex-girlfriend who he falls in love with. Once they move to Tokyo, Toru and
Naoko stumble into each other on a crowded Tokyo train and quickly revive their friendship. Since then, Toru subsequently accompanies Naoko to have an
afternoon stroll every Sunday . When it comes to Naoko’s twentieth birthday, Toru
manages to have a little birthday celebration for her. It rained on her birthday. After classes, I bought a cake nearby and took
the streetcar to her apartment. We ought to have a celebration, I had said. I probably would have wanted the same thing if our position had been
reversed. It must be hard to pass your twentieth birthday alone. p. 50
The excerpt presents that Toru knows how it feels to spend and celebrate birthday alone because Toru tries to put himself
in Naoko’s shoes and understand what Naoko feels. Therefore
, Toru comes to Naoko’s apartment, brings a birthday cake with twenty candles and they have a little birthday party together. From his
reactions, it proves that Toru is a caring person, despite his feeling towards Naoko.
