The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

In The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, characters are challenged to let the world unfurl in its own way. Murakami suggests that human beings, whether because of socialization or their natures, wish to create order and meaning out of the chaos of the world. Murakami suggests that human beings in these societies tend to project their ambitions, dreams, imaginations, and pursuits of happiness onto an uncaring and ultimately random world. The more characters fight the flow of the world, the more traumatized and isolated they become. Rather than fight the flow, Murakami posits that people should pay more attention to the tiny details that hint at larger understandings. In Murakami’s constructed Japan, there are layers of alternative realities that are only accessible by letting go of preconceived notions of the physical and mental limitations of the world.

This is exemplified by Creta’s mental sexual coupling with Toru. Although they don’t physically have sex, Creta intercepts Toru’s dreams and copulates with him in their minds. But the world of their minds is as real and as important as the “real” world. This is also highlighted by the symbol of the deep and dry well that gives Toru and Lieutenant Mamiya access to the boundary-less corners of their mind.