The Issues Of Life And Death In The Norwegian Wood Based On The Chains Of Life And Death

The core of the novel Norwegian Wood is the issue of life and death. There’re atleast four chief chains of life and death in the novel:Kizuki-Watanabe-Naoko,Naojo-Watanabe-Midori,Nagasawa-Watanbe-Hatsumi,Naojo-Watanabe-Reiko.The former two of them can be combined together which play the most importantrole in the novel,while the latter two are relatively minor,supporting thenarrative.Different chains of life and death are interconnected with eachother.Kizuki,Naoko and Hatsumi symbolize the nether world,while Midori,Nagasawastand for the upper world.Watanabe,as the master of the novel,is vague betweenthem.Once the triangle of the chain of life and death is broken,the chain will lose it’sbalance,the figure on the chain will go to death or fall into confusion.So-called the chain of life and death is the chain constructed by life and death.As tothe novel Norwegian Wood,the chain of life and death involves almost all the figures inthe novel,and also the narrative structure,artistic technique and the subject of the novel.From the horizontal analysis,the chain of life and death is reflected by the endlessdeath,the lingering images of death and the survival plight of the characters living in thelife and death paradox. Whereas studied vertically,the chain of life and death is the coreof the novel,whitch drives the narrative.Norwegian Wood is filled with death and confusion.The ideas of life and death inthe novel is influenced by not only traditional Japanese culture,but also the westernculture,especially the existentialism.Overall,Haruki Murakami’s perspective iswesternized.The ideas of life and death based on the cultural hybridity characterizes atype of generalized survival experience of the urban youth.Norwegian Wood is a novel making the death aesthetics widely known.The death istranquil as Japanese tradition not only,but also has the beauty of tragedy.However,deathis false in the novel,as the desire of redemption.Death is supplied to free themselves,buttheir death is the forced choice,which is helpless to the survival.The novel appeals to sexto get free,but the sex in the novel is so overflowing,than it can only get the figures into adestruction situation.Midori is a rescuer to Watanabe,also she is the symbol oflife,representing the final value of the novel.By death,people can not achieve their dreamof free,only be living is the meaning of life indeed.The purpose of the description andreflection of death is to live better,and die with meaning.