Love In Toru Watanabe's Norwegian Wood

Being in love is often times described as being a part of life. But for some, such as Toru Watanabe from “Norwegian Wood”, being in love takes up more than just a part of his life. Toru falls in love with two different girls, Naoko Wowsugi and Midori Kobayashi. He expresses different types of love for these girls. For Midori he expresses a romantic type of love while for Naoko he has more of caring kind of love. All the while he has compassionate love for both of these girls because that is the kind of person he is. Toru eventually questions the love for both of them after a series of events. Toru 's first love in Norwegian Wood is Naoko. Naoko suffers from extreme depression while isolating herself away from everyone. She has a problem opening herself up on a personal level. With this type of behavior we see Toru build patience and understanding towards Naoko. He waits for her even though he knows that they do not really have a chance of being together. Even though Naoko is mentally unstable, Toru feels they have a certain bond because they both suffered the loss of Kizuki. He feels that this tragic event brings him and …show more content…
Midori seems to be more of the light in Toru 's life while Naoko is more of the darkness in his life. While Toru has a love for both of these girls it is apparent that he has a different kind of love for both. The love he shows to Naoko is completely different from the love he has for Midori. With Midori, Toru is able to experience what true love really is. He is able to give love and get love back and is also able to have a full and happy relationship. He feels at peace and knows what it is like to feel loved. With Naoko he loves her in a sense where he cares about her. I am sure he cares about Midori as well, but with Naoko he feels like he can fix her, build her, and quite possibly save her. He loves her, but in a different way that he loves Midori. He needs Midori like Naoko needs