Hatsumi’s Unanswered Devotion

Norwegian Wood

This flow follows Hatsumi’s generous attachment to Nagasawa and the quiet damage caused by their incompatible expectations.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Warm First Impression A Warm First Impression from "Norwegian Wood". A Quiet Presence Beyond appearance Hatsumi seems ordinary at first, but Watanabe soon notices her intelligence, humor, care, and precise taste.

A Warm First Impression from "Norwegian Wood". A Quiet Presence Beyond appearance Hatsumi seems ordinary at first, but Watanabe soon notices her intelligence, humor, care, and precise taste.

A Quiet Presence Beyond appearance Hatsumi seems ordinary at first, but Watanabe soon notices her intelligence, humor, care, and precise taste. She makes others feel at ease. The unequal relationship She loves Nagasawa despite recognizing that he sleeps with other women. Her tolerance is not evidence that the arrangement leaves her unharmed.

A Matchmaker’s Effort A Matchmaker’s Effort from "Norwegian Wood". Care Directed Outward Helping Watanabe Hatsumi repeatedly offers to introduce Watanabe to women from her college.

A Matchmaker’s Effort from "Norwegian Wood". Care Directed Outward Helping Watanabe Hatsumi repeatedly offers to introduce Watanabe to women from her college.

Care Directed Outward Helping Watanabe Hatsumi repeatedly offers to introduce Watanabe to women from her college. She believes he would make a sincere partner and wants him to find happiness. An indirect confession Her matchmaking also reveals the tenderness she feels toward him. Watanabe sees her kindness but does not mistake it for an invitation to abandon his complicated attachment to Naoko.

The Dinner Confrontation The Dinner Confrontation from "Norwegian Wood". A Question of Being Enough Open conflict Hatsumi asks Nagasawa why he continues sleeping with other women.

The Dinner Confrontation from "Norwegian Wood". A Question of Being Enough Open conflict Hatsumi asks Nagasawa why he continues sleeping with other women.

A Question of Being Enough Open conflict Hatsumi asks Nagasawa why he continues sleeping with other women. He insists that his appetite is a hunger he cannot change. An exposed wound Hatsumi says she is hurt, challenging his claim that nobody is harmed. Her restrained manner gives way to anger when he retreats into abstract rules.

The Walk and Pool Game The Walk and Pool Game from "Norwegian Wood". A Brief Respite Leaving with Watanabe Hatsumi asks Watanabe to see her home instead of Nagasawa.

The Walk and Pool Game from "Norwegian Wood". A Brief Respite Leaving with Watanabe Hatsumi asks Watanabe to see her home instead of Nagasawa.

A Brief Respite Leaving with Watanabe Hatsumi asks Watanabe to see her home instead of Nagasawa. They drink quietly and then play pool, where her skill surprises him. A glimpse of another life She asks Watanabe what she should do, but still says she loves Nagasawa. Her composure conceals how difficult it is for her to leave the future she imagines with him.

The News from Bonn The News from Bonn from "Norwegian Wood". A Final Tragedy A later marriage Hatsumi marries another man after Nagasawa goes abroad.

The News from Bonn from "Norwegian Wood". A Final Tragedy A later marriage Hatsumi marries another man after Nagasawa goes abroad.

A Final Tragedy A later marriage Hatsumi marries another man after Nagasawa goes abroad. She appears to have moved forward, but the novel later reveals that she dies by suicide. Watanabe’s grief Nagasawa’s letter about her death makes Watanabe recognize the tenderness he had sensed in her. He destroys the letter and never writes to Nagasawa again.

During Watanabe’s first year at the dormitory

During Watanabe’s second year

Late 1969, at the celebration dinner

The night of the dinner

Two years after Nagasawa leaves for Germany