The Northwest and Bad Fortune

This flow traces Lucy Fly’s attraction to the unlucky northwest as a way of interpreting danger and choosing the path that frightens her.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

A Direction Marked Unlucky

A Direction Marked Unlucky Folklore and Geography Lucy recalls the belief that the northwest is an unlucky direction and connects it to the histories she has read. From Tokyo, Sado Island lies in the direction she associates with misfortune. Danger as Attraction Rather than avoid the route, Lucy feels drawn toward it. The superstition gives shape to an impulse to approach danger instead of choosing the reassuring path.

The Island Journey

The Island Journey Leaving the Mainland Lucy, Lily, and Teiji travel through Niigata and cross by ferry to Sado Island. Lucy experiences the departure from Honshu as an exhilarating movement toward exile and bad fortune. A Desired Distance The island gives the travelers a temporary separation from Tokyo and ordinary obligations. For Lucy, the journey’s emotional meaning is already shaped by the danger she expects from the northwest.

Fortune Does Not Explain

Fortune Does Not Explain Misfortune Arrives The trip brings Lucy’s collapse, her growing suspicion of Lily and Teiji, and the discovery of their affair. These events can appear to fulfill her sense that the direction is cursed. A Pattern Made by the Mind The novel does not confirm that geography causes the tragedy. Lucy’s belief instead shows how she arranges painful events into patterns when their human causes remain uncertain.

While Lucy Fly plans the Sado Island journey

The ferry crossing from Niigata to Sado Island

After the group returns from Sado Island