Norwegian Wood and The Great Gatsby are unlike in nature from plot to structure and the only seeming connection between the two books would be Toru Watanabe at one point is reading The Great Gatsby. But I envision Watanabe to be a Nick Carraway-esque character, with a splinter of Gatsby in him. He's the narrator but a spectator yet a protagonist simultaneously.
I read Agnes' blog post which mentioned the presence of trios in NW and thought it was very insightful. Other than the combination between TW, Naoko, and Reiko (where TW is more of a Daisy Buchanan than a Nick Carraway), his third-wheeling presence that smooths out relationships make him a mediator factor rather than a participator in relationships. Observant and distant, he is incapable of fully committing to and immersing himself in a situation where he would be at the spotlight.
He seems to feel constantly empty and unfulfilled. Nagasawa points out that him and Watanabe are alike, though TW sequesters his desires out of a sense of morality. There is desire, lust, apathy, and evil in both Dionysus and Apollo. Take this quote by Kurt Vonnegut that Murakami interprets in the book, "When a couple has an argument, they may think it’s about money or power or sex, or how to raise the kids, or whatever. What they’re really saying to each other, though, without realizing it, is this: 'You are not enough people!'" Vonnegut is talking about humanity's desire for an extended family, but Watanabe's concern is that he is unsatisfied by merely one woman in life.
Having read a little about Murakami's relationship with his father, whose trauma of war led him to be distant (the father and son eventually had a falling out and barely spoke), it seems like TW is a reflection of himself. TW has a fearful-avoidant attachment style, afraid of the pain that human connection brings with all the women in his life and struggling with intimacy, hesitant to embrace Midori. This may have also stemmed from Murakami's being sent away from his parents, resulting in a sense of inadequate caregiving and lack of parental involvement.
Psychologically TW also has a passivity towards love and the world itself, cuing up again his being Nick Carraway, but only he is the protagonist. He drifts through experiences and lets the environment shape him, only going through the motions of life without imposing his own will (calling back to Sheep Chase), he has a fear of losing what he loves therefore he avoids connections altogether and fails to act upon his desires as Nagasawa does, and he has no pace and direction in life. Is this rather a case of learned helplessness? A reminder that no matter what he does, the people he love begin to grow distant one after another while he's unable to preserve their safety and health? These traumatic events for him can bring about depressive symptoms that he exhibits in the novel, but also a deep sense of survivor's guilt.
While Nagasawa gets a job in the Foreign Ministry and seems to be on the ascend in the trajectory of life, TW remains stagnant in one walk of life, all alone: one can imagine that these unfortunate circumstances are more self-imposed and a self-fulfilling prophesy. He doesn't allow himself happiness because of the loss of Kizuki, he feels guilty towards Naoko and hence the unending hesitation for a life with her. He manifests an emotional detachment, always pulling away even in moments of joy with Midori, guilty of the feeling of joy and belonging that Kizuki never experienced. He carries the weight of the souls of the dead on his shoulders in every waking moment of life, keeping him in a state of limbo and idleness, failing to reconcile with loss, and therefore perpetually alone though the others in his life desire his company.
"And when I awoke I was alone
This bird had flown
So I lit a fire
Isn't it good Norwegian wood?"
--Bruce Zhou
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