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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What career advice does Toru Okada recall Mr. Honda giving in Chapter 4?

2. What town is Toru Okada in when Kumiko call to tell him she had an abortion?

3. Who tells the story of the massacre in Chapter 9?

4. Who pulls the rope ladder up from the well in Chapter 9?

5. In the beginning of Book 3, why does Toru suspect he has not heard from Kumiko?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Creta Kano become a prostitute?

2. Why does Toru Okada stay in the well longer than he intended?

3. Why is Lieutenant Mamiya uncomfortable with his mission with Yanamoto?

4. What financial decision does Toru Okada make at the beginning of Book 3?

5. What does the unnamed boy see in Chapter 3?

6. How does the infant Nutmeg nearly killed in the story of Chapter 9?

7. Describe the marital tiff the Okada's have as related in Chapter 9?

8. What two requests does Creta Kano make of Toru Okada in Chapter 14 and how does he respond?

9. What does Toru Okada discover while shaving in Chapter 12?

10. Why is a local tabloid so concerned with the the Miyawaki house in Chapter 7?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Much of the important action of the novel, including the climax, occurs not in the real world, but in dreams and in a sort of metaphysical hotel. Write an essay about these events that occur in a sub- or supernatural world, focusing on three of them:

Part 1) When Creta Kano appears to Toru Okada, and the two have sex, how is this more than a mere erotic dream? Why does it affect both of them in their waking lives? In analyzing this sexual encounter, explain what Creta Kano's profession is, and how it relates. Why does she come to Toru's dream?

Part 2) Write a paragraph describing Toru Okada's first trip to the metaphysical hotel. What is he doing in the real, waking world that allows him entry? When Toru emerges, what has changed about him? Is this change emotional or physical?

Part 3) Describe the climax of the novel as it takes place in the hotel. What very real dangers does Toru Okada face and what achievement does he have in his conflict with Noboru Wataya? What does he understand by the end? How are his actions in the hotel reflected in his waking life?

Essay Topic 2

In The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami juxtaposes the fantastical with a sort of general malaise that permeates modern Japanese society. Write an essay about this general malaise, describing how it manifests itself in the business world, in politics, and in popular culture. How do both Toru Okada and May Kasahara choose to ignore this malaise? Do they drop out of society? Conclude by discussing how this portrait of Japan reflect the Lost Decade in which the novel is set.

Essay Topic 3

Haruki Murakami's novels almost always involve grown men who have not fully developed emotionally and several strong-willed women who force them to question their world-views. Write an essay about Toru Okada's relationship with the women of the novel. How is Toru's emotional growth stunted at the beginning of the novel? What shattering event forces him from his torpor at the beginning of the novel? Choose three women who enter his life after this event and discuss their relationship to him.

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