From Siham (On The Portrayal of Women)

Murakami portrays women throughout the book as determined and independent, which contrasts with Toru’s character since he appears to be ambitionless in comparison to them. In the beginning of the book, we can already notice that Kumiko is an empowered woman since she cares for Toru financially and does not need to rely on him for anything. It almost feels like the roles are reversed since Toru finds a kind of escape from his boring reality in cooking and doing laundry like a traditional housewife and Kumiko finds her escape from Toru in her work and late hours to spend less time at home. Later in the book when Kumiko leaves the house, even if it was somewhat predictable since we knew that their marriage was not going well, it is a shock to know that Kumiko is not coming back and knew exactly what she was doing by leaving with that much determination. We can sense it in her letter to Toru afterwards, “ I have only one thing to ask you, and that is this: please don’t concern yourself about me anymore. Please don’t try to find me. Just forget about me and think about beginning a new life.” (277) By admitting that she had an affair, we can see that Kumiko is an honest woman that could not repress the sexual desire she never felt for Toru. Her letter, written in short affirmative sentences with no hesitation, shows how strong her character is, which leaves Toru powerless and dubious about what her real intentions were in leaving him.

Another strong female character later in the book is Nutmeg Akasaka and her impeccable physique, since she dresses perfectly which gives this kind of untouchable aura and her certainty about Toru’s “supernatural” power. It is not coincidental that Toru saw Nutmeg twice in an interval of a year, but I think Murakami wanted to exhibit the difference in the character of Toru in the second book in comparison to the third book. We can see that change because of Nutmeg; he is transformed and she gives him the outlet for the ambition that he lacked in the first and second book. In chapter 20: “Nutmeg’s story”, the summary of Nutmeg’s life is eye-opening giving us a more global comprehension of her character, since she came from a poor social background, but from an early age she already had this determination to be successful, “What she wanted more than anything was to learn a useful skill and make herself independent as soon as possible. She was in a place far away from her classmates and their comfortable enjoyment of high school life.” (471) Her passion for fashion and dedication to her work made her who she is, at the expense of her having human relations and friends. In addition, the fact that she knew that Toru had this “supernatural” power and how he could channel it, makes her character even more intuitive and strong.

Nutmeg’s success can also be reflected through her client list since the women that come to her have this inaccessible barrier with reality, “But around them lingered that special smell produced by a combination of power and money. The women themselves never made a show of it, but Nutmeg could tell from the style and fit of their clothes that they came from backgrounds of privilege.” (456) In a way, Murakami empowers them by that mysteriousness and secrecy, which makes them seem even more powerful. This consistent portrayal of women makes us discover the characters in more depth since we can compare them in order to have a better understanding of the view of women in the book.