a comparative analysis on the cultural settings of …

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ON THE CULTURAL

SETTINGS OF SUICIDE IN EUGENIDES’ THE VIRGIN

SUICIDES AND MURAKAMI’S NORWEGIAN WOOD

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

ANGELA MERICI

Student Number: 154214071

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA

YOGYAKARTA

2019

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ON THE CULTURAL

SETTINGS OF SUICIDE IN EUGENIDES’ THE VIRGIN

SUICIDES AND MURAKAMI’S NORWEGIAN WOOD

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

ANGELA MERICI

Student Number: 154214071

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA

YOGYAKARTA

2019


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MOTTO PAGE

- Bapak.


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DEDICATION PAGE

For

My beloved Bapak and Mamak

Jojo, my only one little brother

My future Natte Boriz

All of my friends in life

My whole family

Everyone that I ever met


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to Almighty God for giving

me a chance to live in this world especially for His blessings and never-ending love

on me so that I could finish this undergraduate thesis.

I highly send my deepest thanks to Dr. Gabriel Fajar Sasmita Aji, S.S.,

M.Hum. as my thesis advisor and Theresia Enny Anggraini, M.A., Ph.D. as my

co- advisor for always give their guidance, time and many suggestions for me in

creating and developing the idea of this undergraduate thesis from the beginning

until the end.

Then, my sincere gratitude goes to my beloved parents, Swantoro and

Antonia Eka Purwanti, for supporting and loving me in doing everything. I also

thank my only one sibling and brother Jonathan Alvredo for entertaining me when

I lost my spirit. I would thank Natte Boris my best partner along 4.5 years for

supporting and giving the suggestion for me. Finally, I would like to give my great

gratitude to my friends Gita, Diana Sonya and Laras for amazing times in English

Letters Department. I also would like to thank Maria Felicia for helping me in

correcting the grammatical mistakes. I also give my sincere gratitude to Syantikara

Dormitory family who have built the nice environment during my study in

Yogyakarta. My thousand gratitude also goes to Oci, Kak Pande, Yudea, Beata

Sepin, Mira, Febby, Audina, Vista, Eka, Komang and Terry for always

supporting me in finishing this undergraduate thesis through every moments that

we have experienced.

ANGELA MERICI


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ........................................................................................................ ii

APPROVAL PAGE ................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

ACCEPTANCE PAGE ............................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ....................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH .....

................................................................................................................................ vi

MOTTO PAGE ................................................................................................... vii

DEDICATION PAGE ......................................................................................... vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................... viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................... ix

ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... xi

ABSTRAK .............................................................................................................. xi

CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION ..................................................................... xii

A. Background of the Study .......................................................................... 1

B. Problem Formulation ............................................................................... 4

C. Objectives of the Study ............................................................................ 4

D. Definitions of Terms ................................................................................ 5

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE .................................................... 6 A. Review of Related Studies ....................................................................... 6

B. Review of Related Theories ..................................................................... 9

1. Theory of Setting................................................................................ 10

2. Japanese and American Suicides ....................................................... 12

C. Review on Comparative Literature ........................................................ 18

D. Theoretical Framework .......................................................................... 20

CHAPTER III : METHODOLOGY ................................................................. 22 A. Object of the Study................................................................................. 22

B. Approach of the Study ........................................................................... 24

C. Methodology of the Study ...................................................................... 24

CHAPTER IV : ANALYSIS .............................................................................. 27 A. Cultural Settings of The Virgin Suicides and Norwegian Wood ............ 27

1. Cultural Setting of The Virgin Suicides ........................................ 28

2. Cultural setting of Norwegian Wood............................................. 36

B. Suicide in Japanese and American society. ........................................... 49

1. Suicide As a Responsibility in Japanese society and Free Choice in

American society ............................................................................... 51

2. Suicide as a Desire to Kill and Less Attention for Mental Illness in

Japanese Society, Suicide as Perfection in American Society .......... 57

3. Suicide as the Self-Restraint for Japanese society and Selfishness for

American Society .............................................................................. 61


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4. The Stronger and The Weaker Culture of Japanese and American

toward Suicide ................................................................................... 64

CHAPTER V : CONCLUSION ......................................................................... 69

REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 71

APPENDICES ..................................................................................................... 74

Appendix 1: Biography of Jeffrey Eugenides ............................................. 74

Appendix 2: Biography of Haruki Murakami ............................................. 76


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ABSTRACT

MERICI, ANGELA. (2019). A Comparative Analysis on the Cultural Settings

of Suicide in Eugenides’ The Virgin Suicides and Murakami’s Norwegian

Wood. Yogyakarta. Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Universitas

Sanata Dharma.

This undergraduate thesis discusses the two novels The Virgin Suicides by

Jeffrey Eugenides with the cultural setting of suburban life in United States and

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami with the cultural setting of Japan. Both

novels raise the same issue of suicide but in different cultural settings. The

differences of the novels’ cultural settings have inspired the researcher to analyze

how the two cultural settings in the two novels deal with suicide issue.

The researcher has formulated two problems. The first is how the cultural

settings are described in American novel The Virgin Suicides and Japanese novel

Norwegian Wood. Secondly, how each cultural setting, the Japanese and the

American deals with the issue of suicide.

This undergraduate thesis uses the library research to find the views of

suicide in both novels. In analyzing, there are four steps that have been done by the

researcher. First, the researcher read the two novels repeatedly and highlighted the

setting of the story where the suicide happens. Second, the researcher found the

related studies, theories for the references and the approach that will be used in this

study. Sociocultural approach was applied in this study. Third, the researcher

applied the theories to answer the questions such as theory of setting and theories

of suicide in America and Japan. Fourth, the researcher created the conclusion.

Based on the analysis, the researcher has found that in The Virgin Suicides

(1993) America and its society are described as the place with the very high scale

of individualism, perfectionist, liberal, and less awareness in religion while in

Norwegian Wood (2000), the novel is set in 1969 where Japan is described as the

place with the high of individualism, nationalism and patriotism, self-discipline and

responsibility. Then, each cultural setting has its own way to deal with suicide issue.

America with the individualist society deals with suicide as the free choice for

everyone, perfection and selfishness, while Japan deals with suicide as the self-

control, responsibility and less attention of mental illness and the desire to kill.

Keywords: Cultural Setting, Suicide, Japan, America, Society


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ABSTRAK

MERICI, ANGELA. (2019). A Comparative Analysis on the Cultural Settings

of Suicide in Eugenides’ The Virgin Suicides and Murakami’s Norwegian

Wood. Yogyakarta. Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas

Sanata Dharma.

Skripsi ini membahas tentang dua novel, The Virgin Suicides karangan

Jeffrey Eugenides dengan latar budaya di pinggiran kota di Amerika Serikat dan

Norwegian Wood karangan Haruki Murakami dengan latar budaya masyarakat

Jepang. Kedua novel ini mengangkat sebuah permasalahan yang sama yaitu bunuh

diri namun dengan latar budaya yang berbeda. Perbedaan latar budaya dalam cerita

menginspirasi peniliti untuk meneliti bagaimana kedua latar budaya di dalam kedua

novel ini melihat permasalahan bunuh diri.

Peneliti merumuskan dua permasalahan di dalam studi ini. Pertama,

bagaimana latar budaya digambarkan dalam novel Amerika The Virgin Suicides

dan novel Jepang Norwegian Wood. Kedua, bagaimana masing-masing latar

budaya, Jepang dan Amerika, melihat permasalahan bunuh diri.

Skripsi ini menggunakan studi kepustakaan untuk menemukan pemikiran

tentang bunuh diri dalam kedua novel. Untuk menganalisis, ada empat langkah

yang dilakukan oleh peneliti. Pertama, peneliti membaca kedua novel berulang-

ulang dan menggarisbawahi latar cerita di mana bunuh diri terjadi. Kedua, peneliti

mencari studi terkait, teori-teori sebagai acuan dan pendekatan yang akan

diterapkan dalam studi ini. Pendekatan sosial budaya diterapkan dalam studi ini.

Ketiga, peneliti menerapkan teori-teori untuk menjawab pertanyaan yaitu teori

latar, teori-teori bunuh diri di Amerika dan Jepang, dan teori perbandingan sastra.

Keempat adalah pembuatan kesimpulan.

Berdasarkan analysis peneliti telah menemukan bahwa dalam novel The

Virgin Suicides (1993), Amerika digambarkan sebagai tempat dengan budaya

individualis yang tinggi, perfeksionis, liberal, dan memiliki kesadaran agama yang

rendah sedangkan pada novel Norwegian Wood (2000), novel ini berlatar tahun

1969 dimana Jepang digambarka sebagai tempat dengan budaya yang individualis,

nasionalisme dan patriotisme, pengontrolan diri serta tanggung jawab. Kemudaian

masing- masing latar budaya mempunyai pandangan tersendiri tentang bunuh diri.

Amerika dengan masyarakat yang individualis mengangap bunuh diri sebagai

pilihan yang bebas bagi siapapun, kesempurnaan dan keegoisan seseorang

sedangkan Jepang menganggap bunuh diri sebagai bentuk pengendalian diri,

tanggung jawab, rendahnya perhatian terhadap penyakit mental dan hasrat ingin

membunuh.

Keywords: Cultural Setting, Suicide, Japan, America, Society


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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Japan and the United States are the two countries that have a lot of cultural

differences even though there are also many similarities between them. Until today,

Japan is known as a secluded island country at the edge while the United States was

acknowledged as the center of Western, globalized world (Laemmerhirt, 2014, p.

211) and it can be seen in Japanese and American attitudes toward something and

how they see things in their societies. It can be their attitudes toward religion, their

formality in daily life, the population and the relationship, gender role, the social

systems and the collectiveness of the two (Aliasis, 2018). The differences between

these two countries as Yoichi Itoh (1991) states that Japan and America show how

they respect other people and it is seen through the way they communicate. In

Japanese culture, Japan gives the high attention to the level and the degree of the

person to show their politeness while American does not use this suffix to show

politeness but they prefer to use the formal language (Itoh, 1991, pp. 106-107).

Japan and America also have different perspectives and responds toward the

suicide issue. According to Wingfield as he reported in BBC news, Japan has high

suicide rate and more than 25.000 people took their own lives in 2014 (Wingfield-

Hayes, 2015). He also added that Japan have their own history of suicide, because

they have the long tradition of honorable suicide called “seppuku” and “kamikaze”


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as the act of nationalism. Different with Japan, generally America sees suicide as

the mental health problem but it develops in accordance with the culture of

American people and it is seen as the personal decision of somebody to overcome

their problems and everyone should respect that decision (Wildhood, 2018).

According to Monica H. Swahn, suicide is more than a mental health issue but it

should be seen as the way for people who want to escape from reality and the pain

reliever from their stress and depression and it raises the suicide’s rate in the United

State (Swahn, 2018).

How Japanese and American cultures’ influence in reacting and seeing the

suicide issue can be seen in the novel The Virgin Suicides (1993) by Jeffrey

Eugenides and Norwegian Wood (2000, English Version) by Haruki Murakami.

These two novels raise suicide issue. In The Virgin Suicides, the story takes place

in Detroit, Michigan, United States of America during 1970s, therefore, the culture

must be the American culture. The suicides of the Lisbon sisters has happened in

the middle of Detroit’s society and the novel emphasizes the opinions of the people

around Lisbon sisters about the suicide and they said that suicide is the selfishness

act and the result of wrong parenting style (Eugenides, 1993, p. 167). In the novel

Norwegian Wood, Toru Watanabe should accept the fact that the suicide brings the

different atmosphere in his life. In his flashback memories in Kyoto, Japan,

Watanabe loses his friend Kizuki and Naoko and Hatsumi who die because of

suicide. The environment of Watanabe in this story grows his perspective on suicide

that the suicide done by his friends are influenced by the surroundings which are


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always blaming and pointing the failure to a person. Later, Watanabe states that

suicide or death is a part of human’s life, not the opposite (Murakami, 2000, p. 31).

This thesis thinks that the differences between the two novels which come

from Japan and America can be analyzed by using the comparative literature.

Comparative literature is a methodology that points to criticism beyond the border

of the local and coast-to-coast literatures. According to Basnett, comparative

literature is a study that is used to compare the major and the minor things in the

novel and the wide. If the research on comparative literature is conducted, then, it

will help us understand the literature by comparing literary texts from different

languages and cultures (Zepetnek, 1998, p. 30). The theories from Basnett and

Zepetnek describe that comparative literature has the basic theme, the comparison,

and the comparison is used as the primary tool when leading a study with more than

one literature as the object of the study. In comparative study, one of its elements

that can be studied is the surroundings or the cultures.

The element of the literary works which is related with the surroundings is

the setting or the place and time where the story takes place. Then, setting as the

place influences everything that exists inside it. G.F.S Aji & B.N. Pratama (2017)

in their journal article entitled Willy Wonka’s Narcissistic Personality in Roald

Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory stated that the narcissistic personality of

Willy Wonka is caused by the lonely surroundings where he lived for many years.

The lonely place creates Wonka’s perspective of his life that everything are about

himself because there is nobody to be taken care of (Aji & Pratama, 2017, p. 47).

Therefore, the setting as the element of the literary work can be used as the tool to


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show the how the place and the time in the story influences the perspectives in

seeing a particular issue.

Hence, by using two novels from different cultures, The Virgin Suicides and

Norwegian Wood, this thesis will analyze the cultural settings of the stories

described in the two novels that include the time, place and the social values of the

settings. Then, this thesis will deliver how the two civilizations or cultural settings,

Japanese and American culture that are used in these two novels deal with suicide

issue. The “deal” of the cultural settings covers the reaction, perspectives and reason

for the suicide issue.

B. Problem Formulation

In analyzing the influence of the settings towards the perspectives on suicide

that is seen in the suicide issue of the Lisbon sisters in The Virgin Suicide and the

relatives of Watanabe in Norwegian Wood, the researcher creates problem

formulation as follows,

1. How are the cultural settings described in the American novel The Virgin

Suicide and the Japanese novel Norwegian Wood?

2. How does each cultural setting, Japanese and American, deal with the issue

of suicide?

C. Objectives of the Study

The objectives of this study are to figure out how the settings are described

in The Virgin Suicide by Jeffrey Eugenides and Norwegian Wood by Haruki


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Murakami. Then, the researcher tries to figure out how the cultural settings of

Japanese and American deal with the issue of suicide.

D. Definitions of Terms

Cultural Setting. Setting is where work is set and when the work takes

place. It becomes important because it has a function to highlight some sides of

characters’ behavior and plot developments (Kirszner & Mandell, 1993, p. 138).

Then, cultural setting is the one of the source of the literary systems because

literature are bordered from the people activities in society which acknowledged as

the “culture” and the authors create it in order to gain the cultural influence and to

support their own view of literature (Berger, 2005, p. 5).

Suicide. Suicide is viewed as the rational decision made by somebody who

considers the charge and profits of suicide contrasted with another actions. (Gunn

& Lester, 2015, p. 245).

Comparative Literature. The study of comparing the literary works such

as the major and minor aspects in the literary works and the measurement beyond

the text and culture (Basnett, 1993, p. 92)


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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Review of Related Studies

This part consists of the related studies that are used in this thesis. There are

four related studies, the two related studies are taken from the journal articles and

the rest are from the undergraduate thesis. All of the related studies are used because

it also discusses about The Virgin Suicides and Norwegian Wood.

The first review is the journal article that has been done by Bilyana Vanyova

Kostova from University of Zaragoza, with her review entitled Collective Suffering:

Uncertainty and Trauma in Jeffrey Eugenides’s The Virgin Suicides Of Bystanders,

Perpetrators and Victims, she states that The Virgin Suicide’s narrator is a group of

men who contribute in the various different shocking events in three ways, as the

witnesses, offenders and victims (Kostova, 2013, p. 61). This article emphasizes the

position of the narrator as the collective narrators in the condition of post-traumatic

and the narrators narrate the story about Lisbon sisters as the tool to cure the trauma

because of their role as the bystanders, perpetrators and victims. She concludes that

the story of the novel is begun and ended as a repetition on the everlasting post-

traumatic situation of the narrators. (Kostova, 2013, p. 60).

The second journal article comes from Emiel Nachtegael, from Akita

International University, Japan with his review entitled Coming Home to Modern

Japan: An Orphic Dialogue between Japan and the West in Murakami Haruki's

Norwegian Wood. Emile states that the novel is about “Japanese identity”. He trie


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to discover a way out by observing further into the Orphic inheritance of the novel

that has been done up to now by Japanese academics (Nachtagael, 2013, p. 33). His

first purpose is to extend the intertextual reading, then he compares Norwegian

Wood with the west text Orpheus tale. He conducts a comparative analysis that can

trace the author’s more-or-less unconscious cultural effects from Japan (the myth

of Izanagi) and the West (Orpheus) (Nachtagael, 2013, p. 33). Then from the

comparison of both literary works, he finds that Norwegian Wood adds the

important themes of the Greek equals to the Japanese Orpheus myth: the

catastrophic dimension of the hurt of a lover, and Japanese religiousness

(Nachtagael, 2013, p. 44) and to emphasize the identity crisis of Japanese by using

of unreal character “I” by the author. Emiel also suggests the identity crisis of

Toru’s love problem leads to the selecting of the Japanese limitations of the Orphic

mythologies (life, forward orientation, community) after having promised the

advices of Reiko, the same character with the Greek Orpheus (Nachtagael, 2013, p.

46).

According to the reviews of Kostova and Nachtagael, the suicide of Lisbon

sisters portrays the two facts, the first is the trauma of the narrators and the story of

Lisbon suicide is seen as the therapy of post-traumatic experience that is

experienced by the collective narrators in the novel. The second, the novel is a

debate about the identity crisis in Japanese culture and here the novel is compared

to the Greek myth the Orpheus that the two text influenced each other in the theme

of loss of lover and spirituality. This thesis thinks the novel does not only focus on

what caused how the effects of the suicide to the narrator and the identity crisis of


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Japanese towards the loss of lover because of suicide. This thesis tries to reveal that

the suicides of Lisbon sisters and the relatives of Toru Watanabe through the

representation of Japanese and American setting in depicted the view or the

perspectives of the suicide in the two cultures and it is seen in the way the two

novels describe the suicide and the opinion of the society about it.

The next review is the undergraduate thesis of Andrew Simangunsong (2016)

from English Letters Department with his research entitled “Naoko’s Schizophrenia

as Reflected in Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood.” The aims of this study are

to figure out the character of Naoko which is described by the novel and how the

schizophrenia of Naoko is revealed through her character. In this research, he

applied the psychological approach to find a way to see how the characters respond

to the conflict that they faced (Simangunsong, 2016, p. 21). Simangunsong uses

this approach to know the schizophrenia of Naoko that is depicted in her character

in the story. From the character, he founds that Naoko is broken inside as he

mentioned in his thesis that,

From the characterization of Naoko, she is portrayed as a beautiful woman

in early adulthood that has dark past and struggles to move on or get over

from the experience that haunts her life. Even though she is beautiful and

dazzled from outside, Naoko is a weak person in the inside (Simangunsong,

2016, p. 56).

The review of The Virgin Suicides novel is from Antonius Rudhika Wisnu

Dewanto (2016), from English Letters Department of Sanata Dharma University

with his research entitled “Psychological Study toward Decision of Five Lisbon’s

Daughter to Commit Suicide in Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Virgin Suicide.” In this

research, the researcher also uses the psychological approach to figure out how the


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characters of Lisbon’s daughter are and the psychological condition of Lisbon’s

daughter which lead them to the decision of committing suicide. This research finds

that the characters of Lisbon’s daughter are very different from the characters of the

parents. Their emotional condition, desire and their experiences of isolation are

described in the novel. The characters of Lisbon sisters are important to reveal what

the cause of the decision to commit suicide is.

The cause why Lisbon’s daughter commit suicide is depression as the result

of mourning and melancholia but there is a difference in the moment where

mourning and melancholia are begun (Dewanto, 2015, pp. 47-48).

This research result shows that the cause of the suicide of Lisbon’s daughter

are all the same but the way to reach the decision is quite different from one

daughter to another.

The researchers from the two related studies used the psychological

approach in answering the problem formulation and it has been revealed that the

causes of the suicide was the mental problem of the characters. This thesis will not

see the characters and their psychological condition in committing suicide. This

thesis tries to deliver how the two civilizations deal with suicide issue. The deal

contains the reactions, perspectives and reasons to commit suicide in both cultural

settings.

B. Review of Related Theories

This part consists of related theories that will be applied by the researcher

to answer the questions that have been formulated. The theories are theory of

settings, theory of suicide including the suicide in Japan and America


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1. Theory of Setting

Setting is one of the main elements of the fiction, according to Kirszner and

Mandell it contains the geographical, historical and physical locations, where the

work is set and when the work takes place. It becomes important because it has a

function to highlight some sides of characters’ behavior and plot developments

(Kirszner & Mandell, 1993, p. 138).

Murphy also stated that setting is the background of the novel and it is

concerned with the place and the time or where and when the characters live and it

affects the personality, actions and way of thinking of the characters (Murphy,

1972, p. 141). Therefore, setting is all about where and when the story takes place

and it is essential to know the setting of the novel because it will influence how the

readers’ understanding of the novel’s idea and it also influences the life of the

characters. Murphy (1972) also divides the setting of the novel such as the time,

place and atmosphere (pp. 143-148). The first is the time, it is divided into present

time and past time, and future time. In the present time, the authors probably will

choose to write a book about their current time, about things that currently

happening to the authors’ surroundings. Then the past time is related with

something that happens in the past or the historical events. The authors might

choose to write about historical events, to attempt to light the past to the readers.

Then, in the future time, the authors of the novels want to take their readers into the

future time which is marked by the existence of the modern things and high

technology, like robots and computers. The last is the authors might use no specific


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time in their story with no sign when the exact time the story takes place. The

unspecific time can be seen through the fairy tale story. In fairy tale story “once

upon a time” is used to show the time of the story.

The second is the place of the story which is divided into familiar place,

unfamiliar place and imaginary place. The familiar place is used by the authors

which they consider is familiar with the readers either from their experiences or by

close acquaintances. The familiar place is the place where the authors or the readers

come from. However, it is also familiar to the readers who come from different

nation through the newspaper, conversation and the television. Then, the unfamiliar

place may be used by the authors which is different from the reader from their own

nation. Therefore, the unfamiliar places is shown by the authors through the picture

of different place and custom from their own nation. The imaginary place is chosen

by the authors by showing the imaginary places that is not familiar for the reader or

anyone at all for example the floating island, the isolated world or the cloud palace.

Then the third is the atmosphere of the novels. Atmosphere means the general

feeling that is conveyed to the reader. The atmosphere is delivered by the authors

through the utterance or saying, because atmosphere is used in the same way as it

would be used in everyday speech for example, gloomy, evil, terrifying or cheerful.

Cultural setting is the one of the source of the literary systems because

literature is bordered from the people activities in society which acknowledged as

the “culture” and the authors create it in order to gain the cultural influence and to

support their own view of literature (Berger, 2005, p. 5). Oblechina said that

cultural setting is the result of the tied attitude of the novelist. Cultural setting is


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shown by the novelists by showing and emphasizing a community with its

rationally including opinion or the comments of the author of the cultural settings

and practices, autonomy and independence. Cultural setting can be found by

focused on the physical, social (including social condition of the setting), values in

relation to the standard of people’s behavior in the cultural settings, belief or the

acceptance of something’s authenticity, moral or the way people decide the right

and bad things and intellectual environment which includes the educational life and

the comments of the society inside the cultural settings. Then, the cultural setting

will create the atmosphere of the story (Obiechina, 1975, pp. 140-141)

Bloom (2014) said that the idea of the story is born by the author in a society

in order to convey the social aspiration at that time. The cultural setting of the story

show the relationship between the individuals and their environment, then, it will

be shown as a set of social relationship externally expressed (as material object)

and internally processed (as consciousness) such as a critic, comment or value and

it is seen as the process not as static (Bloom, 2014, pp. 2-3).

2. Japanese and American Suicides

Suicide is one of the phenomenal issues in every part of the world. Suicide

has many meanings for the people and it depends on how they see the suicide. In

classical theory of suicide, suicide is viewed as the rational decision that is made

by somebody who considers the responsibility and the profits of suicide contrasted

with another actions. (Gunn & Lester, 2015, p. 245). John F. Gunn and David

Lester in their review of the theory of suicide, they agree with the theory of suicide


13

by using escape as the motivation to commit suicide by Baechler, Baumeisters and

Shneidman. They argue that suicide is signed by the wishes to escape from a

particular condition, whatever the reasons are, even it is emotional or pain and

aversive self-awareness (Gunn & Lester, 2015, p. 21).

Supporting the theory of Baumeister, Ronald M. Holmes and Stephen T.

Holmes said the suicide is the actions of people to end their life because they believe

there is no escape in this life (R. M Holmes and S.T. Holmes, 2005, p. 35).

According to Ronald M. Holmes and Stephen T. Holmes , this understanding of

suicide is true in the relation with the young and the old generations. Because when

people are young they want to fulfil their dreams but when they are old they will

feel there is no time left.

In philosophy, even though suicide is opposed by some philosophers, Greek

and Roman philosophers approve suicide because it is the way to end someone’s

suffering (Almeida, 2005, p. 45). Senca, a Roman philosopher ever said that suicide

is allowed when phase ends our capabilities one by one (Fieser, 2001, p. 115).

Suicide is seen as the way to escape from the suffering and something that should

have been done by someone when they feel that they cannot hang up in this life

anymore. Then the stoic philosopher, Epictetus, said that suicide can be done if

there may be restrictions to what people can tolerate in this life then, at what time

the things become too intolerable, people could demand to their life (Almeida,

2005, p. 45).

Theories of suicide are used to reveal the meaning of suicide for a person

who commits suicide because there are so many reasons that affect someone’s


14

decision to commit suicide. Most of the theories of suicide stand for the same point

that suicide is the way to escape or playing a role as the escapist for someone from

their real condition in their life. The view of suicide is definitely different because

it depends on how people understand the meaning of suicide, the reason and also

the point of view of the suicide. These theories are more about the perspectives of

suicide in societies and the philosophy that will give the understanding of suicide

through the mind of the societies. These are the suicide according to Japanese and

American perspectives.

a. Japanese Suicide

Suicide in Japan is really affected by the historical background of this

country. Mamoru Iga said that self-restraint is the main idea in the traditional

suicide in Japan. He also said that self-control (leading to internally focused

aggression) has been a key factor in traditional suicide (Iga, 1986, p. 14). Iga also

added some characteristics of suicide in Japanese traditional culture (Iga, 1986, pp.

18-20) The first is oyako shinjū . This suicide depicts the suicide of a mother and

her children. This suicide shows and also represents the Japanese belief that a

human is not an individual but the part of the family and it is so painful if the parents

just let their children to leave from this world without the guard of the parents. The

second is politic suicide. This kind of suicide is signed by the action of covering the

mistakes of the superior and this suicide is used to stop the investigation of politics

scandals. This type of suicide reveals the social structure of Japanese society such

as an absence of objective standards for assessing companies for government


15

mental grants and support, the need of personal networks and the established

difference between tatemae (honesty) and honne (accepting and expecting bribery).

Iga also included the young male suicide and female suicide in order to

make a strong characteristics of suicide and to give the view of the Japanese society

through the female and male suicide action (Iga, 1986, pp. 25-59). Young male

suicide is characterized by the responsible action of the Japanese young male. The

suicide of young male in Japan may be said that their suicidal "have a considerably

high degree of self-analysis, regret, and disappointment (Iga, 1986, p. 25). Young

male suicide is mostly driven by misery (or the "wish to die"), in contrast to fault

or violence. It is because the suicide of young male in Japanese is characterized by

the dependency which is signed by the family puts the high hopes on the male,

therefore, the young male has a responsibility for his family. Young males are aware

of the necessity of working hard and have the desire to do so and they are not

energetic or patient, and lead depressed and lethargic lives.

Then, female suicides which are characterized by the desire to kill. Mamoru

Iga stated that young Japanese female suicides are mainly driven by "externally

directed aggression" or their desire to kill (Iga, 1986, p. 48). Japanese female

suicide efforts can be known by seeing the higher degree of impulsiveness (okiikd-

si'i), unstable temper (kibun ihen-sei), flashiness (jiko kmjisei), explosiveness

(hakuhatsu-sei), compulsiveness {kydhaku-sei) high susceptibility to

environmental burden (ishi'ketsujo-sei), depression (yokuutsuset), asthenia

(muryoku'sei), and over sensitiveness (kakan-sei). The suicide of female Japanese

is also caused by the traditional female role, where a woman should be dependent,


16

conforming, deferential, reserved, self-abasing, self-sacrificing, and yet

hardworking (Iga, 1986, pp. 50-51)

Headley also concluded the reason of suicide and the society’s view of

suicide in Japanese society such as from the historical background suicide. It can

be seen from the historical tradition where suicide is acknowledged as an honorable

way to escape from the difficult personal situation. In ancient time suicide is seen

as duty and today suicide is seen as the failure of will. (Headley, 1983, pp. 19-20).

Headley (1983) also added from the Japanese social view, suicide can be seen as

the result of the lack of public target to help people who suffering in financial

problem or psychological stress and also the absence of legal prohibition against

and prosecutions for suicide. From the cultural side, suicide happens as the effects

of the inflexible semi feudal society which stresses traditionalism and success and

forbids the failure and weakness.

b. American Suicide

Suicide in America always increases in every year. According to Lester,

suicide in America is the fatal self-inflicted act (Leenaars, 1991, p. 56). Lester also

added that suicide in American as the Western is caused by the only measurement

of the whole range of self-destructive behaviors. This fact also becomes the main

reason of the high rate of suicide in American society. Suicide in American can be

seen through religious aspects where the religion in American society did not have

any powers and was not a cohesive force in their lives and individualism was an

extremely valued of suicide (Colucci & Lester, 2013, p. 75). Colluci also makes the


17

perspectives of American as the Western culture (2013, p.95). In America as the

Western Culture, the culture and its relation with the suicide that happens is

characterized by these characteristics. The first, the suicide with the influence of

the individualism culture in Western society. This suicide is caused by the high

scale of self-control because they have the right to control their own life and the

self-concern where everyone should focus on their own lives and reach their own

goals in life. The second is cognitivism suicide. This suicide can be recognized by

seeing if the suicide of a person is considered as the reasonable action and logically

or the suicide can be understood by people in that society. The third is the free will

suicide. This suicide is affected by the freedom in the modern country which

emphasizes the freedom of choice where people can choose everything in this world

because they have their right as a human or human right and nobody can take it

from them. The last is the suicide because of materialism. This suicide is

characterized by the desire of Western culture society in looking for the perfection

view of the real world and the fact, the physical form. This suicide is signed by the

rejection of contradictory explanation of phenomena in this world. For American

society with its Western culture suicide happens because of the reality is considered

as the external elements to the individual (Colucci & Lester, 2013, p. 95).

According to Rossides (1993) by citing the theory of suicide by Durkheim,

suicide in America as the modern society has two main characteristics of suicide.

The first is egoism suicide. This suicide happens when the society discouragement

its own regulator by creating too much individuation. This individuation sometimes

creates the insecurities of an individual and the awareness because they cannot fulfil


18

their meaningful life like they have expected before (Rossides, 1993, p.69). The

second is anomic suicide. This suicide can be seen through the existence of a

condition that break its controlling norms or forms of relations or in the other word

this kind of suicide can be seen as the act of protesting the norm and the rule which

already existed in American society. This kind of suicide involves people in a group

because suicide derives largely from group experience (Rossides, 1993, pp.69-70)

The essences and the reason of suicide in American society can be seen

through their belief on the free will in deciding a choice and individual’s right. The

suicide in American society is related with the self-concerned and the right of the

self as a human. This characteristics of suicide rather can be used to see the picture

of America that is known as the liberal world.

C. Review on Comparative Literature

Comparative literature is the comparison of literary work that comes from

different region or culture and it is used to evaluate work through the comparison

between the stories in cross culture. In the beginning, comparative study were made

as the spirit or soul of nation, comparisons were being made that involved

evaluating one culture higher than another (Basnett, 1993, p. 20). Then Basnett

quoted Michael Foccault, about the two comparisons of literary works there are ‘the

measurement’ and ‘that of order’. The first one is by setting up the canons of the

primary author and secondary author, the greater and lesser text, the stronger which

sticks with the society custom and weaker cultures that has less influences in

society, then, minor and major text. The second comparison is ‘that of order’, this


19

comparison is the most significant developments of comparative literary study

(Basnett, 1993, p. 92).

From Basnett theory, the comparative literature is used to compare the

literary works from the minor and major elements for example the characters, theme

or the settings inside the story and also the understanding of the work in cultural

context whether the elements of the story represent something in people’s culture

(Basnett, Comparative Literature, 1993, p. 92). Comparative literature also gives us

the wide understandings of the story and its elements with provides the similarities

or the differences inside the story that can be compared and give us the wide

understanding of literature because the literary works are understood by seeing its

cultural side

The importance of comparative literature can be seen through the meaning

of literature itself as the human’s work as a part of a system of the connected subject

which encouraged one and another and it is also part of the living organization and

that is a culture (Basnett, Comparative Literature, 1993, pp. 33-34). Therefore, by

conducting the comparative literature in this study, it will be more easy to give and

to do the critical analyze in comparison if the two different literatures that used,

have the similarities or dissimilarities in the theme, time period, genre and or in

the literature itself like language and structure, or even the cultural aspects of the

text. Furthermore, if the comparison is done by using the literature from the

different cultures, it will help this study in exploring the wide perspectives on

suicide issue which is raised by literary works in social and cultural context.


http://www.writeawriting.com/tag/literature/

20

D. Theoretical Framework

This thesis title is The Meaning of Suicide as the Freedom Seen in

Eugenides’ The Virgin Suicide and Murakami’s Norwegian Wood. The focus of this

thesis is to figure out how suicide of the characters are described by the two novels

and how the suicide of the characters is seen by the two culture. In order to answer

the question there are three theories applied, those are the setting, the suicide theory

and theory of comparative literature

The first is theory of settings to show the cultural settings of Japanese

society in Norwegian Wood and American society in The Virgin Suicides. The

settings’ definition that are used by this undergraduate thesis are the theory of

setting by Laurie G. Kirszner, M.J Murphy. The theories of cultural settings used

are by Bloom Clive and Emmanuel Obiechina about the cultural settings as the

result of the relationship between the authors and their surroundings and the place

that has physical appearance, social (including social condition of the setting),

values in relation to the standard of people’s behavior in the cultural settings,.

Then, the theory of suicide, this theory applied to figure out how the suicide

is viewed by the two cultures. The theories of suicide used are the theories by

Ronald M. Holmes with Stephen T. Holmes, James Fieser, Adelaida B. Almeida

and John F.Gunn with David Lester in order to find the kind and the basic meaning

and the cause of suicide. Then the theories of Mamoru Iga, Lee A Headley, A.A

Leenars, and Ermina Colluci with David Lester are used in order to figure how the

suicide is seen by both societies.


21

Before applying the theories, the researcher finds out that the two authors

present the suicide issue in the two different places and societies, where Norwegian

Wood presents Japanese society and The Virgin Suicides with American society.

Then, when applying all of the theories above, the researcher can figure out how

the cultural settings are described in both novels and how the suicide is viewed by

the Japanese and American cultures in both novels


22

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

In this part, the researcher presents the methodology to analyze The Virgin

Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides and Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. This

chapter consists of three parts. The first part will describe the object used in this

study. The second is the approach which is applied by the researcher to answer the

problem formulations and the last is the way or the processes in answering the

problem formulations.

A. Object of the Study

Two novels entitled The Virgin Suicides and Norwegian Wood are the object

of the study in this undergraduate thesis. The first novel, The Virgin Suicides by

Jeffrey Eugenides. It was published in 1993 by Farrar, Strauss and Giroux. This

novel has 249 pages, and the novel tells the story about Lisbon family with the five

sisters who commit suicide after the isolation and depression that they experience,

narrated by the neighbor boys. This novel has been translated into 34 languages and

it was adapted into film in 1999 by Sophia Coppola.

The second novel, Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami and translated by

Jay Rubin from Japanese language. It was first published in 1987 in Japanese

language and translated by Alfred Brinbaum and then it was translated again by Jay

Rubin. Then, the novel was published in English language in 2000 by Harvill Press,

London. This novel is also adapted into film in 2010 with same title by Tran Anh

Hung and it was played in 67th Venice International Film Festival.


23

The Virgin Suicides tells the story about five daughter of Mrs. and Mr.

Lisbon, they are Therese, Bonnie, Mary, Lux and Cecilia. The narrators are the

neighbor boys with their flashback story which started from the Cecilia’s suicide

attempts, the youngest daughter and also the first daughter who commit suicide

after she comes back from the treatment from hospital and the psychiatric. Trip

Fontaine invites Lux to home coming party and asks permission from Mr. Lisbon

to bring Lux to the home coming party. Unfortunately this permission is used

wrongly by Lux, she spends the night with Trip and she goes back home the next

morning. Because of this Mrs. Lisbon does the protection of her children. Lisbon

sisters are not allowed to go to school and they are being isolated by their mother

in their house. The neighbor boys see this problem and try to help Lisbon sisters to

go out from the house. But when they receive the sign of help from Lisbon sisters,

they find that Lisbon sisters commit suicide and they are trapped by the memories

of Lisbon sisters until the end of the story.

The second novel is Norwegian Wood, with its original title isノルウェイ

の森 or Noruwei no Mori by Haruki Murakami. The novel tells about a Japanese

man, Toru Watanabe and his flashback when he was a student in Japan. The story

begins with Watanabe’s story when he is studying in Tokyo University where he

meets his best friends, Kizuki and Naoko. Watanabe feels that the two people are

his the best that he has ever met in this world but lately the unexpected thing

happens when Kizuki’s 17th birthday, Kizuki is dead because of suicide. Watanabe

feels the effects of Kizuki suicide and Naoko suffers in deeply loss of her lovely

boyfriend. Because of Kizuki’s death. Another suicide that really hurts Watanabe


24

is the suicide of Naoko in the sanatorium after he receives the letter from Reiko

Isadha. Here Watanabe starts to think that the death comes as the part of life, not

the opposite.

B. Approach of the Study

The approach that is used in this research is social cultural approach because

this thesis focuses on how people in Japan and America cultures see the suicide

issue. According to Bull, socio-cultural approach is the approach that uses the

studies of particular situations surrounding the texts and it also contains the primary

theories which try to explain literary production and its relation with the social

determinants (Bull, 1988, p. 6)

This approach is used because this thesis will investigate how the authors

of the two novels want to reveal the nature and the beliefs of suicide in two different

countries and cultures. According to Bull (1988)

Any system of belief which claims to account for the whole of human

activity must by definition attempt to assign a role and value to the practice

of literature (p. 21)

Therefore, by using this approach the problem of the cultural background

and its influence to the suicide issue and to reveal how the culture of Japan and

America culture deals with the suicide issue in the novels can be solved.

C. Methodology of the Study

This undergraduate thesis uses the library research method. The researchers

used the library as the source of the data in understanding Norwegian Wood and

The Virgin Suicides. The data is also collected by using the source from the internet.


25

In this undergraduate thesis, the library research also use to compare the two novels’

culture settings, the idea about suicide in both novels and how the novels’

perspectives about the suicide.

The primary data are the two novels entitled The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey

Eugenides and Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami (English Translation by Jay

Rubin). The secondary data is the theories. The first theory is theory of settings by

Laurie G. Kirszner & Stephen R Mandell, Narrative Skepticism: Moral Agency and

Representations of Consciousness in Fiction by Linda Schemer Raphael,

Understanding Unseens by M.J Murphy, Culture, Tradition and Society in West

African Novel by Emmanuel Obiechina, and Literature and Culture in Modern

Britain by Clive Bloom. Then, the suicide theory such as Moral Philosophy through

the Ages by James Fieser, Theory of Suicide: Past, Present and Future by John. F.

Gunn and David Lester, Suicide: Theory, Practice and Investigation by Ronald M.

Holmes and Stephen T. Holmes, and Social Philosophy by Adelaida B. Almeida.

Then the theories of suicide in Japan such as The Thorn in the Chrysanthemum:

Suicide and Economic Succes in Modern Japan by Mamoru Iga and Suicide in Asia

and Near East by Lee A Headley. Then, for theories of suicide in America the

researcher uses Suicide and Culture: Understanding the Context by Erminia Colluci

and David Lester and American Society: An Introduction to Macrosociology by

Daniel W. Rossiders. The last is the theory of Comparative Literature by Susan

Basnett. This theory will be used by the researcher to analyze the comparison of the

suicides that have been done in the settings of the novels and the cultural view of

Japanese and American about suicide.


26

There were four steps that were applied by the researcher in analyzing the

two novels. The first step was reading the two novels repeatedly and highlighting

the settings and how the settings were described by the two novels as the place

where suicides happened. The second step was making the problem formulations

and finding the approach that could be used for the analysis. There were two

problems formulations in this undergraduate thesis. First, how the Japanese and

American societies are described in the cultural settings of Norwegian Wood and

The Virgin Suicides. Second, how each cultural setting, the Japanese and American

deals with suicide issue. The third step was answering the problems that had been

formulated. The first problem was related to the cultural settings. The researcher

applied the theory of setting and theory of cultural settings. The second problem

was the suicide in Japanese and American view. The theories that were applied by

the researcher were the theory of suicide for the basic meaning of suicide, theory of

Japanese suicide and theory of American suicide. Then, the suitable approach used

in this undergraduate thesis was sociocultural approach. After the researcher had

answered the problems, the last step was making the conclusion based on the

analysis that had been done in the previous chapter.


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CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

This part consists of the analysis of the cultural settings of suicide in The

Virgin Suicides and Norwegian Wood. This chapter is divided into two parts, the first

part is to analyze the cultural settings described in both novels and the second part

is to analyze how the two cultural settings, Japanese and American, deal or see the

suicide issue.

A. Cultural Settings of The Virgin Suicides and Norwegian Wood

This part is the analysis of the description of the cultural settings seen in The

Virgin Suicide and Norwegian Wood. To answer the problem formulation the

researcher applies the theories of settings. Setting is one of the main elements of

the fiction, according to Kirszner and Mandell it contains the geographical,

historical and physical locations, where the work is set and when the work takes

place and it becomes important because it has a function to highlight some sides of

characters’ behavior and plot developments (Kirszner & Mandell, 1993, p. 138).

Murphy also stated that setting is the background of the novel and it is

concerned with the place and the time or where and when the characters live and it

affects the personality, actions and the characters’ way of thinking of the (Murphy,

1972, p. 141). Murphy also divides the setting of the novel into three as the time,

place and atmosphere (pp. 143-148). The first is the time, it is divided into present

time and past time, and future time. The second is the place of the story which is

divided into familiar place, unfamiliar place and imaginary place. Then the third is


28

the atmosphere of the novels. Atmosphere means the general feeling that is

conveyed to the reader. The atmosphere is delivered by the authors through the

utterance or saying, because atmosphere is used in the same way as it would be used

in everyday speech for example, gloomy, evil, terrifying or cheerful.

Obiechina said that setting is the result of the tied attitude of the novelist.

Cultural setting shows that the novelist is trying to show the community in order to

emphasize its rationality including opinion and practices, autonomy and

independence (Obiechina, 1975, p. 140). Setting creates the atmosphere by focused

on the physical and social condition, values, belief, moral and intellectual

environment.

Bloom (2014, pp. 2-3) said that the idea of the story is born of the author in

a society in order to convey the social aspiration at that time and would itself be.

The cultural setting of the story investigates the relationship between the

individuals and their environment, then, it will be shown as a set of externally

expressed (as material object) and internally processed (as consciousness) social

relationship such as a critic, comment or value and it is seen as the process, not as

static.

1. Cultural Setting of The Virgin Suicides

According to Murphy (Murphy, 1972, pp. 143-148), setting of the novel

includes the time, place and atmosphere. Murphy (1972) said that the place of the

story contains of the familiar, unfamiliar and imaginary place. The place that is used


29

by this novel is also the familiar place for the author, and it can be seen through this

quotation.

We remembered the delicate fig-shaped island, stranded between the

American Empire and peaceful Canada, as it had been years ago, with its

welcoming redwhite-and-blue flag shaped flower bed, splashing fountains,

European casino, and horse paths leading through.woods where Indians had

bent trees into giant bows (p.209).

Jeffrey Eugenides is an American author, therefore, he might choose

American life in a suburb as the setting of the novel because he is familiar with that

place. The author also mentions a part of American history which is also familiar

for the reader who comes from American society.

The setting of place in the novel The Virgin Suicides is a suburb in American

society. It can be seen through these quotations,

As the snapshot shows, the state roof had not yet begun to shed it shingles.

The porch was still visible above the bushes. The windows were not yet held

together with strips of masking tape. A comfortable suburban home (p. 17).

It was the greatest show of common effort we could remember in our

neighborhood, all those lawyers, doctors, and mortgage bankers locked arm

in arm in the trench, with our mothers bringing out orange Kool-Aid,

(p.107).

The Virgin Suicides is set in the suburb. The novel describes a suburb in

American society as a place which has a close relation of neighborhood life. This

is because in suburb the house is located closely with the neighbors. Therefore,

people can see their neighbors’ houses and they can observe what their neighbors

are doing in their houses. Then, in the novel the suburb in American society is

described as the place which the residents come from the middle-class or working

classes such as doctors, lawyers or it can be said mostly they are employees and


30

working in the office. It also signs that the population in the city is homogenous

because they belong to the same classes in society.

Then the setting of time in The Virgin Suicides mostly takes place in June

where the city is in summer season, ‘It was June 13, eighty-three degrees out, under

sunny skies’ (p.18). The sun comes and shines for the whole city eighty-three

degrees out means that the temperature is very hot at that time and summer is the

time when everyone goes to spend their holiday. However, even the story takes

place in summer season but it is covered by the fog. It can be seen through these

quotations.

That was in June, fish-fly season, when each year our town is covered by

the flotsam of those ephemeral insects. Rising in clouds from the algae in

the polluted lake, they blacken windows, coat cars and streetlamps, plaster

the municipal docks and festoon the rigging of sailboats, always in the same

or brown ubiquity of flying scum (p.16).

The story takes place in summer but the fish-fly season makes the city

becomes very dark. Summer time is when the sun shines brightly and burn the city

but the fish-fly covers everything in the city and then creates the condition of dark

and dull in the city where everything is dark, black and polluted. Therefore, the time

creates the dark atmosphere in the story because everything is covered and isolated

by the darkness. This is also suitable with the condition of the city where the citizens

are homogenous, they have the same type of houses and they are mostly working

in the office and everything they can see is the activities of their neighbors even

when they do not really care about it.

Then, the researcher applies Obiechina’s theory of cultural setting where

cultural setting shows that the novelist is trying to show the community in order to


31

emphasize its rationality including opinion and practices, autonomy and

independence (Obiechina, 1975, p. 140). Setting creates the atmosphere by focused

on the physical and social condition, moral, values, belief, moral and intellectual

environment.

The social condition of the city is described by the novel as a city which has

high life expectancy because there is no cemetery that has happened in the recent

years. It can be seen through this quotation.

There had never been a funeral in our town before, at least not during our

lifetimes. The majority of dying had happened during the Second World

War when we didn’t exist and our fathers were impossibly skinny young

men in black-and-white photographs (p.72).

It can be seen that the city has high life expectancy because there is no death

cases in the city and the recent death cases that already happened in this society is

when the World War II. It shows how people really give attention to their life

quality and it also signs that the city facilities in health sectors also good. Therefore,

there are no cases in death in the city and the residents feel so strange with the death

case and funeral.

The other social condition that happens in the American suburb is about

perfection, everyone is trying to make themselves look more perfect than their

neighbors. It can be seen in the novel when everyone even the city itself are trying

to hide their imperfection as the middle-class people. It can be seen through this

quotation.

Our local newspaper neglected to run an article on the suicide attempt,

because the editor, Mr. Baubee, felt such depressing information wouldn't

fit between the front-page article on the Junior League Flower Show and the

back-page photographs of grinning brides. The only newsworthy article in

that day's edition concerned the cemetery workers' strike (bodies piling up,


32

no agreement in sight), but that was on page 4 beneath the Little League

scores (pp.35-36).

The imperfection of the city is that the suicide has happened there while in

the recent years there are no death cases in the city. However, instead of including

the news about the suicide, the local newspaper chooses to write about the cemetery

workers’ strike and the sport news because they think sadness is a thing which does

not suitable to be reported to public and it will show the imperfection inside the

city. The other proof of the city is looking for perfection is when they create a

pamphlets about suicide. They avoid to talk about suicide and argue about the

perfect colors for the pamphlets.

"We thought green was cheerful. But not too cheerful," said Mr. Babson,

who was president. "Green was also serious. So we went with it." The

pamphlets made no mention of Cecilia's death, delving instead into the

causes of suicide in general (p.190).

Many men said afterward that the board members of the local Chamber of

Commerce, Mr. Babson, Mr. Laurie, Mr. Peterson, and Mr. Hocksteder, had

shown great prescience in predicting the negative publicity the suicide scare

would bring to our town, as well as the subsequent fall in commercial

activity. While the suicides lasted, and for some time after, the Chamber of

Commerce worried less about the influx of black shoppers and more about

the out flux of whites (p.191).

Instead of discussing of Cecilia’s death, the society argues about the colors

of the pamphlets. It shows that the society want to be seen as the good and the nice

city, therefore, they choose the best colors to deliver the message about suicide even

though the suicide only mentioned in a general description. Then, the city also is

also afraid of the bad influence of the suicide in commercial sector. It shows that

the city is looking for the material benefits rather than worrying about someone’s

personal problem and they do not take an action to prevent it. Moreover, the suicide


33

itself just makes the bad impression of the city. The society feel better to raise their

economic development rather than to prevent the suicide to happen again.

Then the morality and the rationality in the city is there is no bad or good

terms to judge an action. It is suitable with American society where people have no

big intention to other people and the death is acknowledged as the private problem

and the society will get nothing from the death case. It is shown by this quotation,

Not everyone thought about the girls, however. Even before Cecilia's

funeral, some people could talk of nothing but the dangerousness of the

fence she'd jumped on. "It was an accident waiting to happen," said Mr.

Frank, who worked in insurance. "You couldn't get a policy to cover it."

(p.106).

The society ignore to give their attention to Cecilia’s suicide because they

only consider it as the accident and they think that case does not relate with the sin

or the bad or good thing as long as they have a reason to do it, they can do it. The

society even see the suicide case from the insurance’s requirements where there are

no advantages for the family from the suicide accident like what Cecilia has done.

It also shows that society will only care about the advantages that they will get and

maybe they do not really care about someone’s reason in doing something. The

society believe that everyone has their own reason in doing that thing and they do

not have any right to stop it.

Then, the value of freedom or liberalism in America that is shown by the

suburb society which often holds the party. It can be seen through these quotations,

“Thing is, sir. We’ve got the big homecoming game against Country Day,

and then the dance and everything, and all the guys on the team are going

with dates.” (p.220).

The O'Connors, however, came up with the ingenious solution of making

the theme of their daughter Alice's debutante party "Asphyxiation." Guests


34

arrived in tuxedos and gas masks, evening gowns and astronaut helmets, and

Mr. O'Connor himself wore a deep-sea diver's suit, opening the glass face

mask to guzzle his bourbon and water (p.442).

A party is usually held as the portrayal the liberal thought of American

society. People hold a party after they pass some difficulties or the challenges in

their life for example people hold a party after they graduate from university.

Freedom is shown by the party because like a party, people gain their freedom after

they experience many obstacles in life. Therefore, American society see that when

they already passed the struggles, it is right for them to celebrate it as their freedom.

Besides, party is always related to teenagers in American society as the novel has

mentioned the home coming party and the debutante party of Alice and the home

coming party where everyone should come with their dates.

The society in America has various religious beliefs especially in Catholic

religion. In the novel, the catholic belief is shown by the existence of Catholic

Church, Virgin Mary and the role of Father Moody as the spiritual teacher of Mrs.

and Mr. Lisbon. But there are also many people who do not go to church or in the

other words they do not have a religious belief. It can be seen through this quotation,

Those who attended church said the window resembled the Grotto at St.

Paul's Catholic Church on the Lake, but instead of neat ascending rows of

votive candles, each alike in size and importance like the souls they pilot

lighted, the girls had engineered a phantasmagoria of beacons (p.23).

Then he turned the picture over and saw the message printed on the back:

The Virgin Mary has been appearing in our city, bringing her message of

peace to a crumbling world. As in Lourdes and Fatima, Our Lady has

granted her presence to people just like you (p.35).

When we asked Father Moody about this, he said, "We didn't want to

quibble. How do you know she didn't slip?" When we brought up the

sleeping pills, and the noose, and the rest of it, he said, "Suicide, as a mortal


35

sin, is a matter of intent. It's very difficult to know what was in those girls'

hearts. What they were really trying to do." (p.77).

The novel shows that Catholic is the only religious belief that is hold by

most people in the city including Lisbon family. The Catholic belief is only

portrayed by Lisbon family, it means in the city there are only few number of people

who hold Catholic faith. It is also shown by this quotation.

None of us went to church, so we had a lot of time to watch them, the two

parents leached of color, like photographic negatives, and then the five

glittering daughters in their homemade dresses, all lace and ruffle, bursting

with their fructifying flesh (p.24).

People in the city do not pay attention to the religion like Mr. and Mrs.

Lisbon family. It also shows that the society does not see everything from the

religious’ view and it can be considered as the liberal action too where it is not a

big problem whether someone wants to believe in a religion or not, it is fully a right

of people.

Then, the atmosphere of sadness is created by the social condition, value,

moral and the belief in the suburb society. It is shown by this quotation,

"She came from a sad race," he said. "It wasn't only Cecilia. The sadness

had started long before. Before America. The girls had it, too." He had never

noticed her bifocals before. "They cut her eyes in half" (p.231).

The sadness has existed long before the suicide happens. Sadness is

described as a miserable thing that can make people cry and do unexpected things.

The sadness has gained oppression from the religion, the perfectionist people inside

the city, and little attention from other people. Then, it makes the sad atmosphere

in the whole story in the novel because people cannot understand the other people’s

right as the fellow humans. This sadness happens continuously from the past to the


36

present. American society is known as the free and liberal country which respects

human’s right as a human, therefore, even if the suicide brings the sadness, the other

people should respect it as the right of a human.

Cultural setting of the story investigates the relationship between the

individuals and their environment, then, it will be shown as a set of social

relationship that is externally expressed (as material object) and internally

processed (as consciousness) such as a critic, comment or value and it is seen as the

process not as static (Bloom, 2014, pp. 2-3). The author in this story gives his

comment about the society where the story takes place. It can be seen through this

quotation,

We got to see how truly unimaginative our suburb was, everything laid out

on a grid whose bland uniformity the trees had hidden, and the old ruses of

differentiated architectural styles lost their power to make us feel unique

(p.179).

The aspiration of the author shows that the American society is unique and

the society has lost it as well as the equality in the city. The author tries to convey

his idea about how the society would be. In the novel the society does not show

their uniqueness and the varieties of population in the society cannot be seen by

people who are living in that society. Therefore, it reveals that the individuals have

the close relation with their environment and it is shown by the author through his

novel that the residents with full of ignorance come from the monotonous society

like the American suburb in the story.

2. Cultural setting of Norwegian Wood.

According to Murphy (Murphy, 1972, pp. 143-148), setting of the novel

includes the time, place and atmosphere. Setting of place in Norwegian Wood


37

mostly takes place in Japan and it is shown by the novel through the flag of the

country. ‘This creepy couple would raise the banner of Rising Sun every morning

at six.’ (p.16). The rising sun is the symbol of Japan’s nation flag and that is the

identity of Japanese people. The author, Haruki Murakami is the Japanese author,

he might choose to write about a story which takes place in Japan because it is

familiar for him and the readers because the first version of the novel is also in

Japanese language and then, it is translated into English. Then the time of the story,

it can be seen in this quotation, ‘Once upon a time, many years ago-just 20years

ago, in fact- I was living in dormitory’ (p.14) and ‘Autumn 1969 and soon I would

be 20.’ (p.5). The setting of time is the autumn 1969, 20 years before the story is

narrated by Watanabe. The setting of time creates the atmosphere of dark and cold

where autumn is the time when the tree’s leaves fall down and it is also sign to enter

the winter which has cold temperature, snow and less sunlight. The atmosphere is

also described through the utterance of the characters. ‘The nation continued to exist

while it was dark’ (p.17). Therefore, dark condition dominates the place in Japan

and darkness becomes the signs of that time in Japan. Besides, the year of 1969-

1970s is also signed by the use of letter for communicating each other. ‘ I went back

to the dorm and and wrote Naoko a long letter adressed to her home in Kobe.’

(p.50). People at that time still used letters in order to communicate with their close

friends or their relatives this is because the technology had not been improved yet.

According to Kirszner and Mandell, setting contains the geographical,

historical and physical location, where the work is set and when the work takes

place (Kirszner & Mandell, 1993, p. 138). Norwegian Wood is set by the author in


38

historical time of Japan, the revolutionary changes era. This is shown by this

quotation;

Believe me, I know what I’m talking about. I’m working class. Revolution

or not, the working class will just keep on scraping a living in the same

shitholes. And what is a revolution? It is sure as hell is not just changing the

name on city hall. But those guys do not know that- those guys with their

big words (p.215).

The historical setting of the novel is when everyone was trying to voice the

changes of their country. Everyone brought the big letters in order to deliver their

thoughts about changes in their home, the place of living, Japan. The use of

historical setting shows that the author writes about historical events in order to

light the past to the reader. Revolution, as the novel said, it relates to the big

changes. In this novel, the author wants to highlight that Japan ever asked for the

changes and they should remember the events in order to maintain the unity of the

nation without stratification where everyone will get their right as a human and it

does not depend on the financial ability. It also shows that Japanese society is static

because they do not have any changes before a group of people ask for it.

Then, the researcher applies Obiechina’s theory of cultural setting where

cultural setting shows the novelist trying to emphasize the community’s rationality

including opinion and practices, autonomy and independence (Obiechina, 1975, p.

140). Setting creates the atmosphere by focused on the physical and social

condition, values, belief, moral and intellectual environment.

There are many beliefs in Japanese society. The first belief that is shown by

the novel is that Japanese society acknowledges that human resource comes from

the power of educational sector. This is seen by this quotation,


39

They procalimed founding spirit of the dormitory was ti strive the nurture

human resources of service to the nation through the ultimate in education

fundamentals and many financial leaders who endorsed this spirit has

contributed their private funds to the constructions of the place (p.15).

The Japanese society believes that education has the big contribution in

creating the high quality of human resources. Therefore, they give the high attention

to education because their country will be developed if the education also develops.

This belief shows that Japanese society really puts attention to the development of

their country, therefore, Japanese society is nation-centered and feels that they are

the part of the country and they do not have any doubts to give the private fund to

the country as they are living there.

The other beliefs of Japanese is Japanese people should be able to create the

distance between themselves and the outside world. This can be seen through this

quotation

There was only one thing for me to do when I started my new life in the

dorm: stop taking everything so seriously; establish a proper distance

between myself and everything else (p.30).

Japanese society is described as the place where people build the high

building between themselves and the outside world. In Japanese society, one limits

themselves from the outside world, outside their lives. They should focus on

treating themselves as a human in their society. This belief also shows that Japanese

people are individualist. Like countries with only one national language, Japanese

people do not let their personal lives are contaminated by the outside world and

other people. In the other words, they are independent as they have their right as a

human in society.


40

The other belief that is still related to the previous belief in the novel is the

belief of self-discipline by Japanese society. This belief contains the effort of

Japanese society in controlling their own lives and avoiding the risk. This can be

seen through this quotation,

"So why the hell do you keep it up?"

"Hard to say. Hey, you know that thing Dostoevsky wrote on gambling? It's

like that. When you're surrounded by endless possibilities, one of the hardest

things you can do is pass them up. See what I mean?" (p.42).

"Look. The sun goes down. The girls come out and drink. They wander

around, looking for something. I can give them that something. It's the

easiest thing in the world, like drinking water from a tap. Before you know

it, I've got 'em down. It's what they expect. That's what I mean by possibility.

It's all around you. How can you ignore it? You have a certain ability and

the opportunity to use it: can you keep your mouth shut and let it pass?"

(p.42).

"Nobody likes being alone that much. I don't go out of my way to make

friends, that's all. It just leads to disappointment.” (p.64).

Tokyo is described as a place where people should control themselves

toward the possibilities that appear in their lives. They never try to get it because

they are afraid to meet a disappointment or the risk of doing something or giving

their comment to someone. In Japanese society, they are accustomed to be silent or

keeping their mouth shut when they see a chance even when they have an ability to

get it. They are being comfortable to make a distance between their life and the risk

of their actions. Therefore, if they discipline and limit themselves from the things

outside their personal lives, they will not meet the disappointment or the other bad

things in life.

Japanese is the country with high respect of the nature because they believe

that human is the part of nature. The other belief is the existence of death which can


41

be created by human and everyone can have it as the part of nature. This is shown

by this quotation,

Death exists, not as the opposite but as a part of life. It's a cliché translated

into words, but at the time I felt it not as words but as that knot of air inside

me. Death exists - in a paperweight, in four red and white balls on a pool

table - and we go on living and breathing it into our lungs like fine dust

(p.31).

This belief shows that Japanese society believe that is the part of their lives.

Death is not located in the other side of this life but inside someone’s life. Everyone

will experience death and people can make it happen or everyone can make it exist

without waiting for the time to come. The society of Japan believe that is a decision

and everyone can make the decision to end their lives whatever the reasons are.

Then, the values of Japanese society are seen through the way they give

their respect to their country by raising the nation flag and singing national anthem

of Japan. This is shown by this quotation,

Each day began with solemn raising of the flag. They played the national

anthem, too, of course. You can not have one without the other. The flagpole

stood in the very center of the coumpund, where it was visible frim every

window of all three dormitories(pp. 15-16).

From the quotation it is seen that the value in Japanese society is the value

of nationalism. It is still nation-centered where they put high respect to the nation

by doing the ceremony every morning and they have to do the couple things

together, singing the anthem and raising the flag. The flag should be seen by the

people means that everyone should see the flag and give their respect to the nation’s

identity and every people should make it as their own identity. Besides nationalism

value, there is also patriotism value in raising the nation’s flag. This is shown by

this quotation,


42

This creepy couple would raise the banner of the Rising Sun every morning

at six. When I first entered the dormitory, the sheer novelty of the event

would often prompt me to get up early to observe this patriotic ritual (p.16).

The patriotic ritual of the dormitory shows that Japanese society never

forgets that the nation is formed by the sacrifice of the country’s soldiers who fight

for the unity and the existence of the nation. The patriotism is the value of respecting

the sacrifice of the patriots or the soldiers, therefore, by raising the banner of Rising

Sun, the identity of Japanese, shows that the society is nation-centered. The people

inside the society is seen as the part of the nation and should give their lives to the

society.

Besides the nationalism and patriotism values, in the novel, Japanese society

has the value of manners or attitude. This can be seen through this quotation,

“How do you like communal living?” she asked. “Is it fun to live with a lot

of other people?”

“I don’t know, I’ve only been doing it a month or so. It’s not that bad, I can

stand it.” (p.23)

......

“What? Living in a dorm?”

“Uh-huh.”

“ I suppose it’s all matter of attitude. You could let a lot of things bother

you if you wanted to do- the rules, the idiots who think they’re hot shit, the

room-mates doing radio callisthenics at 6.30 in the morning. Bu it is pretty

much same anywhere you go, you can manage.” (p.23)

It shows that in Japanese society attitude is the main point in people’s lives.

Attitude is the thing that Japanese people should be aware of. The respect and the

rule are the indicators and the tools to create and to test someone’s attitude.

Therefore, if someone is living in Japan one thing that should be minded by them

is their attitudes. Everywhere they will go they will meet the same rule and it is all

about attiutude, how to face people in society and it happens in every place.


43

The novel also describes the resposibilty as the value of Japanese society

where everyone has already known the risk of their action and they have to be

responsible for it. It can be seen through these quotation,

He died that night in his garage. He led a rubber hose from the exhaust pipe

of his N-360 to a window, taped over the gap in the window, and revved the

engine. I have no idea how long it took him to die (p.29).

I told the investigating officer that Kizuki had given no indication of what

he was about to do, that he had been exactly the same as always. The

policeman had obviously formed a poor impression of both Kizuki and me,

as if it was perfectly natural for the kind of person who would skip classes

and play pool to commit suicide (p.30).

The quotation shows that Japanese society has a value of responsibility.

Kizuki died alone in the car. It means that if the self blaming of the problem faced

by someone. This values shows that in Japanese society if people can not be

responsible for their jobs in work they should pay for it, even if they have to end

their own lives in order to be responsible for their mistakes. The police represents

the society’s thoughts of the suicide that has been done by Kizuki. The author

emphasizes that it is the act of responsibilty in Japanese society that people should

be responsible for their mistakes and it is also seen as the honor of themselves.

The novel also shows the value of individualism in Japanese society.

Everyone ignores to be caring for other people and they have arranged their own

business and nobody can disturb it. It can be seen through this quotation

"Well, there's nobody here now," Reiko said. "I've been given special

permission to move around freely like this, but everyone else is off pursuing

their individual schedules. Some are exercising, some are gardening, some

are in group therapy, and some are out gathering wild plants. Each person

makes up his or her own schedule (p.122).


44

Japanese society always avoids disappointment because of their own action.

They enjoy being alone because they do not want to blame themselves for their

mistakes if they do something with other people. They enjoy their personal lives

because they do not want being tied by the guilt if they do something wrong with

others. It can be seen that Japanese society’s self-discipline is the lead of the

individualist society which the novel uses Tokyo as the representation of the whole

Japan.

The novel describes that the morality of Tokyo as the center city of Japan.

It can be seen when Nagasawa and Watanabe sleep with different girls in one night.

We went to some kind of bar in Shibuya or Shinjuku (he had his favourites),

found a pair of girls (the world was full of pairs of girls), talked to them,

drank, went to a hotel, and had sex with them. He was a great talker. Not

that he had anything great to say, but girls would get carried away listening

to him, they'd drink too much and end up sleeping with him (p.41).

It can be seen that the teenagers’ life in Japan is considered as very free from

the rule. Both Nagasawa and Watanabe are college students but they can go to a bar

and sleep with different girls each night. They are not tied by the rule of the parents

and there is nobody will protest it because it is their right and it is their personal

problem too. They do not think that it is a sin but they just try to fulfil their sexual

desire and it is needed by them. Therefore, the morality in Japan is considered as

less because they think about their happiness and they do not think about whether

a thing is good or not.

The other moral terms in Japan appears through the story of Reiko when

Naoko commits suicide in the sanatorium and the response of the police about the

suicide,


45

"So then the ambulance came and took Naoko away and the police started

questioning me. Not that there was much doubt. There was a kind of suicide

note, and it had obviously been a suicide, and they took it for granted that

suicide was just one of those things that mental patients did. So it was pretty

pro forma. As soon as they left, I telegraphed you." (p.341).

The police’s statement of the suicide is represented as the indicator of

morality in Japanese society. Japanese society sees a problem and the decision

including the decision to commit suicide as someone’s need. Therefore, Japanese

society does not judge whether that thing is bad or good, it is a sin or not. The author

emphasizes the rationality of Japanese society in responding to suicide issue where

they respect it as the decision with a reason of mental health without punishing them

according to the country’s rule.

Then, the intellectual environment is shown by the opinion of the characters

about Tokyo and how people think about Tokyo. The first opinion is about the

people needed by the society who must be nation-centered. This is shown by this

quotation,

This was one of the very first new impression I received when I came to

Tokyo for the first time. The thought stuck me that society needed a few –

just a few – who were interested in and even passionate in mapmaking

(p.19).

The society in Japan only needs several people especially those who are

expert in mapmaking because mapmaking relates with the nation geographically or

the geographical form of the country. They do not want the part of the country being

reduced and they need the mapmaking ability to know exactly the measurement of

the country in the map. The map also directs people to their destinations. Therefore,

if people can create a map they can reach their destination. The country needs


46

people who can create the direction in order to reach the country’s purposes and

goals and people are doing it as the part of Japan, their nation and their home.

The opinion of Tokyo as a part of Japan is also seen through Watanabe’s

purpose of living in Tokyo as the students. This is shown by this quotation,

The girl asked me not to go to Tokyo - "It's 500 miles from here!" she

pleaded - but I had to get away from Kobe at any cost. I wanted to begin a

new life where I didn't know a soul (p.30).

Obiechina said that the intellectual environment in the setting includes the

opinion of the cultural setting. Tokyo is described as a place where people do not

give attention to other people’s business. They ignore the other people and they are

happy as long as it is with their own business. They are less social people and just

working in unusual way. Where I didn’t know a soul means that the city is full of

business, everyone has less interaction with each other and they only focus on their

works in raising their lives’ standard.

Based on the other opinion that exists in the novel, Tokyo is also decribed

as the place where people are treated by the society according to their classes and

financial ability. It can be seen through this quotation,

He came from a wealthy family. His father owned a big hospital in Nagoya,

and his brother had also graduated from Tokyo, gone on to medical school,

and would one day inherit the hospital. Nagasawa always had plenty of

money in his pocket, and he carried himself with real dignity. People treated

him with respect, even the dorm Head. When he asked someone to do

something, the person would do it without protest. There was no choice in

the matter (p.38).

In this novel Japan is described as the city with classes in society. Everyone

should have money if they want to be treated well by the society. People come from

the wealthy family have a lot of money in their pocket. This also shows why people


47

are busy to work because they want to gain money for themselves. The society is

money-oriented. The treatment and respect depend on how much money that people

have.

The other opinion is about the life system in Tokyo. In Tokyo, as it has

described before in the novel, Tokyo is a place where people do not know a soul

and everyone gets their treatment from others by looking at their financial ability.

The description of the sanatorium in the novel shows the picture of Tokyo but it is

described in the opposite way. It can be seen through this quotation,

The best thing about this place is the way everybody helps everybody else.

Everybody knows they're flawed in some way, and so they try to help each

other. Other places don't work that way, unfortunately (p.117).

Patients with problems like ours are often blessed with special abilities. So

everyone here is equal- patients, staff - and you. You're one of us while

you're in here, so I help you and you help me." (p.117).

The opinion is explained by the doctor in describing the sanatorium as the

opposite place from Tokyo and the other city in Japan. The author wants to

emphasize the critics of the life system in Tokyo where everyone is busy with their

ambitions and people do not see other people as equal as them. Sanatorium is the

place which is dreamed by the author and maybe the Japanese society as the right

place to live. Tokyo indirectly is shown as a place which less humanity and full of

ambitions of each human. They never help each other and they are tied by the

classes and money-oriented mind inside the society.

Setting creates the atmosphere by focusing on the physical and social

condition, values, belief, moral and intellectual environment (Obiechina, 1975, p.

140). Therefore, the result of the belief, moral, values and the intellectual


48

environment or the opinion of the country is the dark atmosphere. It can be seen

through Watanabe’s feeling while living in the city,

You could lean over the edge and peer down to see nothing. All I knew

about the well was its frightening depth. It was deep beyond measuring, and

crammed full of darkness, as if all the world's darknesses had been boiled

down to their ultimate density (p.8).

The firefly made a faint glow in the bottom of the jar, its light all too weak,

its colour all too pale. I hadn't seen a firefly in years, but the ones in my

memory sent a far more intense light into the summer darkness, and that

brilliant, burning image was the one that had stayed with me all that time

(p.55).

I don't think I would have been able to stand this place if I didn't have her

with me. I cry when I'm lonely. Reiko says it's good I can cry. But feeling

lonely really hurts. When I'm lonely at night, people talk to me from the

darkness. They talk to me the way trees moan in the wind at night (p.279).

The darkness dominates the city. The darkness is created by the loneliness

and the lost of their beloved. Everybody ignores to be caring for other people around

and they choose to be individual whether they can do it or not. Japan is described

as the country which is full of sadness and they even lose their beloved in many

different ways such as the farewell, one-sided love and even they lose their beloved

because of suicide. The city is full of each human’s loneliness, then, the darkness

appears and fulfils the city.

Cultural setting of the story investigates the relationship between the

individuals and their environment, then, it will be shown as a set of social

relationship that is externally expressed (as material object) and internally

processed (as consciousness) such as a critic, comment or value and it is seen as the

process not as static (Bloom, 2014, pp. 2-3). The author in this story gives his


49

comment about the society where the story takes place. It can be seen through this

quotation,

I felt no sadness in that strange place. Death was death, and Naoko was

Naoko. "What's the problem?" she asked me with a bashful smile, "I'm here,

aren't I?" Her familiar little gestures soothed my heart like a healing balm.

"If this is death," I thought to myself, "then death is not so bad." "It's true,"

said Naoko, "death is nothing much. It's just death. Things are so easy for

me here." Naoko spoke to me in the spaces between the crashing of the dark

waves (pp.326-327).

The author tries to emphasize his comment on the way of life in Japanese

society which is really familiar with the death. The quotation reveals that the

individualism with the responsibilities in Japan comes from the history of the

Japanese environment where there is always responsibility for the actions that have

been taken by them and the nation-centered belief. Because, the nation is the place

where they come from and the country has provided the place to live for them and

they should be able to be responsible for it. Therefore, if they cannot be responsible

to the country, they should take the risk by going back to the nature or death.

B. Suicide in Japanese and American society.

This part will answer the question about how Japanese and American deal

with suicide issue. This part consists of how the two cultures deal with the suicide

issue. The “deal” includes how the cultural settings’ understanding, the person’s

reason of committing suicide and the reactions toward the suicide issue. Then, the

researcher will gain the wide understanding of suicide through the comparison of

suicide in The Virgin Suicide as the American novel and Norwegian Wood as the

Japanese novel. The Virgin Suicides is a novel which depicts the American society’s


50

life while Norwegian Wood is the portrayal of Japanese society. Both novel raise

the same issue which mostly happen in the society, the suicide issue. This analysis

also includes the comparison between both cultures’ reactions to suicide issue.

Comparative literature is used to compare the literary works from the minor

and major elements for example the characters, theme or the settings inside the story

and also the understanding of the work in cultural context whether the elements of

the story represent something in people’s culture (Basnett, 1993, p. 92). The Virgin

Suicides and Norwegian Wood are the two novels that come from two different

culture, Japanese culture and American culture. However, both novels raise the

same issue, the suicide issue which happens in both societies. The researcher has

analyzed both novel from cultural setting and how the cultural setting deals with

suicide issue. Therefore, to gain the wide understanding about suicide in the two

cultural settings and how suicide is seen by both cultural settings, this thesis will

deliver how the two cultural settings deal with suicide. The “deal” can be seen

through the reaction, reason and how the cultural settings see the suicide issue.

In the previous part Japanese society is described as the society that has the

value of nationalism, patriotism, responsibility, high attention of the attitude or

manners, and individualism. Then from the opinion of the author, Japanese society

is also described as the nation-centered, ignorance society, classes-oriented or

money oriented. Japanese society has less morality because they do not see

something from bad or good terms but the benefit of that action. Then, they hold

several beliefs such as the self-disciplines, the existence of death inside a human

and human as the part of nature. Then, the suicide in American society. As the


51

researcher has analyzed American society which is described by The Virgin

Suicides novel as the individualism, ignorance, homogenous, less of religious

awareness and perfectionist and the most important one is liberalism or freedom. In

the novel, there are five suicides that have been done by five daughters of Mr. and

Mrs. Lisbon.

1. Responsibility Suicide in Japanese society and Free Choice Suicide in

American society

As Ronald M. Holmes and Stephen T. Holmes (2005) said that suicide is

the end of the story where the people believe there is no escape. In the novel, there

are three suicides that have been done, the first is Kizuki’s. The suicide of Kizuki

in Norwegian Wood is the end of someone’s life story and they believe there is no

way to escape from their recent condition. Then, according to Mamoru Iga, suicide

of young Japanese male is caused by the dependency where the family puts the high

hopes on the male, therefore the young male has the responsibility for his family.

(Iga, 1986, pp. 22-25). The suicide is done by Kizuki in his garage.

He died that night in his garage. He led a rubber hose from the exhaust pipe

of his N-360 to a window, taped over the gap in the window, and revved the

engine. I have no idea how long it took him to die. His parents had been out

visiting a sick relative, and when they opened the garage to put their car

away, he was already dead. His radio was going, and a petrol station receipt

was tucked under the windscreen 30 wiper (Murakami,2000 , p.29).

By applying M. Holmes and T. Holmes’ theory of suicide, it can be seen in

Kizuki’s way of death that he is trapped inside the car which full of smoke. It shows

that Kizuki is actually trapped in his condition and he does not have any ways to

escape from his recent condition. Therefore, when he chooses to end his life by


52

locking himself inside his car, it depicts the real fact of his life where he is locked

alone by his regret without anyone around him.

According to Mamoru Iga, the suicide in Japan is really affected by the

historical background of this country. He also said that self-control (leading to

internally focused aggression) has been a key factor in traditional suicide (Iga,

1986, p. 14). In Kizuki’s suicide the police gives a flat comment about it.

I told the investigating officer that Kizuki had given no indication of what

he was about to do, that he had been exactly the same as always. The

policeman had obviously formed a poor impression of both Kizuki and me,

as if it was perfectly natural for the kind of person who would skip classes

and play pool to commit suicide. A small article in the paper brought the

affair to a close (Murakami, 2000, p. 30).

The researcher uses the response of the police as the main statement to

reveal how the society reacts to the suicide issue. Mamoru Iga (1986) said that self-

discipline is the main reason of suicide in Japanese traditional suicide (p.14). Thus,

the suicide of Kizuki is considered as the self-disciplines by the society because he

cannot fulfil his responsibility to his parents as he should go to study but in the

reality, Kizuki skips the class and plays pool with Watanabe. Therefore, the

society’s reaction explains that it is worth when someone who could not be

responsible to commit suicide.

Mamoru Iga (1986) also mentioned about the young male suicide and the

reason of male suicide in Japan. Kizuki is 17 years old male teenagers and the

suicide of Kizuki has a particular motivation.

This meant I paid, according to our custom. Kizuki didn't make a single joke

as we played, which was most unusual. We smoked afterwards (Murakami,

2000, p.29)


53

I have no idea how long it took him to die. His parents had been out visiting

a sick relative, and when they opened the garage to put their car away, he

was already dead (Murakami, 2000, p.29).

From the location of death, Kizuki’s death is in a garage which is a place

where people especially his family can find it easily. As Mamuro Iga’s states for

young male in Japan, suicides are motivated by the unhappiness or misery because

males suicide in Japan characterized by the dependency signed by the high hopes

of families on male family member. This also explains that even the family and his

surroundings do not know that Kizuki is in a big problem in his life. Therefore,

because of the background of Japanese people who are very responsible, Kizuki

prefers to commit suicide because he realizes that he could not fulfil his

responsibility.

Headley (1983) also concluded the reason of suicide and the society’s view

of suicide in Japanese society such as from the historical background, suicide is

affected by historical tradition as an honorable way to escape from the difficult

personal situation and to avoid bringing the shame for the whole family (pp.19-20).

This thesis thinks that Japanese society acknowledges the suicide of Kizuki as the

honorable way to escape his inability, because he is unable to fulfil his parents’

hope and later he just brings shame and disappointments for his family. Therefore,

Japanese society which is represented by the policemen said it is usual and it is

worthy for the student who skips the classes to commit suicide.

Suicide in America is marked by several signs one of them is free will which

is related with the freedom of choice (Colucci & Lester, 2013, p. 95). As the country

which is dominated by individualism value, the society in America do not want to


54

expose someone’s personal life. The first suicide has been done by Cecilia Lisbon,

13 year-old girl.

Cecilia’s death was listed in church records as an “accident,” as were the

other girls’ a year later. When we asked Father Moody about this, he said,

“We didn’t want to quibble. How do you know she didn’t slip?” When we

brought up the sleeping pills, and the noose, and the rest of it, he said,

“Suicide, as a mortal sin, is a matter of intent. It’s very difficult to know

what was in those girls’ hearts. What they were really trying to do”

(Eugenides, 1993, p.48).

The researcher has analyzed the American society as an individualist and

liberal country. Colluci (2013) said America and suicide emphasize the free will

that is related to the freedom of choice and the materialism with the view of the real

world and the fact in this world. The comment of Father Moody gives the portrayal

of American society’s mind about suicide. This thesis thinks that the society sees

suicide as the free will or the freedom of choice because suicide is a personal need

and other people outside the girls’ life will not be able to understand the reason

behind the suicide.

Colluci (2013) has stated about the free will suicide where this suicide is

affected by the freedom in the modern country which emphasizes the freedom of

choice where people can choose everything in this world because they have their

right as a human or human right and nobody can take it from them. The neighbors

boys utterance also gives the American society’s reaction to suicide, “Basically,

what we have here is a dreamer. Somebody out of touch with reality. When she

jumped, she probably thought she’d fly.” (p.51). It shows that in American society

suicide is the form of someone’s freedom where the word “fly” is related with the

act of being free like a bird which flies freely in the sky and American society sees


55

that a human is supposed to live freely like a bird. Therefore, in the liberal country

like America suicide is viewed as the realization of someone’s freedom and

everyone will respect this action because in the liberal country like America, the

society believes that people have their own freedom since they were born in this

world. Then, from the belief and religion, the religion in American society did not

have any powers and was not a cohesive force in their lives and individualism was

an extremely valued of suicide (Colucci & Lester, 2013, p. 75). It can be seen

through Father Moody’s statement.

Father Moody about this, he said, “We didn’t want to quibble. How do you

know she didn’t slip?” When we brought up the sleeping pills, and the

noose, and the rest of it, he said, “Suicide, as a mortal sin, is a matter of

intent. It’s very difficult to know what was in those girls’ hearts. What they

were really trying to do.” (Eugenides, 1993, p.60).

The suicide is a mortal sin in their religion but in reality it depends on the

people’s intention to do it. As Father Moody says in Catholic, suicide is a sin and

Cecilia is a Catholic. This thesis thinks that Father Moody’s statement shows that

in the American society which is very individual the religion does not have any

cohesive powers to prevent the suicide because every human as the individuals has

power to choose what they will do with their life including to commit suicide.

Then, the researcher has analyzed that American society is individualist and

liberal while Japanese society is individualist but has the high sense of

responsibility. The cultural setting of America and Japan as the elements of the

story represent the individualism of both cross culture novel. American and

Japanese societies are accustomed with their own business rather than involving


56

themselves in other people’s problems. However, this value of individualism brings

the different meanings of suicide in both societies.

The essence of the suicides consisted not of sadness or mystery but simple

selfishness. The girls took into their own hands decisions better left to God.

They became too powerful to live among us, too self-concerned, too

visionary, too blind (Eugenides, 1993, p.310).

Kizuki had left no suicide note, and had no motive that anyone could think

of. Because I had been the last one to see him, I was called in for questioning

by the police. I told the investigating officer that Kizuki had given no

indication of what he was about to do, that he had been exactly the same as

always. The policeman had obviously formed a poor impression of both

Kizuki and me, as if it was perfectly natural for the kind of person who

would skip classes and play pool to commit suicide (Murakami, 2000 p.30).

Through the two quotations, the elements of the story represent something

in people’s culture (Basnett, 2013, p.92) where the suicide in America is the free

will that is related with the freedom of choice (Colucci & Lester, 2013, p. 95) and

it can be seen in The Virgin Suicides which is focused on the self-centeredness of

the society and the free choice for American people. Then, this thesis thinks that

the cultural settings as the one of the novel’s elements, represents the egoism and

selfishness of American society and their culture. In Norwegian Wood, the suicide

of Kizuki is considered as a male it is characterized by the dependency which signed

by the family puts the high hopes on the male or the responsibility of the male to

the family (Iga, 1986, p. 25) and it represents the culture of responsibility in

Japanese society. Therefore, here the two places where the suicide happens

represent the culture of American and Japanese society and it is different even the

two countries are individualist.


57

2. Suicide as a Desire to Kill and Less Attention for Mental Illness in

Japanese Society and Suicide as Perfection in American Society

Norwegian Wood novel shows the picture of Japanese culture when Naoko

committed suicide. In Japan, young Japanese female suicides are mainly driven by

"externally directed aggression" or their desire to kill (Iga, 1986, p. 48). In this point

the comparison is done by understanding of the work in cultural context whether

the elements of the story represent something in people’s culture (Basnett,

Comparative Literature, 1993, p. 92).

Naoko’s suicide is seen as the mental health effect and she has a desire to

kill herself because of her mental illness. Naoko’s suicide is the effect of Kizuki’s

because Naoko is the girlfriend of Kizuki. Gun and Lester state that suicide happens

when someone wishes to escape from a particular condition, whatever the reasons

are, even it is emotional or pain and aversive self-awareness (Gunn & Lester, 2015,

p. 21). In the novel, Naoko commits suicide because she wants to escape her

sickness of being alone.

“Well, anyway, Naoko said she wanted me to hold her. I said it was far too

hot for holding, but she said it was the last time we'd be seeing each other,

so I held her. Just for a while (Murakami, 2000, p.340).



note, and it had obviously been a suicide (Murakami, 2000, p. 341).

This can be seen that Naoko also commits suicide alone like Kizuki. Her

utterance to Reiko when she wants Reiko to hold her means that she is lonely and

she needs someone to be with her and someone who does not leave her alone.

Therefore, as Gun and Lester states suicide is the escape from a particular condition,


58

Naoko commits suicide to escape her recent condition which is full of loneliness,

sickness and sadness and it is all because she is alone. The suicide note shows that

Naoko has prepared her suicide and she ends her life voluntarily. In Japan, young

Japanese female suicides are mainly driven by "externally directed aggression" or

they have a desire to kill (Iga, 1986, p. 48). Naoko’s suicide is seen as the mental

health effect and she has a desire to kill herself because of her mental illness. It is

shown by the word of Naoko who has told Reiko about her suicide’s plan. This

thesis figures that the suicide’s plan means that she already has the desire to kill and

to end her life soon. Then the reaction of the society towards Naoko’s suicide is

different with Kizuki’s. This can be seen through the comment of the police when

they evacuate Naoko’s death body.

I checked her desk just in case, and there was the note: Please give all my

clothes to Reiko. I woke up everybody straight away, and we took different

paths to look for her. We searched every inch of the place, from the insides

of the dorms to the surrounding woods. It took us five hours to find her.

She'd even brought her own rope." (Murakami, 20000, p.340).



note, and it had obviously been a suicide, and they took it for granted that

suicide was just one of those things that mental patients did. So it was pretty

pro forma. As soon as they left, I telegraphed you." (Murakami, 2000,

p.341).

For Japanese society, Naoko’s suicide is acknowledged as her willing and

because she is suffering from mental health problem and the policemen as the

representation of Japanese society recognizes that the suicide as the effect of

Naoko’s mental health problem and it is caused the wish to end her life even though

actually the suicide has a specific reason.


59

In Naoko’s case as Headley states that in the social view, suicide is the result

of the lack of public target to help people suffering from financial problem,

psychological stress and also the absence of legal prohibition against prosecutions

for suicide (Headley, 1983, p. 95). The society in the story shows the lack of

attention to people with psychological problem or psychological illness and

Naoko’s suicide is considered as the effect of her mental illness and it is usual

because she suffers in her illness. The suicide that has been done by Naoko also

shows that there is no penalty and prohibition of doing suicide, ‘they took it for

granted that suicide was just one of those things that mental patients did’

(Murakami, 200, p.341) because the policemen just accept and agree that it is

because of the mental illness without knowing the deeper meaning of the suicide

for Naoko. This thesis thinks that the Japanese society considers suicide as the

personal problem because Naoko kills herself and she does not kill other people,

then, it is a personal problem. Therefore, Naoko’s suicide is not a big matter in the

society and it is just a personal matter

Then, in The Virgin Suicides, American society is the perfectionist society

with individualism idea. Suicide in America is the result of the materialism or the

perfection view of the real world and the fact in this world (Colucci & Lester, 2013,

p. 95). It can be seen through this quotation.

Lisbon girls were always there before them. They had killed themselves

over our dying forests, over manatees maimed by propellers as they surfaced

to drink from garden hoses; they had killed themselves at the sight of used

tires stacked higher than the pyramids; they had killed themselves over the

failure to find a love none of us could ever be. In the end, the tortures tearing

the Lisbon girls pointed to a simple reasoned refusal to accept the world as

it was handed down to them, so full of flaws. In the end, the tortures tearing


60

the Lisbon girls pointed to a simple reasoned refusal to accept the world as

it was handed down to them, so full of flaws ( Eugenides,1993, p.233).

The suicides are seen as the action of looking for the perfection of the world

by the American society. The society sees that the suicide of Lisbon sisters is the

action and the solution of them in finding the material that they could not have in

this world and the suicide happens because the world that the Lisbon sisters has

already had is not fully perfect for them.

In relation with perfection, suicide in America has a type which is called the

anomic suicide because the suicide producing condition that break its controlling

norms or forms of relations (Rossides, 1993, p. 69). It can be seen in the story that

the suicides of Lisbon sisters bring great effect in the society.

The Lisbon girls made suicide familiar. Later, when other acquaintances

chose to end their lives—sometimes even borrowing a book the day

before—we always pictured them as taking off cumbersome boots to enter

the highly associative mustiness of a family cottage on a dune overlooking

the sea (Eugenides, 1993, p.232).

They had killed themselves over our dying forests, over manatees maimed

by propellers as they surfaced to drink from garden manatees maimed by

propellers as they surfaced to drink from garden hoses; they had killed

themselves at the sight of used tires stacked higher than the pyramids; they

had killed themselves over the failure to find a love none of us could ever

be. In the end, the tortures tearing the Lisbon girls pointed to a simple

reasoned refusal to accept the world as it was handed down to them, so full

of flaws (Eugenides, 1993, pp.232-233).

The suicides of five Lisbon sisters breaks the old norms which exist in the

society and the society sees it as the worth action where everyone can choose to end

their lives and they can do it for various purposes like what Lisbon sisters have

done. After the suicides of Lisbon sisters as the anomic suicide it affects the society

where they do not see the suicide as a taboo issue but recently after the Lisbon


61

sisters suicides, the society sees it as their need and breaks the previous assumption

of suicides where suicides is seen as the way to get a perfection.

3. Suicide as the Self-Restraint for Japanese society and Selfishness for

American Society

The third suicide is Hatsumi’s suicide. Mamoru Iga said that self-restraint

(leading to internally focused aggression) is the main idea in the traditional suicide

in Japan. He also said that self-control has been a key factor in traditional suicide

(Iga, 1986, p. 14). Because Hatsumi’s suicide is considered as female suicide as Iga

stated that young Japanese female suicides are largely driven by "externally

directed aggression" or their desire to kill (Iga, 1986, p. 48). Hatsumi has her desire

to end her life by killing herself because she has already grasped the choice to end

her life. Then, this suicide is acknowledged as the effect of Hatsumi’s failure in

building and maintaining her relationship with Nagasawa.

"I get hurt," said Hatsumi. "Why am I not enough for you?" Nagasawa kept

silent for a moment and swirled the whisky in his glass. "It's not that you're

not enough for me. That's another phase, another question. It's just a hunger

I have inside me. If I've hurt you, I'm sorry. But it's not a question of whether

or not you're enough for me. I can only live with that hunger. That's the kind

of man I am. That's what makes me me. There's nothing I can do about it,

don't you see.” (Murakami, 2000, p.249).

Hatsumi reached a certain stage in life and decided - almost on the spur of

the moment - to end it. Two years after Nagasawa left for Germany, she

married, and two years after that she slashed her wrists with a razor blade

(Murakami, 2000, p,253).

The researcher has investigated that Japanese society is a society with high

self-disciplines. Hatsumi reaches the solution by committing suicide. Therefore, the

suicide of Hatsumi is seen as the form of her self-control because she could not deal


62

with the real life anymore. Headley (1993) has stated that suicide in Japanese

society can be seen from the cultural side, the inflexible semi feudal society which

stresses traditionalism and success and forbids failure and weakness (pp. 19-20).

Hatsumi dies because she cannot face her sadness and she realizes that she fails and

does not succeed in maintaining her relationship with Nagasawa. Hatsumi feels hurt

and it means that she is weak. This is forbidden by Japanese society who

emphasizes success and strength as the Japanese. In Japanese society, the worthy

act of ending the personal problem is by committing suicide and Hatsumi does it

after realizing that she can not make Nagasawa happy and she thinks that she is not

enough for him.

"I get hurt," said Hatsumi. "Why am I not enough for you?" Nagasawa kept

silent for a moment and swirled the whisky in his glass” (Murakami, 2000,

p.249).

Iga said the traditional suicide is caused of the view of female role, where a

woman should be dependent, conforming, deferential, reserved, self-abasing, self-

sacrificing, and yet hardworking (Iga, 1986, p. 51). Thus, Hatsumi feels that it is

her fault because she cannot continue her relationship with Nagasawa and the effect

of this problem is Nagasawa wants to break up with her. Hatsumi dies after she gets

married with another man. It is same with Kizuki’s suicide where in Japanese

society as the responsible society the suicide is the honorable action for everyone

who cannot fulfil their responsibility and it is also a form of self-restraint. Hatsumi

cannot fulfil her responsibility in making her husband happy and in the past she

broke up with Nagasawa. Therefore, in Japanese society’s view it is right for her to


63

commit suicide because she cannot make both her husband and his ex-boyfriend

pleased as it is her duty as a woman in Japanese society.

As an individual and liberal country, in The Virgin Suicides American

society also has their own view on the suicide that happens because of the freedom

belief and values that exist among the society.

But this is all a chasing after the wind. The essence of the suicides consisted

not of sadness or mystery but simple selfishness. The girls took into their

own hands decisions better left to God. They became too powerful to live

among us, too self-concerned, too visionary, too blind. What lingered after

them was not life, which always overcomes natural death, but the most trivial

list of mundane facts: a clock ticking on a wall, a room dim at noon, and the

outrageousness of a human being thinking only of herself (Eugenides,1993,

p.235).

Suicide in America has two characteristics one of them is the selfishness or

the egoism suicide where society discourages its own regulator by creating too

much individuation (Rossides, 1993, p. 69). The suicide of Lisbon sisters is the

egoism suicide because the society only thinks about an individual’s personal

problem and the selfishness of a human which dominates the society. The society

has created the individualist environment in the whole part of the society which

produces the selfishness and the egoism act like suicide. Then, the religion in

American society did not have any powers and was not a cohesive force in their

lives and individualism was an extremely valued of suicide (Colucci & Lester,

2013, p. 75). In the novel, American society sees suicide as a human’s powerful act

rather than sin because it is represented their identity as the individualist and liberal,

the suicides are seen self-concerned where the girls only think about their own

decision and their desire to get out of the world and they ignore the natural death as

God has arranged in every religion.


64

4. The Stronger and The Weaker Culture of Japanese and American

toward Suicide

The Virgin Suicides is created by American author and Norwegian Wood is

created by the Japanese author, the canons can be seen from how the two authors

build the meaning of suicide in Japanese and American cultures. It can be seen

through the quotations after the suicide happens in both societies.

Everyone we spoke to date the demise of our neighborhood from the

suicides of the Lisbon girls. Though at first people blamed them, gradually

a sea change took place, so that the girls were seen not as scapegoats but as

seers. More and more, people forgot about the individual reasons why the

girls may have killed themselves, the stress disorders and insufficient

neurotransmitters, and instead put the deaths down to the girls’ foresight in

predicting decadence (Eugenides, 1993, pp.303-304).

"No, it's a terrible way to die," said Naoko, brushing a cluster of grass seed

from her jacket. "The best thing would be to break your neck, but you'd

probably just break your leg and then you couldn't do a thing. You'd yell at

the top of your lungs, but nobody would hear you, and you couldn't expect

anyone to find you, and you'd have centipedes and spiders crawling all over

you, and the bones of the ones who died before are scattered all around you,

and it's dark and soggy, and high overhead there's this tiny, tiny circle of

light like a winter moon. You die there in this place, little by little, all by

yourself." (Murakami, 2000, p.9).

According to the review on comparative literature, the comparison can be

done one is by seeing stronger which sticks strongly with the society and weaker

cultures that has less influence in the society (Basnett, 1993, p. 92). The canon can

be seen through the stronger and the weaker culture. From the meaning of suicide

in both societies which have the different culture, it can be seen that the culture in

America this thesis think that the suicide provides the view of the strong culture of

Individualism and liberalism in American society when they release the weaker


65

culture which is viewed the suicide as the fault of someone and they change the

view into the freedom act of Lisbon sisters and the society also considers the

individual or the personal reason of the suicide. In the other side, in Japanese society

the stronger culture is when the suicide is seen as the judge of the life’s direction

and the risk of someone’s action as suicide and the darkness of death are

experienced personally by a human alone by himself or herself. Therefore, suicide

has a meaning as the part of the life’s element where everyone will face it in many

ways whether it is naturally or not. Then Japanese society has a high value of self-

restraint or self-discipline where they do it as the prevention of doing something

with high risk and just let them into disappointment, then, suicide is seen as the

result of the self-disciplines where they should pay for the mistake when they could

not control themselves. Therefore in both novel, it can be seen that the strong

culture of America is the act of individualism where in Japanese the stronger culture

is the responsibilities. Then, the weaker of American culture is the old-fashioned

view of suicide as the fault of someone while in Japanese culture, the weaker culture

is when people could not understand the meaning of suicide as the risk of the action.

The stronger and the weaker culture are also seen in the belief of both societies.

Where the belief in the societies also affects the essence of suicide for the two

different societies.

Those who attended church said the window resembled the Grotto at St.

Paul's Catholic Church on the Lake, but instead of neat ascending rows of

votive candles, each alike in size and importance like the souls they pilot

lighted, the girls had engineered a phantasmagoria of beacons (Eugenides,

1993, p.23).

None of us went to church, so we had a lot of time to watch them, the two

parents leached of color, like photographic negatives, and then the five


66

glittering daughters in their homemade dresses, all lace and ruffle, bursting

with their fructifying flesh (Eugenides, 1993, p.24).

In American society religion is treated as the secondary after the individual

life and the real world. It can be seen through the word ‘None of us went to church,

so we had a lot of time to watch them’, ‘Those who attended church said the window

resembled the Grotto at St. Paul's Catholic Church on the Lake ‘, it shows that the

society prefers to see a thing which they can see with their eyes and it makes the

life without religion becomes the stronger culture in American society. Thus, the

suicide is not seen as the sin or a fault of a person but the real fact that happens in

society as the result of someone’s real action.

While in Japanese society the stronger culture is the belief in self-control.

Where everyone is trying to limit themselves towards the many “nice” possibilities

that exist in this world.

There was only one thing for me to do when I started my new life in the

dorm: stop taking everything so seriously; establish a proper distance

between myself and everything else (Murakami, 2000, p.30).

"Look. The sun goes down. The girls come out and drink. They wander

around, looking for something. I can give them that something. It's the

easiest thing in the world, like drinking water from a tap. Before you know

it, I've got 'em down. It's what they expect. That's what I mean by possibility.

It's all around you. How can you ignore it? You have a certain ability and

the opportunity to use it: can you keep your mouth shut and let it pass?"

(Murakami, 2000, p.42).

The strong culture in Norwegian Wood is the culture of creating a wall

between the personal matters with the outside world. This culture has created most

of Japanese people pass the possibilities that exist in front of their eyes quickly.

They are accustomed to limit their actions toward the “everything else” outside their

personal life because it will let them to a serious risk. Thus, because of this stronger


67

culture in the belief of self-control, then, a suicide is seen as the action to discipline

someone’s life because they could not control themselves from the influence of the

thing which comes from the outside of their personal life.

Then, the weaker culture in American and Japanese societies can be seen

through the belief in religion and the social life of the societies. In America the

weaker culture is the belief in religion. For American society, religion is the second

thing that they will believe after their own power as a human.

The essence of the suicides consisted not of sadness or mystery but simple

selfishness. The girls took into their own hands decisions better left to God.

They became too powerful to live among us, too self-concerned, too

visionary, too blind (Eugenides, 1993, p.309-310).

The society has the less of believe in the religion because they know that as

a human they also know that they have a power, they are self-concerned, visionary

and blind because they have their own ability to decide whether they want to still

alive or not. The belief in religion is not seen as the “must” action or the mandate

belief that someone is supposed to have. Therefore, the essence of suicide is fully

seen as the free action and the thought of freedom or liberalism which is owned by

every human and they do not see suicide as a sin or their faults to their God. In

Japanese society the weaker culture is the social life where the people are prohibited

to get involved in someone’s problem.

The best thing about this place is the way everybody helps everybody else.

Everybody knows they're flawed in some way, and so they try to help each

other. Other places don't work that way, unfortunately (Murakami,1993,

p.117).

As the individual society, personal problem is owned by a person and they

should face it by themselves and people is prohibited to get involved in the problem.

Therefore, because of this weaker culture in less effort to help other people’s


68

problem, the suicide in Japan is seen as the personal problem and everyone does

not have any right to take care of that person’s reason and problem.

The meaning of literature in comparative literature is the human’s work as

a part of a system of the connected subject which encourages one and another and

it is also a part of the living organization and that is a culture (Basnett, Comparative

Literature, 1993, pp. 33-34). In The Virgin Suicides and Norwegian Wood are

novels which raise the issue of suicide where in America suicide is understood by

the society as the personal choice in life and a part of the freedom act in the

individualist society while in Japan, suicide is viewed as the act of responsibility or

their self-disciplines of their action. The two novels support the view of their own

culture toward suicide by giving the deep meanings and the influence of the culture

to gain unique meaning in the same issue. Therefore, this thesis thinks that it is

clearly seen that the two novels are indirectly connected by the suicide issue and

encourage one and another by giving the wide meaning of suicide in different

cultures.


69

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

This chapter is the conclusion of the analysis. The study finds that the

cultural setting has the important role in creating a meaning of suicide. This thesis

has two problem formulation and the objectives of this study are to figure out how

the settings are described in The Virgin Suicide by Jeffrey Eugenides and Norwegian

Wood by Haruki Murakami. Then, the researcher tries to figure out how the cultural

background of Japanese and American deal with the issue of suicide. Thus, three

conclusions are gained from the answer of the two problems.

First, this thesis analyzes the cultural settings of Japanese and American

which are described in the two novels by using the theories of settings by M. J Murphy

and Kirzsner and Mandell, and Emmanuel Obiechina. By using the theories to the

cultural settings of Japanese and American societies, the researcher finds that as the

setting of The Virgin Suicides American society is a place with the very high of

individualism, liberal, perfectionist, money-oriented, divided by the class and less

awareness in religion while Japanese society is a place with individualism,

nationalism, patriotism, self-discipline value, nation-centered, high sense of

responsibility, divided by the class.

Through the suicide issues which happen in both societies in the novels, this

thesis finds that as a society with individual and high sense of freedom or liberalism,

American society reacts to the suicide as the free will or the free choice of someone

and it is a personal problem where everyone in the society is not supposed to spread


70

the reason of the suicide and everyone has a right to do anything with their life. In

the other side, suicide in Japanese society is seen as the act of responsibility rather

than a freedom because it is affected by historical background of Japanese that see

suicide as the act of honorable suicide and the suicide is also seen as the act of self-

discipline and this action, then, creates the honorable suicides.

Then, the researcher also found the stronger and the weaker cultures from

both novels. In The Virgin Suicides as American culture’s representation, the

stronger culture are individualism and liberalism therefore suicide is seen as the act

of freedom and personal matter. Then, in Norwegian Wood as the Japanese culture’s

representation the stronger culture are the responsibility and self-control, therefore,

the suicide is seen as the act of responsibility and the effect of the fail of someone’s

self-control. Then the weaker culture in American society is the old-fashioned

thought while in Japanese society the weaker culture is the less understanding of

suicide or death.

The final remarks of this undergraduate thesis are that the cultural setting

influences the meaning and the view of suicide because every cultural setting has

their own way in seeing suicide. As it is seen from the view of suicide in The Virgin

Suicides and Norwegian Wood which is highly influenced by the culture of the people

in the society where the novels take place and by comparing the cultural setting as

the element of the stories, this thesis gains the different deals toward suicide issue in

both cultures where the culture of America sees suicide as a someone’s total freedom

to choose whatever they want to do with their lives while in Japanese society suicide

is seen as an action of self-disciplines and responsibility for their action.


71

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74

APPENDICES

Appendix 1 : Biography of Jeffrey Eugenides

Jeffrey Eugenides, was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1960. Eugenides was

born in Detroit, Michigan, of Greek and Irish descent. He attended Grosse Pointe's

private University Liggett School. He took his undergraduate degree at Brown

University, graduating in 1983. He later earned an M.A. in Creative Writing from

Stanford University. In 1986 he received the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and

Sciences Nicholl Fellowship for his story "Here Comes Winston, Full of the Holy

Spirit". His 1993 novel, The Virgin Suicides, gained typical interest with the 1999

film adaptation directed by Sofia Coppola. The novel was rereleased in

2009.Eugenides is hesitant to appear in public or reveal details about his private

life, except through Michigan-area book signings in which he details the influence

of Detroit and his high-school experiences on his writings. He has said that he has

been haunted by the decay of Detroit.

Much of Eugenides' work is set in Detroit, including both Middlesex and his

earlier novel, The Virgin Suicides. Eugenides raised up during the slow expiration

of Detroit, which comes across in both novels. Although aware of the fact that the

suburbs were not measured as the literary subjects, Eugenides ultimately included

his past and realized that the suburbs are frequently as the interesting locations as

some other locations. He creates many features from his past, containing the classes

in the society that he experienced in Grosse Pointe. Eugenides' narrative risks paid

off, and many adult demographics have reacted to his novels very actively.

Eugenides has also published short stories. Eugenides is the editor of the collection


https://www.gradesaver.com/the-virgin-suicides

75

of short stories titled My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead. The proceeds of the collection

go to the writing center 826 Chicago, established to encourage young people's

writing.

Adapted from:

Eugenides, Jeffrey (https://www.gradesaver.com/author/jeffrey-eugenides).

March 1, 2019

Jefffrey Eugenides. (www.goodreads.com/author/show/1467. Jeffrey_Eugenides).

February 16, 2019


https://www.gradesaver.com/author/jeffrey-eugenides

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1467

76

Appendix 2 : Biography of Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami was born in Kyoto, Japan, in 1949. He grew up in Kobe

and then moved to Tokyo, where he attended Waseda University. After college,

Murakami built a small jazz bar, which he and his wife ran for seven years.His first

novel, Hear the Wind Sing, won the Gunzou Literature Prize for budding writers in

1979. He followed this success with two sequels, Pinball, 1973 and A Wild Sheep

Chase, which all together form “The Trilogy of the Rat.”

Murakami is also the author of the novels Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the

End of the World; Norwegian Wood; Dance Dance Dance; South of the

Border, West of the Sun; The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle; Sputnik Sweetheart; Kafka

on the Shore; After Dark; 1Q84; and Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of

Pilgrimage. He has written three short story collections: The Elephant

Vanishes; After the Quake; and Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman; and an illustrated

novella, The Strange Library.

Additionally, Murakami produced several works of nonfiction. After

Hanshin earthquake and the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack in 1995, he had

interviewed surviving victims and the religious cult. From these interviews, he had

published two books in Japan, which were selectively combined to

form Underground. He also wrote a series of personal essays on running,

entitled What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.


77

The most recent of his many global literary honors is the Jerusalem Prize,

whose previous receivers include J. M. Coetzee, Milan Kundera, and V. S. Naipaul.

Murakami’s work has been interpreted into more than fifty languages.

Adapted from:

Murakami, Haruki. Author: Meet the Man behind the Works. n.p., n. d..,

(http://www.harukimurakami.com/author). February 16, 2019


http://www.harukimurakami.com/author

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