Scarf vs. Sweater

by Nobel Chan

    In the film version of Norwegian Wood, one notable change from the novel is that Naoko and Reiko make Toru a scarf instead of a sweater. The scarf appears on the movie poster as well, clearly making it an important symbol in the movie (perhaps more important than the book). However, there seems to be no clear reason why they should change the object from a sweater to a scarf.

     

    One possible reason for the change is that the scarf foreshadows Naoko's death. The movie excises the story about Naoko's sister's suicide, therefore it lacks a build-up to Naoko's own death by hanging. The scarf, which wraps around the neck, might be meant to fill in this gap in the movie. If the scarf visually symbolizes hanging, then we only see Naoko's death through allusions; we never see her actual body, only seeing the scarf and the feet dangling. Having Naoko's death occur off-screen is very powerful, juxtaposing the intensely lengthy death of Kizuki at the beginning (also a departure from the novel). The movie draws out the differences between Naoko and Kizuki's deaths, including that Kizuki kills himself in a man-made car in his house whereas Naoko dies in the woods away from everyone. 

    Another change from the book is the color of the gift. The movie's scarf is blue, orange, and white, while the book explicitly states that the sweater is "wine-colored".  "Wine-colored" is dark red, so perhaps the movie changes the color to something more eye-catching. However, the book highlights that Naoko and Reiko "picked the color and style," imparting importance to Murakami's description of the sweater. Strangely, Toru never describes the sweater's style or pattern, and never comments on what the sweater looks like beyond the color. This omission is doubly strange because what we know about the sweater - that Naoko and Reiko each knit half of it - means that the pattern must look strange. One reviewer speculates that the sweater/scarf represents "tak[ing] the good with the bad," with one half of the item being well-knitted and the other not. However, given what we discussed in class the fact that Reiko and Naoko knit the clothing together may indicate the merging of their selves. When Reiko appears in Naoko's clothing at the end, Toru is also wearing the sweater/scarf in the book and movie. Clothing seems to represent all of them combining together, which is exemplified by Reiko and Toru having sex (the physical merging of their bodies). "Take [my share of happiness] and Naoko's and combine them for yourself," Reiko says in her parting words to Toru in the book and movie; the half-knitted sweater/scarf represents their attempts to merge with each other, and if this is the case then I think the book's sweater is a better choice. A sweater wraps around the torso (including the heart) and dark red is more subtle and subdued, conveying the intimacy and all-encompassing nature of Naoko, Toru, and Reiko's bond better than the bright blue scarf.