44 pages 1 hour read

Haruki Murakami

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2013

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Chapters 16-19

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 16 Summary

Content Warning: This section includes discussion of rape.

Kuro recognizes Tsukuru, but is stunned and almost in disbelief. Kuro looks healthy, but the adolescent softness of her facial features is no longer prominent. Edvard takes the couple’s daughters to town and leaves Kuro and Tsukuru alone. When Tsukuru tells Kuro he is there to visit her, she is shocked that he didn’t bother to call first. He worried that she would not want to see him. As they talk, Kuro requests to be called Eri. She also insists that Shiro should be called Yuzuki.

Tsukuru tells Eri about the aftermath of his expulsion from the group—how he spent five months thinking about death, and feeling completely abandoned. Tsukuru then affirms that he did not harm Yuzuki in any way, a claim that Eri agrees with. She confirms that Yuzuki’s story about Tsukuru was not believable, but Eri felt compelled to take Yuzuki’s side regardless because her mental issues were so severe. Yuzuki was indeed raped. The rape resulted in a pregnancy and miscarriage. Possibly, Yuzuki insisted that Tsukuru was the rapist because she liked Tsukuru, a fact that surprises him.

Eri then chronicles Yuzuki’s suffering after the rape.

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