Part 1, chapter 1

Chapter 1

In this chapter we are introduced to three very important characters,

Noboru Kuroda- a 13 year old Japanese boy. 

Noboru lives in Japan with his mother. His father died when he was 8 years old. In this chapter we see him watching her mother get changed and having sexual intercourse with another man. This makes me think that the boy is very immature and curious about women as he is in that age where girls are on his mind and he starts to wonder about them. Another intereting thing about the boy is that the opening line in this chapter is "Sleep well Dear."Noboru's mother closed his bedroom door and locked it." (pg. 3) This raises questions such as "why is the door locked?" "is he being punished or is it a safety precaution?" "His mother said "dear", how good is the bond between the two?" We already know as a reader that he snuck out after dark, which means the locked door could be a punishment. But we also know they live in hard times, which means the locked door could be a safety precaution.

Ryuji Tsukazaki

Ryuji Tsukazaki- the sailor who had a fling with Noboru's mother. In this chapter we know very little about him because we only see him in a sexual context with Fusako.

Fusako Kuroda- Noboru's mother. 

Fusako- is a 33 year old widow with a young teenage boy. She has fallen in love with the young sailor. According to her son she is a beautiful young lady with a body and face that looks younger than her actual age. She loves "handicrafts" (pg. 5) such as "embroidery".