The Moon
Imagery related to the moon is pervasive throughout the novel, including multiple references to the popular Depression-era song “It’s Only a Paper Moon.” Indeed, the very final image at the conclusion of the book is that of a gray moon characterized as hanging up in the heavens. One of the most literate and fascinating examples of imagery in an entire book that is filled with dazzling examples is directed toward the lunar satellite that invests it through metaphor with the wisdom of the ages:
“The moon had been observing the earth close-up longer than anyone. It must have witnessed all of the phenomena occurring - and all of the acts carried out - on this earth. But the moon remained silent; it told no stories. All it did was embrace the heavy past with a cool, measured detachment. On the moon there was neither air nor wind. Its vacuum was perfect for preserving memories unscathed. No one could unlock the heart of the moon.”
Lips Liners
One of the odder—or fascinating, from another perspective—examples of recurring imagery found in the book is the repetition of description of female mouths. The exact same image described in pretty much the exact same way pops up over and over again in physical description. Were this limited to just one character, that would be one thing, but this imagery is liberally applied to the book’s female population:
“Her lips formed a tight straight line, suggesting that she was not easily approachable.”
“Fuka-Eri did not reply to this. The beautiful seventeen-year-old girl tensed her lips into a perfectly straight line and looked directly into Tengo’s eyes”
“The dowager is seated beside her, her back ramrod straight as always, her lips a straight line”
Character Description
Not all character description is limited to the physical and certainly not all physical description is limited to a singularly repetitive anatomical quirk. In fact, the author dives deep into imagery in a number of idiosyncratically vivid ways to plumb the depths of the characters. The results are almost always as fun to read as they are psychologically insightful:
“Ayumi had a great emptiness inside her, like a desert at the edge of the earth. You could try watering it all you wanted, but everything would be sucked down to the bottom of the world, leaving no trace of moisture. No life could take route there. Not even birds would fly over it…As if to build a fence around the fatal emptiness inside her, she had to create the sunny personality that she became. But if you peeled away the ornamental egos that she had built, there was only an abyss of nothingness and the intense thirst that came with it.”
Parable
The novel is about the process of writing as much as it is about anything. This is exemplified through the plethora of stories within stories (within stories) which comprise the narrative. One of the most memorable is a parable with a moral lesson highly dependent upon understanding the precision of the imagery:
“A cat met up with a big male rat in the attic and chased him into a corner. The rat, trembling, said, ‘Please don’t eat me, Mr. Cat...I have hungry children waiting for me. Please let me go.’ The cat said, ‘Don’t worry, I won’t eat you...I can’t say this too loudly, but I’m a vegetarian. I don’t eat any meat. You were lucky to run into me.’…the very next second, the cat pounced on the rat, held him down with his claws, and sank his sharp teeth into the rat’s throat…‘But Mr. Cat, didn’t you say you’re a vegetarian and don’t eat any meat? Were you lying to me?’ The cat licked his chops and said, ‘True, I don’t eat meat. That was no lie. I’m going to take you home in my mouth and trade you for lettuce.’”
