Moons
The new world is recognizable to Aomame and Tengo with the two moons that appeared on the sky. The newly emerged moon is smaller and different and is compared to a mother’s child, the mother being the larger moon. The moons can be interpreted as symbolism for childhood dreams and aspirations. Tengo and Aomame grew up feeling unaccomplished in their life, as if something is missing and the new moon represents the silent promise they made to find their way to each other again.
Air Chrysalis
Air Chrysalis is a book written by Fuka-Eri, a teenage girl revealed to be a victim of a cult filled with strange rituals. The events described in the book are real events that happened in the year 1Q84. The book and the events are symbolic on many levels. Going beyond the literal magic realism depicted, Air Chrysalis depicts a victim describing the traumatic events, finding a way to cope. This argument is further strengthened with the descriptions of maza and dohta representing a person split into two parts: Fuka Eri’s maza, the real her managed to escape the abuse, while her dohta, her shadow self, is still there.
1Q84
An allusion to the famous novel, the title 1Q84 represents the year, the parallel reality Aomame slips into from the year 1984. Q in the title stands for a question because the reality of this new world is uncertain.
“Q is for “question mark.” A world that bears a question.”
A ladder
To get to a job appointment on time, Aomame takes a ladder into an underground subway only to find herself in a completely different world, noticing the subtle changes and doubting her sanity at first. The novel makes a full circle with her and Tengo going up a ladder to return to the real world, and it symbolizes their finding the way back to each other.
