Before the Coffee Gets Cold Essay Questions

What role does the concept of regret play in Before the Coffee Gets Cold?

As one of the novel's major themes, regret plays a significant role in Before the Coffee Gets Cold. Kawaguchi explores the theme by depicting several characters who travel back in time to relive moments from their past, full of regret for things they failed to do or say in the first place. For example, Fumiko regrets the combative nature of her last conversation with her boyfriend and she seeks to travel back one week to have a second chance. For Hirai, the tragedy of her sister's death fills her with regret for not having been kinder and more supportive when she could have been. In Kei's storyline, time travel into the future allows her to meet her unborn child and make sure she won't regret going through with her life-threatening pregnancy. In this way, regret motivates the characters to reassess what they've lost or worry they might lose, and Kawaguchi shows them becoming wiser, more humble people.

In what significant ways does Kawaguchi explore grief in Before the Coffee Gets Cold?

In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Kawaguchi depicts the major theme of grief as a burden several characters must shoulder. In Kohtake's storyline, her husband's early-onset Alzheimer's disease means he stops recognizing her as his wife. Kohtake quickly resigns herself to the fact she will have to treat him as a nurse (her profession) would treat a patient. But in doing so, Kohtake denies herself the opportunity to fully mourn the loss of their relationship as husband and wife, as though she can skip over the more difficult parts of grappling with such a significant personal loss. Grief also arises in Hirai's storyline as she mourns the loss of her sister. In this section of the book, Kawaguchi shows Hirai suppressing her emotions until she learns that her sister always dreamed of running their family business together. Following this revelation, Hirai commits to making something positive of her grief by moving home to Sendai and repairing her relationship with their parents, as her sister would have wanted.

What role does sacrifice play in Before the Coffee Gets Cold?

Sacrifice plays a central role in Before the Coffee Gets Cold as one of the novel's major themes. Defined as the act of giving up something valuable for the sake of someone else or a higher purpose, sacrifice first arises in Fumiko's storyline when she revisits her conversation with Goro. When he steers the conversation in a slightly different direction, she learns that, if she really loves him, she will have to wait for him to pursue his dream job in America for three years; this means she will have to sacrifice the certainty she demands and get comfortable not knowing her future. For Hirai, sacrifice comes in the form of relinquishing her stubborn pride in order to repair her relationship with her parents. In doing so, Hirai fulfills her promise to Kumi, putting her sister's needs over her own in a way that turns out to benefit Hirai as well. Kawaguchi addresses the theme most directly in Kei's section, which depicts Kei sacrificing her own life to give birth to Miki. In each case, the characters discover that sacrifice, while difficult, is vital to their spiritual growth.

What role does uncertainty play in Before the Coffee Gets Cold?

As one of the novel's major themes, uncertainty plays a significant role in Before the Coffee Gets Cold. Kawaguchi introduces the theme in Fumiko's storyline: Unhappy with the lack of context Goro provided when breaking up with her, Fumiko travels back one week to redo their last conversation. Although she craves certainty, Goro leaves Fumiko in a prolonged state of uncertainty by asking her to wait three years while he pursues his dreams; after that, they may get together again. Uncertainty also plays a central role in Kohtake's storyline, as her husband's sporadic memory means she has to be comfortable not knowing how he will react to her. Uncertainty about her pregnancy is a major motivating factor behind Kei's decision to travel into the future. By meeting her daughter, Kei realizes that she can't always be there for Miki, but she discovers that she is okay with not knowing the full extent of Miki's future. In this way, Kawaguchi emphasizes the importance of becoming comfortable with not knowing what life will bring.

The cafe's time travel rules dictate that nothing a person does in the past can change their present, leading journalists in the book to critique it as futile. Does the book show time travel to be pointless?

Early in Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Kazu explains that there are strict rules for the time travel that the cafe makes possible. Among those rules: no matter what, nothing you do in the past will affect your present. Upon learning this, Fumiko wonders what the point of going back in time could be. However, by the end of her section of the novel, Fumiko realizes that while her present is no different, having traveled through time means she may have influenced the future, which Kazu says is "up to you." Similarly, Kohtake and Hirai discover there are benefits of time travel, as they both return to the present determined to forge ahead in their lives, moving from despair to hope. At the novel's climax, Kei has her own epiphany, realizing that while no material circumstances change in the present, time travel grants customers the opportunity to change their "hearts." Ultimately, Kazu disagrees with the journalists: she believes the chair's purpose is to give people new perspectives on their lives, filling them with the hope and courage they need to overcome the difficulties they face.