Dreams

The author uses this theme to address both meanings of the word dream—to aspire to something and to experience illusory visions during sleep—in different contexts and for different purposes. Miu and Sumire both have ambitions of artistic greatness that they have struggled to achieve. Miu trained to be a classical pianist and demonstrated skill and talent for such a career, but stopped playing when she was 25. She tells people that she quit music because her father died and her family needed her to help run his company, but it is later revealed that this is only partially true; the incident that occurred in the Swiss town on the Ferris wheel made Miu feel that she could never play piano again. Just before the events of the novel, Sumire dropped out of college to commit herself to writing full-time, but she struggles to create something...