Sputnik

The satellite Sputnik is a symbol of the loneliness experienced by the three main characters throughout the novel. The novel's title is a reference to this symbol and to the first conversation Sumire has with Miu, in which Miu conflates the terms "Sputnik" and "Beatnik" (7) while discussing Jack Kerouac. After this initial introduction of the symbol, Sputnik becomes a reference point for the fact that these characters have few close connections with other people in their lives. Sumire tells K that she feels lonely, "Like there's no more gravity, and I'm left to drift in outer space," to which he responds, "Like a little lost Sputnik?" (63). Later, Miu tells K that Sputnik means "traveling companion" (98) in Russian, noting the irony of this, considering she and Sumire had been traveling together. She then says of Sumire's disappearance, "That we were wonderful traveling companions but in the end...