1Q84

Although the book is coy about characterizing the Little People as wholly evil, it is indisputable that their presence brings violence and trauma. Leader explicitly states that his rapes of young girls are done at the behest of the Little People, who seek a new heir to carry their message—though the book never explains what that message is. They tend to emerge from death and decay, as in the case of the dead goat and Ushikawa. And their agents and followers, including Buzzcut and Ponytail, are undoubtedly sinister and prepared to kill those who cross the Little People, if necessary.

Given that they are effectively worshipped by Sakigake, a hybrid cult combining religion and capitalism, the Little People may represent patriarchal structures that encourage and sanction the abuse of women. Again, the book does not explicitly ascribe particular motivations or doctrines to the Little People, so this is merely an interpretation. Yet given the extent to which the Little People are associated with the destructive legacies of fathers and various male-dominated systems, there is evidence to support that interpretation.

Particular pieces of music comprise important recurring motifs throughout 1Q84. For example, as Aomame crosses over into 1Q84, she hears Leoš Janáček’s Sinfonietta. She places particular emphasis on the fact that the composition came out in 1926, when “[t]he short interlude of modernism and democracy was ending, giving way to fascism” (3). Thus, it is a song that represents transition, from a world of order into a world of chaos. Yet just as fascism was defeated, paving the way for a new postwar era, the anti-logic of 1Q84 is a waystation through which Aomame and Tengo cross into a brighter place as a loving couple expecting a child.

An even more explicitly resonant musical motif is the 1933 jazz and pop standard “It’s Only a Paper Moon.” Popularized by Ella Fitzgerald, the song is first heard at a hotel bar as Aomame propositions a man for a one-night stand; and later, Leader sings it to Aomame shortly before she kills him. The lyrics of the chorus are particularly relevant to the narrative: “It’s only a paper moon / Sailing over a cardboard sea / But it wouldn’t be make-believe / If you believed in me.” In short, the anti-logic governing 1Q84 and all the violations of the natural order that come with it won’t matter to Aomame as long as she has Tengo, the man she loves.

In a practical sense, the appearance of a second moon in the sky signifies to characters that they have entered 1Q84. In a more symbolic sense, however, the second moon is at turns disturbing and awe-inspiring. The moon, the narration states, “was imprinted upon human genes like a warm collective memory” (529). It is a sight that would be as familiar to an early hunter-gatherer human as to a late 20th century assassin or ghostwriter. Thus, the appearance of that second moon feels like a profound natural violation that hits Aomame on a primal level. Moreover, the classical symbolic markers associated with the moon—fertility, change, madness—resonate through Aomame’s character arc. She first believes that she is hallucinating upon seeing the second moon, only later to accept the bizarre, illogical occurrences that accompany its presence, including her spontaneous pregnancy.