One interesting aspect of the story is the intrusion of Kakuro Ozu at a particular moment into this dynamic between Renee and Paloma. The question that naturally rises from this timing is whether Kakuro Ozu serves an archetypal role. In some ways his presence points to deus ex machina. The idea of Kakuro's wisdom and harmonizing effect is that Renee feels a shift in her private nature, and Paloma realizes in Renee that time is a wonderful monstrosity, both elevating human consciousness to godlike insights, and then doing what the book finally does by taking Renee's life in front of Paloma.
The question of Paloma's suicidal depression receives a complex religious answer in light of this thematic rise and fall. The religious union between Paloma and Renee is their attachment to Japanese culture which spoke to both of their souls and their identities. They didn't know that they shared this until a Japanese man came to stay with them. Their new friendship shows a union of opposites. The man is the uniting force bringing a youthful girl on the precipice of adult consciousness into harmony with a fully developed adult on the precipice of death.
When the union occurs, Paloma finds within herself some identity worth pursuing. Her question about why not to kill herself is answered by the revelation of Renee's artistic elevation. Using art and culture as methods for transcendental growth, Paloma understands how to counteract the suffering of existence. But, she is still not initiated! Kakuro is the godlike force that takes her from question to answer, and then once all the ingredients are mixed together properly, he walks Paloma through the oven of suffering where Paloma's transfiguration is completed. When Renee dies with only Paloma and God (symbolized by Kakuro) to mourn her, Paloma is initiated into the true majesty of adult life. She realizes that her desire to die will be rewarded one day; except now she doesn't want to die anymore.
