“Japan is like a young woman who thinks too much of herself. She's bound to get herself in trouble.”
The novel is a bildungsroman that captures Stephen’s growth from a childhood mentality into maturity. He faces trials and pain in his adventures as he learns what it means to be an adult and what growing up comes with. He receives mentorship whereas making new friendships and falling in love with a girl his own age. The quotation expresses his acceptance of the inexperience that comes with being young, considering his friends are much older than him. Thus, Stephen is aware that over time the juvenile attitudes or emotions will strengthen as he learns and experiences more.
"The things you remember about a person when they're gone are funny. No two people will feel the same way, though usually, it has to do with scent, or expression, the sound of a voice, an unusual gesture."
Stephen contemplates his breakup with Keiko and the sentiments he harbors while trying to get over her. Their relationship was doomed by the fact that they are from different backgrounds, Keiko being Japanese while Stephen is Chinese. The political and cultural tensions during this period of war meant that Keiko’s family could not accept the relationship. Furthermore, Keiko felt guilty of continuing dating him after his brother dies in the war and ends it. Keiko as his first love, Stephen is left heartbroken and remembers the subtle things that always remain lingering in his mind. Henceforth, the quotation alludes to how two people who loved each other still feel connected to each other through specific senses or amusing mannerisms.
“Sometimes the house is so quiet I feel like the only noise that fills my mind is what I've created myself. Remembered conversations come back to me as if my friends and family were right here in the room.”
While Stephen is diagnosed with Tuberculosis he is quarantined in his room and his sister prohibited from paying him a visit. Accordingly, he faces the pain of the sickness whilst experiencing loneliness and isolation from the rest of the world. Although this experience molds him into a full-fledged doer into his adulthood, it was a moment of pain and mind-numbing solitude. The statement shows how Stephen copes with the situation alluding to the significant motif of the narrative, family and friends. Rather than sinking into sorrow, Stephen finds joy in evoking nostalgic experiences with his family and friends.
