Significance of Windows

Windows are symbolic of freedom and possibility. This is evident in Natsuko’s early evaluation of windows at the beginning of the novel’s first chapter, in which she observes that it is possible to determine if someone grew up in poverty by asking how many windows they had, saying, “The number of windows says it all. It says everything. If they had none, or maybe one or two, that’s all you need to know” (5). In this sense, a lack of windows represents a closed-in life bereft of opportunity, whereas the ability to look out on the world represents accessibility.