How does the author employ the theme of fantasy and reality in the novel, Earthlings?

Fantasy and reality are constantly blurring together throughout the novel, suggesting that there is no clear line between the objective world and the subjective world as seen through the lens of Natsuki. From the start, Natsuki’s youthful imagination enlivens the novel with its magical thinking: “I took Piyyut out of my bag. He looked like a white hedgehog plush toy, but actually he was an emissary sent by the Magic Police on Planet Popinpobopia. Piyyut had given me the magic wand and mirror to help me use my magical powers” (6). Here, Natsuki speaks of her imaginary world as if it were objective fact, because in her experience as a child it actually is fact.

Natsuki’s childish imagination colors the narration throughout the novel. When she looks out at the world, she does not see houses or towns, but giant cocoons: "As I cycled past the rows of identical houses, I thought to myself again how much like nests they looked. They resembled a huge cocoon that Yuu and I had once found in the Akishna mountains" (40). Her imaginative way of thinking is often so thought-out and deliberate that her fantasies read like perfectly acceptable forms of reality, and sometimes, as we see here, her fantastical thinking simply puts a slightly imaginative spin on something mundane. At other times, however, Natsuki’s magical thinking overwhelms her mind and the narrative of the novel.

Natsuki uses her imagination to cope with the trauma she experiences, and the more trauma she is subjected to, the stronger her fantasies become. When Mr. Igasaki convinces Natsuki to come to his house by telling her that Shizuka is there, Natsuki holds onto Piyyut thinking that he will help keep her safe: “I clutched hold of Piyyut, who was hidden in my bag, as Mr. Igasaki yanked me along with him. Silently I chanted a spell. My magical powers could make me invincible. I would go and help Shizuka” (58). When he sexually assaults Natsuki and forces her to perform oral sex on him, she again reaches into her imaginative thinking and pretends that she is using her powers to float outside of her body so she remains safe throughout the encounter. When Mr. Igasaki calls and tells her to come over, she uses her magical thinking again to convince herself she is hearing the voice of Piyyut, who is telling her to sneak into Mr. Igasaki’s house and kill the Wicked Witch so that she can cope with the idea of murdering Mr. Igasaki, which is a terrible thing for a young girl to have to do no matter how abhorrent of a person Mr. Igasaki is. In the end, it is quite possible that Natsuki slips entirely into fantasy, though this is never made clear by the author. Instead, we are left intentionally in the dark, forced to decide where the line between reality and fantasy is, or whether it even exists at all.