Cats

Cats seem to carry an important symbolism in this play. There are multiple stories that are told amongst K, Sumire, and Miu about cats; such as the story of the cannibal cats who started to eat their owner after she died, the need to lack sympathy for the cat when deserted on an island, and of Sumire's cat from her childhood that just disappeared one night (pg. 101-106). Although each of these stories appear insignificant and just taking up time in the conversation, they all end up showing up again later in the text in some other context related to K, Sumire, and Miu. At one point, K talks of how the real him dies and the cats come to eat his remains, metaphorically of course (172). Also, Sumire's sudden disappearance is much like the sudden disappearance of her cat so many years prior, she also talks of this cat as the first and last cat she would ever had, just as it appears that Sumire is the first and last love of K's life.