Shuriken Symbol Analysis

Case first sees a shuriken in the window of a weapon’s store in Chiba. It appears again when Molly buys one for him (having seem him eyeing them), and then in the final pages of the novel when Molly uses Case’s shuriken to pin a goodbye note to the wall. The shuriken, a star-shaped metal weapon, makes Case think of “his destiny spelled out in a constellation of cheap chrome.” Although Case never uses it, the shuriken appears in moments when his life is changing, and a new beginning is around the corner. Shurikens, miniature stars weaponized and brought to earth, are signs of changes to come, indications that Case’s life is about to become radically different, for better or for worse.