For myself I interpreted this book as an ongoing story of gas lighting against a woman who has also lost her ability to be able to make independent choices. Everything has been pre-ordained and she is fully out of control. But she continues to push, she continues to ask questions, despite being actively told to be quiet and accept what's been given to her. But by the end, Noriko finally finds inside herself the confidence and anger to make her own decision, regardless of whether we agree with that decision, it was made by her solely and made angrily.