I agree when you state that in the novel there is a thin line between
dream and reality. Murakami gives the impression that most of the novel
takes place as much in reality and the actual events of daily life as
well as in the dreams. Furthermore, Murakami reveals much more details
about his characters during their dreams. When Lieutenant Mamiya shares
his fascinating story to Toru and states, "Life went by as a dream"
(133) The idea behind this phrase also conveys the emptiness of
Lieutenant Mamiya's life after he discovers he is "unable to die."
Lieutenant Mamiya gives us the impression that he "dragged" himself
through life and that is was a never ending dream even though he risked
his life numerous times. When Toru decides to go into the well Murakami
uses flashbacks to Toru's previous life to reveal other aspects of
Kumiko as well Toru. The numerous references to dreams and dream-like
situations is a recurring motif that reveal other sides to each
character in the novel.
It is very true that the dream and reality theme of the book is extremely pronounced. Even after reading it, I'm still not sure what really did happen or what didn't. For example, all of the trips Toru has through the wall of the well into the hotel room where he finds the same exact scenes from before (the Cutty sark, the knock on the door, the women in the bed, etc) are like dreams, but then seem to have an effect in the "real world" (when Toru beats up what seems to be the dream alter-ego of Nobory Wataya and then he finds out that NW had a heart accident). His trips through the wall however, and the fact that he's looking for the same scene/signs as before reminded me of when you wake up in the middle of a good dream, and you try to go fall asleep again and go back to it, to finish it I guess, and so you try to remember all of the hazy images that were part of the dream.
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