Pretty much the same concepts that were more fully developed in the author's subsequent book 'Earthlings', but I don't care. I love it all and I gobble it up.

The recurring theme is feeling alien to the basic assumptions and demands of society (i.e., the 'factory'). This necessitates that a facade of being a fully functional societal 'tool' is maintained if one hopes to avoid detection and total elimination. Working in a convenience store aka a "forcibly normalized environment" (which Murata actually does irl) offers that lifeboat to the main character, at least until she hits her 30s and her family and friends start wondering why she is unmarried and has been working the same shitty part-time job for 18 years.

Murata's execution is always terrific...simultaneously funny/charming and scathing/defiant. You could say I have a bit of an author crush.