Mirakami's Colorless

What is the world’s ethos (the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize the world)? 

Following Haruki Mirakami’s Colorless, one of the very clear ideals that characterize the world is having a name represented by color. Throughout the book, the protagonist finds that he has no clear purpose in his life, seeing as how his name stands for ‘to create’ rather than a color like the rest of the people he has met. As such, he has this mentality that if one does not have a name that stands for a color, you have no clear purpose. That was why he was so distant and closed off from his group of friends.

Ironically, it was having a ‘colorless’ name that “allowed” him to be set into a set group like the rest of his friends. They had colorful names, “outstanding” skills, and in the eyes of the protagonist, they were all around nearly flawless. But because he did not have a title, of sorts, to his name he was able to be anything he wanted. He didn’t have to fulfill certain expectations and thusly, was able to keep the group together. He was the malleable friend that allowed the other four to get along successfully and always be together. Without him, they fell apart completely.