Is K a lonely Sputnik?

"Why do people have to be this lonely? What is the point of it all" (179)? K thought this as he contemplated being without Sumire at the acropolis. "Human beings in the final analysis have to survive on their own" (195). K bridged this idea with another when he "closed [his] eyes and listened carefully for the descendants of Sputnik, even now circling the earth, gravity their only tie to the planet. Lonely metal souls in the unimpeded darkness of space, they meet, pass each other, and part, never to meet again" (179). Is this satelite a metaphor for K?

K seems to have many relationships with others that are temporary and unfulfilling. Like a lonely satelite he crosses paths with other satelites (people) , but never meets them again. His time with Sumire is bitter sweet because he cannot have a romantic relationship with her. He has desires for her, but he cannot fulfill them. He crosses path with her for a time in his life, but she ends up abruptly leaving his life. In the case of Miu, he never speaks to her again. He wishes he could have seen her again, but she never tries to contact him. "Something must have happened to prevent her from contacting me"(202). This seems to be the case even with the family he grew up with. The only part of his family that he truly connected with was his dog. "...I couldn't communicate with anyone in my family" (194). Even the affair he was having with the mother of one of his students comes to an abrupt end. "...[Carrot] had a new teacher now, there were few times I'd run across my former girlfriend" (203). These people only exist temporarly in k's life like the satelites that cross paths with one another.