To gain the readers attention in the book so they can keep reading.
Diminish means become less severe
Tear, as it were, accomplishes his fantasy when he rests for a very long time. At the point when he awakens, the world has changed. The new country has invigorated the residents, who are presently residents of their own republic, ready to cast a ballot in decisions and steer their own fates.
There's no way to answer that until we know
what fraction of the band are woodwinds.
