Link's Awakening Questions.

I did a play through of Legend of Zelda Link's Awakening recently. It is a game I have played through many times, and is likely my favorite of the 2d Zeldas. While playing I got thinking about what is happening in this game, and how there are many unanswered questions concerning the events of the game.

We are told through the course of the game that the island it take place on is a dream of a being known as the "Wind Fish". The rules of this dream are unclear. We are told that all that exists (other than Link) are all parts of this dream. The bosses at the end of each dungeon all mention being part of this dream, and work toward keeping the "Wind Fish" asleep. However, none of the people (or talking animals) of the island mention any knowledge of being part of a dream. So do these people actually breed, and age, and die? We see children as well as old people, there is a graveyard to be found, but did all of these things just appear when the dream started, or did they develop over time?  Have the children all been children for possibly hundreds of years as the "Wind Fish" took its nap?

More over we see ruins on the island. Here again, have they always been ruins, or have there been civilizations they have risen and fallen over time on this island? In one ruin we find literal writing on the wall that the island is a dream of the "Wind Fish". Did the first people as part of the dream know this, and write it down, or did this ruin materialize with the message already in it?

We also see an odd level of civilization on this isolated island. We see a guy running a shop with a huge mechanical arm that gives out prizes, but no where else do we see this level of technology. We see that there is a library, and telephones throughout the island, but we see no evidence of any carpenters or electricians.