As stated before, this situation with the main
character also points back to Abe’s feelings of isolation during his childhood.
It seems that Abe is showing a part of himself through his character; both Abe
and his character feel somewhat rejected and not quite fitting in. Even with
women it seems since the narrator is coldly rejected by a woman and states,
“...the woman turns her face into a wall and shuts the window. That’s the true
form of a woman’s smiling face.” Possibly, Abe had also been rejected by a woman
over some matter and his conveying his feelings about that in this statement.
The end of the story appears to me to be more complex and intricate than the
rest of the story. I have a difficult time determining what is meant by the
narrator being unwound and wrapped in a cocoon other than the narrator’s
complete isolation from the rest of the world. I have inclinations to believe,
though that there are politcal issues that are underlying this part of the
story, but I’m unsure exactly what. What is somewhat obvious, though is that Abe
is attempting to show how these issues that he has brought up, such as
possessions, isolation of an individual, etc., can cause one to isolate
themselves to the point of becoming fearful of contact with others or even
death. Also, it leads me to believe that Abe is stating that the only way he
feels at home at all is to be by himself, an obivious branch off his problems
growing up. The last line of the story is of some interest, however. Here, the
narrator has been completely enveloped in the cocoon and his whole body has been
unwound and incorporated into the cocoon itself.
A policeman comes by and sees
the cocoon lying on railroad tracks and picks it up. The policeman takes the
cocoon and places it in his son’s toy box. Earlier in the story, the policeman
had showed up in a small role to forcefully remove the narrator from a park
bench. Keeping in mind that the story possibly has a motivated political opinion
built in, it is likely that the policeman represents the government of power.
So, it appears that the government Abe is talking about has lead to the
isolation of Abe and contributed to his feelings of neglect. The last
circumstance of the cocoon being placed in the toy box quite possibly means that
the government has not taken the movement of Abe’s politcal party seriously and
has considered it a joke. Abe’s story is full of symbolism and underlying
meaning in my view. It is very interesting that he write such an intricate and
abstract piece of literature and still get a message across. As in the case of
many works of art, a little knowledge of the originator will very likely be of
some help in detereming the meaning of the work as well as the motives they had
for producing it. Art, in all forms, is an extension of the self and knowing a
little bit about someone else will help you in understanding them and their
work.
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