ound 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 sons 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 Abes politcal party seriously and has considered it a joke. Abes 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. ...
