The use of symbolism in the title, with its relation to typhoid fever, is deft and unobtrusive. The technique by which the book begins (with Etsuko purchasing a pomelo to place on her husband's grave in the busy Osaka terminal) permits the reader to observe Etsuko carefully before he is apprised of her predicament. The exciting festival scenes, lighted by blazing bamboo trunks, underscore the fur y of Etsuko's passion for Saburo.