An obese woman, who was given food by the whole village community because neighbours expected her eventual death would be a sacrifice, making her a scapegoat for their sins. Who could have come up with such psychological play if not Kenzaburo?

Self-punishment: Was it a political novel, a social dissection? For me, it was a personal story. It was about punishing oneself. About leaving less and less space for yourself until you find yourself in a shithole.

Doppelganger: The way Takashi stormed the protagonist's life, the way Takashi succeeded with his wife, where he failed reminds me of the typical doppelganger plots, where the better/desired double shakes the lives of the heroes.

P.S. I am always confused by the frequency and normalcy of suicide in Japanese plots. That's a really big cultural difference in there.