Explore Yasunari Kwabata's use of symbolism in the novel Snow Country.

The novel's second part begins with Shimamura in his room observing the early autumn insects that have entered it. Of particular importance is the moth: "The moth did not move. He struck at it with his fist, and it fell like a leaf from a tree, floating lightly up midway to the ground" (90). Shimamura had disturbed it to figure out whether it was alive or dead, and on a subdued but happy note it is revealed that it is alive. However, we the readers understand that a leaf that falls from the tree, even if lifted briefly on a breeze, must eventually touch the ground. Thus, on this, Shimamura's last and longest visit to the hot spring, autumn cools into winter and things begin to pass away, including the moth and what it represents, namely Shimamura's and Komako's love: "A moth on the screen was still for a very long time. It too was dead, and it fell to the earth like a dead leaf" (132).