The use of botanical imagery not only adds depth to And Then, but provides insights into Soseki's characters and plots. By examining these imagery, readers can gain a better understand of novel. .
Soseki cleverly utilizes botanical imagery to bring out the state of mind of Daisuke. Throughout And Then, Daisuke spends more time with flowers than with women, whom he shows little interest in. Instead, it appears that he finds flowers an alternative to women, which can be easily understood because flowers reflect gentleness, youth, spiritual perfection and artless innocence, qualities which are the fundamental attributes of feminine character. Daisuke is captivated by flowers because they contain both beauty and perfection that he finds in Michiyo, the woman whom his heart belongs to. .
Since Daisuke cannot be with Michiyo, he satisfies this longing and needs through the intimacy he shares with flowers. At the beginning of the story, he picks up a camellia blossom that has fallen to the floor, draws it so close to his nose that "his mouth, mustache, and nose were [are] all but hidden in the flower" and gets a good sniff at it. Then, later on in the chapter, he indulges himself in the scent of the white lilies-of-the-valley until he dozes off, as if the flower .
In one scene, Daisuke even takes pollen from a stamen and smears it on the pistil of a potted amanthus (39). By this hand pollination of the flower, Daisuke's sexual tension is released. Daisuke observes a large potted clivia shed its petals on the verandah. Its green leaves "almost as wide as a broad sword were [are] pushing through the stems and growing long (99)." Daisuke is particularly fascinated by green fluid that is oozed out of the leaves. This seems to allude to Daisuke's own genital organ and his growing sexual frustration. .
Daisuke often relies on the fragrance of flowers to "lure his restless consciousness into the world of dreams (114)" as if to escape the world in which he is in.
