Chapter 35 Summary: Inside Wasaburo Oishi's Journal

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

⚠️ This summary and analysis contains major plot details for Chapter 35 of The Fervor. If you haven't read this chapter yet, you may want to do so before continuing.

Summary

In September 1927, Wasaburo Oishi records his ongoing struggle against a mysterious and deadly spider infestation in his journal. The chapter opens with a letter from his colleague at Meiji University, who confirms that the spider species is unknown to him, that it is poisonous, and that it may be responsible for the strange afflictions affecting patients at the local hospital. The colleague requests more samples and advises avoidance, but Oishi knows that is impossible given the spiders' prevalence.

Determined to act, Oishi decides to develop an antivenom. He recalls the standard procedure: injecting small amounts of venom into a host animal so that the animal's body produces antibodies, which can then be harvested to create a treatment. However, he immediately recognizes the practical obstacles—the spiders are tiny, making venom collection nearly impossible, and he has no way to measure a safe dose for a host animal. Despite these doubts, he resolves to try.

His attempts fail. With the help of the gamekeeper, Oishi traps badgers, chipmunks, and weasels, placing their cages under the heaviest spiderwebs. The spiders swarm the helpless animals, which quickly become rabid and die within hours. Oishi is tormented by the cruelty but justifies it as necessary for science. He cannot even draw blood from the animals because they deteriorate so rapidly. He also notes a strange observation: when left alone, the spiders seem to avoid biting mammals, as evidenced by the absence of rabid animals roaming freely on the island.

The gamekeeper, frightened by the rabid specimens, notifies mainland authorities. In response, the ferry to Hokkaido is shut down until the situation can be investigated, leaving Oishi and the others trapped on the island.

Later, Oishi discovers Meiko playing with what appears to be a large sac of spider eggs. In a panic, he knocks it from her hands, only to realize it is an empty web. Over the following days, he monitors Meiko closely, dreading that she might show signs of infection, but she remains perfectly healthy. This leads him to wonder whether the silk itself might contain a protective agent. He collects some spiderweb, soaks it in water, and distills it into a tincture. He administers the tincture to a test animal that is just beginning to show signs of agitation, and within hours the animal's condition seems to stabilize. Oishi acknowledges that more testing is needed and admits he may be imagining the result because he wants it to succeed so badly.

Key Events

Oishi receives a letter from his Meiji University colleague confirming the spider is unknown, poisonous, and possibly linked to the hospital patients' condition.
Oishi decides to create an antivenom despite the practical difficulties of collecting venom from tiny spiders.
With the gamekeeper's help, Oishi traps badgers, chipmunks, and weasels, exposing them to spider swarms; the animals become rabid and die within hours.
Oishi observes that spiders avoid biting mammals when left alone, suggesting a deliberate behavior.
The gamekeeper notifies mainland authorities, leading to the ferry shutdown and trapping everyone on the island.
Oishi finds Meiko playing with an empty spider web; she shows no signs of infection.
Oishi distills the web into a tincture and gives it to a test animal showing early agitation, which seems to halt the progression of symptoms.

Character Development

Wasaburo Oishi emerges as a man driven by scientific urgency but also by guilt and hope. His willingness to sacrifice animals for the greater good shows his commitment to finding a cure, yet he prays for forgiveness and nearly relents, revealing a compassionate core. His observation of Meiko's innocence and health sparks a new line of inquiry, demonstrating his ability to learn from unexpected sources. His final admission that he might be deceiving himself underscores his vulnerability and the psychological toll of isolation and failure.

Meiko appears only briefly but serves as a catalyst. Her innocent play with the empty web—untainted by fear or knowledge—leads to a potential breakthrough. She represents the purity that can sometimes reveal truths that adult reasoning overlooks.

The gamekeeper acts out of fear, not malice. His decision to notify authorities is understandable, but it results in the island's isolation, intensifying the sense of entrapment. His role highlights how fear can escalate a crisis.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Sacrifice for science: Oishi's use of live animals as test subjects raises ethical questions about the cost of progress. His internal conflict shows the moral weight of such choices.
Isolation and entrapment: The ferry shutdown physically traps the characters, mirroring the psychological entrapment of fear and uncertainty. The island becomes a closed system where the threat cannot be escaped.
Hope versus self-deception: Oishi's desperate hope for the tincture's effectiveness is tempered by his own acknowledgment that he may be imagining results. This tension between desire and reality is a recurring motif.
Accidental discovery through innocence: Meiko's harmless interaction with the web, free of adult preconceptions, leads to a potential scientific insight. This suggests that breakthroughs can come from unexpected, untainted sources.
Spiderweb as protection: The web, initially mistaken for a threat, becomes a symbol of possible salvation. The silk's potential protective properties invert the spider's deadly nature.
Madness and rabidity: The rapid onset of rabid symptoms in animals and patients underscores the venom's terrifying speed and the thin line between sanity and madness.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter deepens the novel's central mystery by revealing the spider's unique properties and the difficulty of combating it. Oishi's failed antivenom attempts highlight the scientific limitations of the era and the desperation of the situation. The discovery of the web's potential protective agent introduces a new avenue for hope, while also raising questions about the nature of the threat—is it purely biological, or something more supernatural? The ferry shutdown amplifies the sense of isolation, making the characters' predicament more dire. Additionally, Meiko's role as an accidental catalyst reinforces the theme that innocence can sometimes see what experience cannot. This chapter sets up future developments by giving Oishi a possible solution, even as he doubts it.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Oishi decide to create an antivenom despite the practical difficulties he identifies?

Oishi is driven by the urgent need to help the hospital patients and by his own sense of responsibility. He acknowledges the challenges—collecting venom from tiny spiders, determining safe dosages—but feels he must try something rather than wait passively for his colleague's research. His decision reflects both his scientific determination and his desperation.

2. What role does Meiko play in this chapter, and how does her interaction with the web lead to a potential breakthrough?

Meiko is found playing with an empty spider web, which Oishi initially mistakes for a sac of eggs. Her lack of any infection after handling the web makes Oishi wonder if the silk itself might contain a protective agent. This observation prompts him to distill the web into a tincture, which appears to halt the progression of symptoms in a test animal. Meiko's innocent action, free of fear or preconception, provides the clue that adult reasoning had missed.

3. How does the gamekeeper's decision to notify authorities affect the characters and the story's tension?

The gamekeeper's fear leads him to contact mainland authorities, who respond by shutting down the ferry to Hokkaido. This traps Oishi, Meiko, and the others on the island, cutting off any possibility of escape or outside help. The isolation heightens the sense of danger and forces the characters to confront the threat alone, increasing the narrative tension and setting the stage for further developments.