When Seita and Setsuko briefly stay with an aunt after their home is destroyed, she casually uses patriotic language to condemn Seita as undeserving of the food she cooks for him, and euphemistically refers to self-sacrifice as “cooperation”: “Do you think a lazy slug like you deserves the same as people who are working so hard for our nation? You’re old enough now to understand that everyone has got to cooperate”.