"Red Flower"

...He left behind only short stories, about 20 of them. These include "The Red Flower" (1883), about a mental patient who believes that the red poppies blooming in the garden of a mental hospital are the source of evil in the world, and picks and crushes them one by one, dying exhausted but with a cheerful expression on his face, and "The Signal" (1887), which depicts the sacrificial spirit and repentance of two railroad men. During this time, he gradually became afflicted by mental illness, and during a seizure, he threw himself down the stairs from the fourth floor, taking his own life at a young age. ...

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "Red Flower" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…残された作品は短編ばかりで，20編ほど。精神病院の庭に咲いている赤い罌粟（けし）の花をこの世の悪の源と思いこんで，その花を次々ともぎとって押しつぶし，憔悴（しようすい）しきって，しかし晴れやかな顔をして死んでいく精神病患者の話《赤い花》(1883)，2人の線路番の犠牲的精神と悔い改めを描く《信号》(1887)などがある。その間に徐々に心の病におかされ，発作の際に4階の階段から身を投げ，若くして自らの生命を絶った。…

※「《赤い花》」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報