在一定的偽裝語言策略下，姚一葦先生以表徵概念、用為識別的符號及有特定含意的記號為本劇建構之基礎。「爬得高，就跌得重。」在《一口箱子》裡以兩種不同的形式三次出現在劇中，但其「所指」卻是一致的，而且別有用心地都是現實的物理現象。與「社會約定俗成的樣式」相較，這是反慣例，反約定俗成的。 阿三「身材瘦削」，作者卻選擇他當「英雄」；讓他在「某種的社會壓力」下從「廢棄了的瞭望哨」摔下來，死去。他的死強烈表徵社會中某種形式的輕微「迫害」所可能造成的嚴重後果。但阿三並沒有選擇死。他的死是一意外事件，是作者的一種宣告：「我那堅守一點點自我記憶與隱私的卑微軟弱的我」死了。

In Suitcase signs are used to construct the structure of the play. It is a strategy to disguise the meanings in the simplest forms to shun political censorship. One of the thematic signs of the play is 'the higher you climb, the harder you fall'. It is presented first in the form of words. It also twice takes physical action as another form-having the two main characters actually fall down from a high place. But in all these three presentations the sign signifies nothing but the physical fact of the sign in reality. Since this physical fact is a fact that no one with a normal mind would bother himself to argue about it, the phrase, when used, in Chinese cultural background, refers almost never to this physical fact. Compared with conventional usages, it sounds odd when A-shan utters the phrase seriously, referring only to the physical fact. But it is exactly here that we shall pick up the clue, and be sure to find the meanings that the author has invested with. A-shan, the thinner one of the two main characters, is chosen as the 'hero' of the play; he is made, under 'some certain obscure pressure' from the society, to run and hide. In the end, he falls from a deserted observation post, which is several floors above the ground, and dies. His death, of course, signifies the serious result of this teeny weeny 'obscure pressure' from the society. But he does not want to die; his death is an accident; it is the will of the author that he must die. It is the author's proclamation: the weaker part of me, having failed to keep guard of my memory and privacy, has died.