The Story of Osamu Tezuka's 'The Voice in the Night'
Hello, I'm incompetent.
I often think that if someone has done you a favor or been kind to you, you have to repay them, but in this regard, I don't think you necessarily have to repay that specific person.
That's because I think it's more peaceful to have the mindset that if someone has done you a favor or been kind to you, you should do the same for someone else.
Or rather, 'Be kind because I was kind to you!' seems a bit insane, don't you think? I just think that.
Don't you think it's more about living in the present and creating a groove when you direct that kindness towards someone else?
It's like "Seize the day" from "Dead Poets Society" (original title: "いまを生きる").
The Story of Osamu Tezuka's 'The Voice in the Night'
I first saw it on TV in 'Tales of the Unusual' in real-time, and it was such a good story that when I looked up the original, it turned out to be by Osamu Tezuka. This story also became the impetus for me to start reading Osamu Tezuka's works.
And when I looked it up, it was 2017, so that's 7 years ago now... Was I about 16 or 17, a high school student or just barely graduated? Time flows cruelly...
It's also a story included in Osamu Tezuka's short story collection 'Under the Air'.
'Under the Air' is also a good romantic story, but I'll set that aside for now.
It contains spoilers, or rather, I don't want to worry about them, so please let me write as I please below.
Main characters of 'The Voice in the Night':
- Ruthless CEO
- Cute girl
- Homeless man
And, to get straight to the conclusion, the story goes like this:
- Ruthless CEO = Homeless man
- Cute girl
The girl helped the homeless man, but in reality, that homeless man was a ruthless, successful CEO, an eccentric who lived as a homeless person only on weekends.
The CEO was attracted to the girl and they even got married, but the girl grew disgusted due to self-loathing about her own status.
Ultimately, the girl kills the CEO, either for him or for his wealth, and tries to bring him to the homeless man she was drawn to, but that homeless man is no longer there.
My memory of reading it is quite faint now, but I managed to piece together the above summary by re-reading it, so there might be some inaccuracies. However, if you read the actual story, you'll see more detailed descriptions, so it's better to buy a used copy of 'Under the Air'. In fact, 'Under the Air' itself is interesting.
Setting aside how impressive it is that such a short story has such a suggestive ending and makes readers think. One thing is that if either of them had confessed, it seems this wouldn't have become such a destructive story.
Ultimately, the girl lost both the place that made her feel unpleasant and the place where she felt at ease.
In a sense, if she hadn't taken such destructive action, she could have maintained her position as the CEO's wife, with a place to complain on weekends, even if weekdays were unpleasant...
From the reader's perspective, we know that the CEO = the homeless man, but from the girl's perspective in the story, it's a situation of "my beloved homeless man who mysteriously disappeared".
If the girl in the story were still alive, she might spend the rest of her life without ever knowing that the homeless man was actually the CEO she married, and perhaps that would be a happy thing even in prison. The most painful moment would be when she realizes that she actually harmed the person she loved with her own hands.
However, from the CEO/homeless man's perspective, he might have incurred the wrath of the myriad gods by forcibly twisting the law of attraction, and it's not entirely clear if the girl is truly at fault.
I think the missteps of each character in this story are as follows:
CEO/Homeless man: Should have revealed his true identity and faced the girl fairly and squarely.
Girl: You shouldn't kill people!
I think that's what it comes down to, but it's just idealism, and if such idealism always worked out, anonymous forums, Twitter, and Yahoo! Chiebukuro wouldn't be filled with people's complaints...