Love Triangle (Part 3)

As mentioned in my previous post, Part 2 in this series, that in Candy Candy Final Story (CCFS), Candy told Terry (writing a letter to him but not planning to send it) that she had got over him. Read that post to see what I have said about that letter.

For example, the following manga picture*** shows that Candy shed tears for Terry after talking with his mother in Rockstown, believing that he would be able to emerge from his depression (leaving Rockstown). Candy said something about Terry going back to Broadway for his career… “because I loved you.” She used past tense there, same as the way she closed her unsent letter to him (both in CCFS and the old novel).

So there was a similar letter in the old Candy Candy novel, which was so much longer, and the tone was more sentimental, even nostalgic, when Candy recalled the times that she and Terry had kept missing each other (because of fate?). I wonder why Mizuki changed the letter that way.

Besides this unsent letter to Terry, Candy did send a letter to his mother, Miss Eleanor Baker, both in CCFS and the old novel, meaning to politely decline her invitation to see Terry’s Hamlet in Broadway. See below for the excerpt (note the bolded words for discussion):

“Dear Miss Eleanor Baker,

Thank you very much for your letter and the invitation ticket.

“Hamlet”

How long was I staring vacantly at the invitation ticket.

I knew about the performance of Hamlet through newspapers and magazines. I preferably don’t want to know the news about Terrus, but I wonder at the fact that I find the news without realizing.

It’s been a long time since you spoke to me in Rockstown.

I made a short visit to that town by accident, to search for a missing person who has helped me very much. 

….

At that moment I felt that Terry certainly would get over it.

I wanted to see Terry …

But I didn’t want to see him in this way …

Terrus Graham is a natural-born actor!

He’s not a person who is satisfied with such stages or performances!

Miss Baker, you know it more than anyone.

….

However … I must decline your kind offer.

I want to see Terry’s performance … however I don’t want to.

If I see his performance, surely I’ll feel the urge to meet him, to exchange a word with him. Besides, I have promised Susanna. I promised not to see him again.

… “

First, Candy told Terry’s mother that she tried not to read about Terry’s news, and it had been a long time since her visit to Rockstown. I wonder, how long ago had it been? Months? A year or more? We don’t know. Moreover, Candy tried not to read about Terry, so does it mean she was determined to forget about him?

Then Candy explained that she had gone to that small town not because of Terry (unlike Ms Baker, who stalked after her son I gather) but because of someone who had helped her a lot. In Japanese, Candy used the word, 恩人 (onjin) to refer to Albert (the man whom she had wanted to find in Rockstown). The English translation of onjin is benefactor or patron, but in Japanese onjin has a broader meaning. For those who know Chinese will understand what I mean here. There’s the same term in Chinese language too.

For example, in the manga, when Candy was being fired by Dr. Leonard in the hospital because she lived with the male patient, she argued with the director and defended herself, saying that the amnesiac patient was her onjin. She had no idea that Albert was the one who had adopted her, so what she meant was that Albert had helped her a lot in the past (e.g. he had saved her life).

In fact, the literal meaning of the Japanese term on jin is grace person, who bestows grace on another person; the person who has received grace often feels indebted to his/her “onjin” (as in Candy’s case, and that’s why she wanted to pay back Albert’s kindness).

Then Candy related to Ms Baker that she had had a feeling that Terry “would get over it”. Is that why Candy didn’t even talk to him? She didn’t want him to know that she saw how miserable he was? What do you think?

Also, Candy explained why she declined to see Hamlet because she had promised Susanna not to talk to Terry again. I don’t recall this in the manga. That might be something new in CCFS, but anyway, it seemed that Candy was quite determined to let go of Terry. Or do you think she didn’t want to travel to New York again?

At any rate, compared to the similar letter in the old CC novel, Candy wrote to Ms Baker differently. She didn’t mention why she had gone to Rockstown (thus not mentioning her “onjin”), and she said the main reason for not seeing Terry act in Broadway again was

… If I see his play, I will want to meet him. I’ll want to meet and talk to him.
Unlike the play in the road company in that country town, finally I might be able to see Terry’s play.
But I decided to give up.
There is still my painful memory in New York.
I can’t smile saying that has changed to the memory.
After a while… after a while, time will cure it.
I’m sorry, Miss Baker.
Please forgive me for rudely sending back the invitation ticket.
Candice White Ardley

So in CCFS, Mizuki had removed the part in which Candy said that her memory in New York was still painful. I wonder if Mizuki wanted to convey to us that Candy had truly got over Terry by then. At the same time, Candy brought up Susanna in this CCFS letter. Come to think of it, Candy was supposed to belong to Terry’s past. He was engaged to Susanna after all. The fact that Candy could mention Susanna’s name also showed that she was healing. What do you think?

*** Many thanks to my friend, who provided pictures of the manga in the Japanese version, I can now go over different pages whenever I like. 😀