First of all, I’d like to express my utmost appreciation to all of you for your encouraging feedback to my latest fanart. Not only that, I really enjoy chatting with you — the comments and discussions in my recent posts are the fuel that keeps me motivated and inspired. In particular, Lynn’s comment reminds me that it’s about time to talk about Terry’s ambiguous letter to Candy, again.
Few years ago I wrote a 3-part series about Terry’s brief letter to Candy (some readers simply call it a note). It is the very last letter in Section III of Candy Candy Final Story, which is enveloped with blank pages in the Japanese version. That is, a blank page follows Susanna’s obituary, then this letter, and then another blank page before the epilogue begins. I was told there was once a joke in a Japanese forum about this letter. These blank pages seem to imply whatever in between can be safely torn from the novel, because its existence or absence has not affected the story as a whole. 😅 Needless to say, many people disagree. In fact, some fans regard this note as the crucial clue to Anohito’s identity, primarily due to their assumption that it was written some time after Susanna’s death. However, please note that the letters in CCFS are not necessarily ordered chronologically. For example, Candy’s letter to Mr. Whitman might be written after her day trip to Lakewood with Albert. The other good example is Candy’s letter to Captain Vincent Brown after a certain Christmas, when she could freely spend her leisure time in Ardlay’s principal mansion in Chicago, admiring Rosemary’s portraits.
I agree with Lynn. If indeed Terry mailed this letter a year or so after Susanna’s funeral, it makes him look like a vulture or hyena. How could he be so cruel to say he had not changed? Yet, as I have explained in my series, the fact that Terry wrote “since then” (あれから) indicates that he expected Candy would understand what he had referred to without him saying it. She would not only know what but also when that incident had taken place, such as their breakup, his forced kiss, etc. It’s unlikely he would expect Candy to know when exactly Susanna had passed away. Some people argued it might be their “reunion” at Rockstown, but it’s unclear in CCFS if Terry had later found out from his mother about Candy’s presence in that roadside theatre.
The other day when I checked the manga I stumbled across the following page in Volume 7. Here I zoomed in to show what Terry thought: …もうあれから一年以上たってしまった……
If you don’t know the context, Terry decided to audition for the upcoming play, Romeo & Juliet, which triggered his memory of May Festival. Therefore, he thought, …it’s been more than a year already…
Doesn’t this sound familiar? I almost couldn’t believe my eyes, so I quickly checked his letter in CCFS. After asking Candy if she had changed, he wrote, …あれから一年たった。
For more details please read my series, in which I explained in depth why I’m convinced he had referred to their first and only kiss (yes, a stolen kiss). The timing in CCFS might not be the same as in the manga, but you got the idea. He might be thinking of Candy about a year after May’s festival, so roughly several months after he had left her in London. Of course, you don’t have to agree with me. 🙂
There’s another interesting fact of his letter that I may not have talked about before. In CCFS or in the manga, Terry liked using the pronoun おれ to refer to himself. The other male characters Albert, Anthony, Archie and Stear all used another pronoun ぼく, which Terry sometimes used as well. For example, in the manga, when Terry was talking to Robert Hathaway or in CCFS when he came up with an excuse not to dance with Eliza at the May festival.
In Japanese there are many first-person singular pronouns, some are neutral, formal or informal. The above two are casual but rarely used by women. If you do a Google search you will see many discussions comparing them. If I’m not mistaken, some people may be offended if a man uses おれ (like Terry), thinking he sounds arrogant, inappropriate or rude. For example, Terry would not use it when talking to Robert Hathaway. 😉 On the other hand, ぼく is also casual but a bit more polite or refined. Not sure if this is true, but I read somewhere that a Shitamachi (Old Tokyo) guy would use おれ but a Ginza guy would use ぼく 😀
In Susanna’s letter to Candy (CCFS), she apologized and thanked Candy with gratitude. She also quoted Terry’s promise to her, that he would stay by her side from now on. Here in CCFS he used ぼく when he was with Susanna. Perhaps he was humbled by her sacrifice? In the manga version, he spoke soft, tender words to her after the accident. Yet, I double checked the scene when Susanna confessed to Terry on the stage, telling him about sending Candy away in the Chicago hotel. Terry used おれ back then when talking to her.
After Susanna ran away in tears, Terry admitted to himself he was certain he did not dislike her (the negative form of きらい). Right after this he remembered Candy and believed his feelings for her would not change no matter what would happen (or so he thought). I can’t seem to find in the manga where Terry said he was attracted to Susanna. Yet, actions speak louder than words, don’t you think? 😉
On the other hand, with Candy, Terry almost always used おれ (both CCFS and the manga) to make him sound tough (or more manly), even at their first encounter on the ocean liner, so much so that Candy was very surprised when Georges revealed that he was the son of a noble. Candy exclaimed Terry was 生意気な口の悪いやつ (a bad guy who is rude and disrespectful) and even said that Anthony was more like a nobleman. 😉
Please don’t get me wrong. Using おれ does not necessarily make a guy sound rude, because it really depends on context. In fact, it’s a trend among young guys these days to use おれ with other male friends or love interests. It’s just that Terry typically used おれ with Candy, but in his brief letter, to my surprise, he wrote ぼく instead. Also, he did not say anything about his feelings. I once discussed this with another Candy Candy fan who knows Japanese. She joked that perhaps this was another Eliza’s prank? 😀 Seriously, he was either unaware he had actually changed after having worked at Stratford, or he wasn’t sure if someone else (other than Candy) would read his letter. 🤔
Lynn brought up another valid point. In CCFS it isn’t clear what Susanna’s injury was, only that she had a very serious accident and that she had to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life. It’s my bad as I’ve always assumed that referred to her amputation. Yet, Nagita sensei had plausibly kept it vague so that her readers won’t be too shocked when Susanna would later suffer from some chronic disease for a long time before her demise.
This post is getting long, but last but not least, I’d like to bring up Lakewood’s comment. She said it was strange or outlandish why Candy or her friends did not discover Susanna’s accident prior to her departure. It’s a good question, and in CCFS from Annie’s letter to Candy, we learned the accident had happened during a dress rehearsal. It’s the same in the manga version, where one of the crew members mentioned the premiere was coming up. A few pages after that Candy was very happy because in three days she would be leaving for New York.
Do you know how frequently magazines or tabloids were published back then? Weekly? Bi-weekly? I honestly don’t know. How about the newspapers? Did Susanna’s accident make it to the headline? Maybe in the local newspapers only and there were other more important news in Chicago? Is it possible Stratford tried to cover it up? What do you think?
Anyway, thanks for reading. Take care and stay safe, my friends! 🙂