Na-chan's father is an odd man, collecting things that many throw away, seeing beauty in what people find repulsive, refusing society as society refuses him. He lives under his own rules, speaks strange languages, and talks about things that are far from mundane or understandable to us, the common folk. When he dies, Na-chan is left alone, with people around her telling "good riddance" and "finally". And then, she seems to get it. But what exactly?
There is a certain tragedy in this story that is hard to define in simple, human words. Maybe the unknown language that the man has spoken would be able to do so. Was Na-chan's father a schizophrenic and if yes, was the trauma of his death and her forced relocation the push for Na-chan's schizophrenia to develop? Was it the "small stone" that forces "the world to collapse"? Or was he the holder of some truth that after his death was transferred to his daughter? Was it neglect the way of their living or a form of protection from the cruel, unbalanced world full of suffering? Why the death of this man, essentially a hermit in a city, was accepted with such happiness and relief? There are a lot of questions that cannot be answered, but the story made me reflect on how I treat this kind of people, people that I cannot understand or find repulsive or strange or bizarre due to their style of living. Do they maybe hold some secret of the universe that I will never get? Well, or maybe they are just simple lunatics trying to live day by day until the world is destroyed as "its collapse is only a question of time". Just like me.
Na-chan's father is an odd man, collecting things that many throw away, seeing beauty in what people find repulsive, refusing society as society refuses him. He lives under his own rules, speaks strange languages, and talks about things that are far from mundane or understandable to us, the common folk. When he dies, Na-chan is left alone, with people around her telling "good riddance" and "finally". And then, she seems to get it. But what exactly?
There is a certain tragedy in this story that is hard to define in simple, human words. Maybe the unknown language that the man has spoken would be able to do so. Was Na-chan's father a schizophrenic and if yes, was the trauma of his death and her forced relocation the push for Na-chan's schizophrenia to develop? Was it the "small stone" that forces "the world to collapse"? Or was he the holder of some truth that after his death was transferred to his daughter? Was it neglect the way of their living or a form of protection from the cruel, unbalanced world full of suffering? Why the death of this man, essentially a hermit in a city, was accepted with such happiness and relief? There are a lot of questions that cannot be answered, but the story made me reflect on how I treat this kind of people, people that I cannot understand or find repulsive or strange or bizarre due to their style of living. Do they maybe hold some secret of the universe that I will never get? Well, or maybe they are just simple lunatics trying to live day by day until the world is destroyed as "its collapse is only a question of time". Just like me.