A Study of Natsume Soseki's "The Wayfarer" (46): The Young Lady is K from "Kokoro"

Regarding Natsume Soseki's "The Wayfarer," I previously speculated that Misawa had been in love with the "mentally ill young lady" since before her marriage (five or six years ago).

I would like to continue my examination of the "young lady."

1. "The woman who acts as her mother"

I pointed out the timeline of the "young lady" last time. Including that, I have pointed out several times that there is a mystery regarding the "young lady" or her parents' home.
1. Why, after leaving her husband's house, was she unable to return to her parents' home and instead stayed at the Misawa residence?

2. Moreover, if it were only temporary, that would be one thing, but there is a possibility that her stay at the Misawa residence lasted up to three years, and she ended up being hospitalized and passing away without ever returning to her parents' home. Why did she never return to her parents' home?

From Misawa's words, it is only described as "also complicated circumstances."

1 (1) The young lady is also an adopted child

To consider this, I will quote a passage that seems to serve as material.

(* Since the copyright has expired, this quote is free to use.)

This is the scene of the third-year memorial service. It seems to be Jiro's summary of Misawa's words.

Why does he write the "young lady's" parents as "the person who acts as her father", and furthermore, "the woman who acts as her mother"? Why write it this way when it would be normal to just say "her father and mother"?
Moreover, it is Jiro who is writing this. Misawa himself is speaking with feelings of unpleasantness, but Jiro rather feels a sense of "absurdity" in it. There is no reason for Jiro to intentionally use such sarcastic terms for the parents of a complete stranger on Misawa's behalf.

Especially regarding the mother, by writing "the woman who acts as her mother", he is deliberately emphasizing that she is a "woman", compared to the father. It is as if Nao is intentionally saying "a mistress (me) because I am a woman".

The reason that comes to mind for using such an expression is that "they are not her real parents."

The writer is Jiro, but with this phrasing, it feels as if both parents, or at least the mother, are not her biological parents, and for some reason, Jiro knows this.

1 (2) Two points that could hold true if she were an adopted child

If she were an adopted child, the reason she could not return home would be explained. Perhaps there was some existing friction with the "young lady," they could not live with an adopted child who had become mentally ill, or the relationship deteriorated because the "assets and social status" of the husband that the adoptive parents were aiming for had come to nothing, etc.
That is why she stayed at the Misawa residence for a long time.

Also, one more point I hadn't noticed before: if they were her real parents, the following behavior and remarks would be too mild. This can also be explained.

In the perception of these parents, it should be that "it is Misawa's responsibility that the daughter was driven to mental illness and eventually to her death." If that were the case, rather than at the third-year memorial service, at the time the daughter passed away or at the time they realized Misawa was the cause, it would be normal to fiercely blame, get angry at, and question the responsibility of Misawa, who is equivalent to having taken their child's life.

However, it seems there was no such reproach at all. The parents only made remarks that were at most a form of "third-year memorial service" sarcasm, which was difficult to convey, during the meal held two years after her death.insinuation" level of behavior.

This can also be explained if the "daughter" was an adopted child.

1 (3) "That woman" is "the maid acting more bossy than the real parents"

The Osaka geisha who is said to "resemble the daughter very much": "That woman." There is a somewhat meaningful description regarding this "that woman."

It is a story about how a maid who has been at the geisha house for a long time holds power over "that woman," who is a geisha, while the real mother visits hesitantly.

I did not understand the significance of this description in the story. However, if we consider that this applies not only to "that woman" but also to the "daughter" who is said to resemble her closely, it seems we can find a meaning.

"The daughter" also came from a poor family and was sent away for adoption due to some circumstances. She was treated coldly by her adoptive parents, but because she relied on them for her livelihood, she could not defy them and was married off for the sake of "
money and social status." Her real parents could not raise any objections either. Perhaps this is what is being indicated by "that woman."

2 "The daughter" is K

I previously pointed out that the "mentally ill daughter" in "The Wayfarer" and K in "Kokoro" share the same sect (Jodo Shinshu), and jokingly wrote, "Are they relatives?"

K in "Kokoro" was also born as the second son of a "temple" and was adopted into a doctor's family. K deceived his adoptive parents and secretly attended a department other than the medical department while having them pay his tuition. When K eventually revealed this to his adoptive parents himself, he was disowned by both his adoptive family and his birth family. The flow is that "Sensei" invited K, who continued to be in poverty, to his boarding house a while later, and as a result, that tragedy occurred.

Aren't they abnormally similar to the "daughter"? Of course, it was K's own fault that he was disowned by his birth and adoptive families. (Or perhaps K himself wanted to cut ties with both families?)

The commonalities between the "daughter" and K are as follows.

In "Kokoro," K did not mention the young lady at all in his suicide note.

In "The Wayfarer," is there a "daughter's suicide note" that mentions Misawa, which is why the daughter's parents recognize Misawa as the cause of her mental illness?

(I will continue my study of the daughter.)