[ Time and Power ]
(Page 02)
The story of the visual novel begins with the birth of a candle, alongside the birth of life. Here, the candle acts as a medium for human life. A human life is an aggregate of time; thus, life itself can be interpreted as time. The role of the priest is to deliver these candles to newly born lives. Therefore, priests hold control over human time, and through this control, they gain divinity and power. Historically, exercising control over time has meant power. For a long period, those in power held authority over time. From the early 3000 BC to the late 16th century BC, the authority to control time was largely in the hands of religious institutions. The church in the novel was designed based on this historical fact.
(Page 08)
The Garden of Time was created by priests who sought to maintain their power. Within the garden, they placed the candles of the people. The garden, where people’s candles are enshrined, is regarded as highly sacred, and the priests who manage it are likewise considered sacred. As a result, no one questions the faces of the priests, which remain deeply concealed beneath their robes.
[ Metaphor of Time ]
Humans designed candles to emit light only at their wick. Fire can only be lit at this single point. In this way, the human desire to tame time led to the worship of an idol, and human reason became trapped and fixed within the metaphor of the candle. This is analogous to how modern humans have trapped themselves within the metaphor of time.
According to Metaphors We Live By, “The nature of the everyday conceptual system, which is the basis of human thought and action, is fundamentally metaphorical.” Through this system of thought, humans began to value time far more than in the past, when time was needed only to perform rituals at the appropriate moment.
The book explains how humans used metaphorical systems to link time to concepts such as material, resources, labor, and even leisure. TIME is described as a kind of (abstract) SUBSTANCE: it can be quantified with relative precision, assigned a value per unit, serve a purpose, and be progressively used up as it fulfills that purpose. Substances share these same characteristics. A material resource is also a kind of substance: it can be quantified, assigned value, serve an end, and be consumed through use.
Within this framework, the metaphor “time is a resource” relies on the underlying metaphor “time is material.” In this context, “labor is a resource” and “activity is a substance.” These material metaphors allow both labor and time to be quantified. In other words, they allow labor to be evaluated, considered progressively consumed, and assigned monetary value. Through such metaphors, time and labor come to be understood as things that can be “used” for various purposes. Moreover, this structure of thought transforms even the concept of leisure into something akin to labor by combining “leisure time” and “working time.” In the modern world, time has become associated with so many values that it has attained utmost importance for humankind.
I applied this metaphor of time to the candle. Time, by its nature, has no physical substance. It cannot be grasped; it disappears, passes, and changes. A candle similarly loses its physical substance as it burns. It cannot be held; it drips, changes shape, and diminishes. In this sense, I viewed time and the candle as existing along the same conceptual line.
Nevertheless, humans wish to hold onto everything. We regret what disappears. Modern humans have captured time and confined it within cold metal clocks, just as the people in the novel accept it as natural that their time is trapped within the garden. The characters in the novel and modern humankind are strikingly similar in the ways they confine their own time within metal structures and distress themselves in order to conform to their concept of time.
[ The girl, and Absurdity ]
(Page 17)
The girl violates the taboo and enters the Garden of Time. She extinguishes her candle by herself. What she seeks through putting out the light is death; she enters the garden with the intention of killing herself. However, what she discovers from the extinguished candle is not death, but the ultimate truth. Upon realizing this truth, the girl flees the village.
(Page 19)
One day, a man in a fine suit, holding a cigarette, appears in the village. By the end of the story, it becomes clear that this man is the girl herself. Dressed in male attire, smoking, and casting no shadow, her return can be read as a direct rebellion against the existing system.
(Page 25)
The reason for her return is not explicitly stated. Perhaps she wished to speak the truth and allow others to begin a new life, as she did. Alternatively, one might imagine that she intended to provoke destruction, considering the dark nature of humans when confronted with ultimate truth. Regardless, there is no doubt that she returns with a strengthened sense of self, unafraid to attempt anything.
This visual novel was inspired by Albert Camus’s L’Étranger. In Camus’s novel, the trigger that allows the condemned criminal to realize true freedom is the acceptance of his limited remaining time. Only after being sentenced to death does he become passionate about life and feel entirely free from restrictions, deciding to try everything possible.
Camus described the absurd as the result of “the confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world.” The perception of absurdity raises the question of why one should continue living, leading logically to the notion of suicide. Suicide, however, represents the abandonment of one’s values and freedom, and Camus firmly rejects it. Instead, he proposes that we accept absurdity as part of life and continue living with it.
Over time, Camus’s concept of absurdity evolved, culminating in the phrase, “I revolt, therefore we exist.” This reflects his recognition of a shared human condition. According to Camus, rebellion is a progressive attitude that embraces and affirms life, even in the face of meaninglessness. This is because the experience and awareness of absurdity generate moral values and establish limits on human behavior.
In summary, Camus suggested that humans begin in a painful, absurd state, yet eventually return as a passionate flame with a spirit of rebellion. In the visual novel, the girl can be read as a figure who transcends the rules governing human life by crossing the boundary between life and death—one who goes even beyond the condemned criminal in Camus’s novel.
(Page 23)
On a very dark night, with no sign of any form of light, someone secretly breaks into her room. Only those who dare to break the rules are able to face the truth.
[ Candle and Shadow ]
Within the narrative, the shadow appears as more than a mere form; it emerges as a crucial element. It serves as evidence that reveals the nature of time and power, and acts as the decisive force that brings transformation to the protagonist who dares to cross a taboo. Ultimately, it becomes the ground upon which the villagers are able to take a step closer to awareness and truth.
In the world of the story, shadows are not governed by an absolute source of light. They change solely according to the length of the candles provided by the church. Candles and shadows function as instruments through which the church exercises its authority, and through the shifting of shadows, the narrative symbolically exposes how this world has been manipulated.
Having escaped the realm of false shadows, the protagonist breaks the taboo and confronts the truth of the world. Through this act, she is portrayed as a figure who attains genuine awakening. This reveals that the shadow of power cast by the church—its control over candles, the fabricated measure of life’s time—was, in fact, an illusion.
After the novel ends, one cannot help but wonder whether the girl sets out in search of a true shadow of her own.
*1 Alexander Dmnandt, ZEIT: Eine Kulturgeschichte, Translated by Duk-im Lee, Book life publishing, 2015, p9
(Page 02)
The story of the visual novel begins with the birth of a candle, alongside the birth of life. Here, the candle acts as a medium for human life. A human life is an aggregate of time; thus, life itself can be interpreted as time. The role of the priest is to deliver these candles to newly born lives. Therefore, priests hold control over human time, and through this control, they gain divinity and power. Historically, exercising control over time has meant power. For a long period, those in power held authority over time. From the early 3000 BC to the late 16th century BC, the authority to control time was largely in the hands of religious institutions. The church in the novel was designed based on this historical fact.
(Page 08)
The Garden of Time was created by priests who sought to maintain their power. Within the garden, they placed the candles of the people. The garden, where people’s candles are enshrined, is regarded as highly sacred, and the priests who manage it are likewise considered sacred. As a result, no one questions the faces of the priests, which remain deeply concealed beneath their robes.
[ Metaphor of Time ]
Humans designed candles to emit light only at their wick. Fire can only be lit at this single point. In this way, the human desire to tame time led to the worship of an idol, and human reason became trapped and fixed within the metaphor of the candle. This is analogous to how modern humans have trapped themselves within the metaphor of time.
According to Metaphors We Live By, “The nature of the everyday conceptual system, which is the basis of human thought and action, is fundamentally metaphorical.” Through this system of thought, humans began to value time far more than in the past, when time was needed only to perform rituals at the appropriate moment.
The book explains how humans used metaphorical systems to link time to concepts such as material, resources, labor, and even leisure. TIME is described as a kind of (abstract) SUBSTANCE: it can be quantified with relative precision, assigned a value per unit, serve a purpose, and be progressively used up as it fulfills that purpose. Substances share these same characteristics. A material resource is also a kind of substance: it can be quantified, assigned value, serve an end, and be consumed through use.
Within this framework, the metaphor “time is a resource” relies on the underlying metaphor “time is material.” In this context, “labor is a resource” and “activity is a substance.” These material metaphors allow both labor and time to be quantified. In other words, they allow labor to be evaluated, considered progressively consumed, and assigned monetary value. Through such metaphors, time and labor come to be understood as things that can be “used” for various purposes. Moreover, this structure of thought transforms even the concept of leisure into something akin to labor by combining “leisure time” and “working time.” In the modern world, time has become associated with so many values that it has attained utmost importance for humankind.
I applied this metaphor of time to the candle. Time, by its nature, has no physical substance. It cannot be grasped; it disappears, passes, and changes. A candle similarly loses its physical substance as it burns. It cannot be held; it drips, changes shape, and diminishes. In this sense, I viewed time and the candle as existing along the same conceptual line.
Nevertheless, humans wish to hold onto everything. We regret what disappears. Modern humans have captured time and confined it within cold metal clocks, just as the people in the novel accept it as natural that their time is trapped within the garden. The characters in the novel and modern humankind are strikingly similar in the ways they confine their own time within metal structures and distress themselves in order to conform to their concept of time.
[ The girl, and Absurdity ]
(Page 17)
The girl violates the taboo and enters the Garden of Time. She extinguishes her candle by herself. What she seeks through putting out the light is death; she enters the garden with the intention of killing herself. However, what she discovers from the extinguished candle is not death, but the ultimate truth. Upon realizing this truth, the girl flees the village.
(Page 19)
One day, a man in a fine suit, holding a cigarette, appears in the village. By the end of the story, it becomes clear that this man is the girl herself. Dressed in male attire, smoking, and casting no shadow, her return can be read as a direct rebellion against the existing system.
(Page 25)
The reason for her return is not explicitly stated. Perhaps she wished to speak the truth and allow others to begin a new life, as she did. Alternatively, one might imagine that she intended to provoke destruction, considering the dark nature of humans when confronted with ultimate truth. Regardless, there is no doubt that she returns with a strengthened sense of self, unafraid to attempt anything.
This visual novel was inspired by Albert Camus’s L’Étranger. In Camus’s novel, the trigger that allows the condemned criminal to realize true freedom is the acceptance of his limited remaining time. Only after being sentenced to death does he become passionate about life and feel entirely free from restrictions, deciding to try everything possible.
Camus described the absurd as the result of “the confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world.” The perception of absurdity raises the question of why one should continue living, leading logically to the notion of suicide. Suicide, however, represents the abandonment of one’s values and freedom, and Camus firmly rejects it. Instead, he proposes that we accept absurdity as part of life and continue living with it.
Over time, Camus’s concept of absurdity evolved, culminating in the phrase, “I revolt, therefore we exist.” This reflects his recognition of a shared human condition. According to Camus, rebellion is a progressive attitude that embraces and affirms life, even in the face of meaninglessness. This is because the experience and awareness of absurdity generate moral values and establish limits on human behavior.
In summary, Camus suggested that humans begin in a painful, absurd state, yet eventually return as a passionate flame with a spirit of rebellion. In the visual novel, the girl can be read as a figure who transcends the rules governing human life by crossing the boundary between life and death—one who goes even beyond the condemned criminal in Camus’s novel.
(Page 23)
On a very dark night, with no sign of any form of light, someone secretly breaks into her room. Only those who dare to break the rules are able to face the truth.
[ Candle and Shadow ]
Within the narrative, the shadow appears as more than a mere form; it emerges as a crucial element. It serves as evidence that reveals the nature of time and power, and acts as the decisive force that brings transformation to the protagonist who dares to cross a taboo. Ultimately, it becomes the ground upon which the villagers are able to take a step closer to awareness and truth.
In the world of the story, shadows are not governed by an absolute source of light. They change solely according to the length of the candles provided by the church. Candles and shadows function as instruments through which the church exercises its authority, and through the shifting of shadows, the narrative symbolically exposes how this world has been manipulated.
Having escaped the realm of false shadows, the protagonist breaks the taboo and confronts the truth of the world. Through this act, she is portrayed as a figure who attains genuine awakening. This reveals that the shadow of power cast by the church—its control over candles, the fabricated measure of life’s time—was, in fact, an illusion.
After the novel ends, one cannot help but wonder whether the girl sets out in search of a true shadow of her own.
*1 Alexander Dmnandt, ZEIT: Eine Kulturgeschichte, Translated by Duk-im Lee, Book life publishing, 2015, p9
*2 George Lakoff, Mark Johnson, Metaphors we live by, Translated by Yang-jin Noh, Ik-ju Na, Pagijong publishing, 2006, p21
*3 George Lakoff, Mark Johnson, Metaphors we live by, Translated by Yang-jin Noh, Ik-ju Na, Pagijong publishing, 2006, p138-141
*4 Albert Camus, L'etranger, Translated by Hwa-young Kim, Minumsa, 1942
*5 Foley, John (2008). Albert Camus: From the Absurd to Revolt. McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 978-0-7735-3467-4.p.6
*6 Foley, John (2008). Albert Camus: From the Absurd to Revolt. McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 978-0-7735-3467-4.P.7-10
*7 Foley, John (2008). Albert Camus: From the Absurd to Revolt. McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 978-0-7735-3467-4.
*8 Hayden, Patrick (9 February 2016). Camus and the Challenge of Political Thought: Between Despair andP.55-56
[EN]
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