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Context: a young criminal is not a member of a yakuza clan (半グレ) but he is happy to be their dogsbody (使いっぱしり). After he kills a member of an enemy yakuza clan, a member of the clan he works for covers him and takes the guilt for the crime. While in prison, the yakuza man thinks:

何してんだ俺ァ!! [ガキ]{あいつ}が… 結果どーなるか考えるまでもねェのに… 
組に価値を拾われた自分に重なったからか?

What is the meaning of 重なった in this context? Does it refer to the fact that his situation and the boy's situation overlap? If so, is it similar to 同じ in this case? Also, I am not sure how to interpret までもない here. My attempt:

What am I doing?! Even though the boy didn't have to think (?) about the result of his action... Maybe I am doing this because like him I find my value in the clan?

Here you can find the pages where the sentence comes from for more context (click the images to zoom). Thank you for your help!

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2 Answers 2

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I think your attempt is close, but needs some fine tuning.

何してんだ俺ァ!! [ガキ]{あいつ}が… 結果どーなるか考えるまでもねェのに… 組に価値を拾われた自分に重なったからか?

Here is my rendering.

What am I doing?!

(Referring to covering for the kid)

It's obvious what's going to happen to him...

(Referring to the kid being killed.)

Is it because I see myself in him? Because the clan found value in him like they did me?

(Referring to his reason for covering for the kid)

Finally, to answer your main question about 重なる, it is a common way to say "see person A (usually self) in person B."
Really, it's the dictionary meaning of "overlap" at work.
In terms of the way words are used, not the meaning of 重なる, you could look to "project" in English for an example of a similar phenomenon in the way we talk about "projecting our feelings onto others."

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It is not 物価価値 but 価値. I think you correctly grasp the meaning of 重なる. It means as you said.

考えるまでもない means "don't need to think","No brainer", "It is obvious enough not to think about it".

My attempt is "What am I doing? I don't need to think what become of that kid in the result. Maybe I did that because he was overlapped with me? Because he was valued by the clan like me".

組に価値を拾われた would mean "to be valued by the clan", though it isn't a common phrase . On the other hand 組に価値を見出す means "to find the value in the clan". They have a bit different nuance.

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  • Why did you translate it as "Kid!"? It seems to me he's saying "That kid ..! He didn't even think about the consequences..." no?
    – hasen
    Commented May 22, 2018 at 2:25
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    ^ hasen He didn't even think about the consequences... -- Nope... 考えるまでもない means "(lit.) not even have to think" -> "obvious" (=明らかだ). (cf. 「言うまでもない」= not even have to mention, needless to say -> natural, obvious, 当然だ)
    – chocolate
    Commented May 22, 2018 at 3:39
  • Could he be talking about himself? "I didn't have to think about what would happen to him", meaning that he should not have helped the boy?
    – Marco
    Commented May 22, 2018 at 3:43
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    @Marco これ前のページからよく読まないとダメですね。。「あいつが結果(的に)どうなるか、考えるまでもないのに(=明らかなのに・わかりきっているのに)、俺は何してるんだ?」"What am I doing (=I shouldn't have done that), when / even though it's obvious / I clearly know what will happen to that kid?" ヤクザに使われて人を刺した少年をかばって、主人公が留置所に入ってるんですね。
    – chocolate
    Commented May 22, 2018 at 4:04
  • @Chocolate I understand now. In the end the boy is killed anyway, that's why he says "even though it's obvious what will happen to that kid".
    – Marco
    Commented May 22, 2018 at 5:01

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