Akasuna
Jōnin Strategist 🧠
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2014
- Messages
- 1,130
- Reaction score
- 136
A few years back while I was pursuing my studies overseas, I was blessed with the opportunity to trade ideas and chat with a very wise and acknowledged man. We both seek professions as authors, with him slightly closer to his end goals than I.
Although we discussed many principles varying from Aristotle's rules regarding dramatic literature to the ideal plot of a story in a Dystopian setting, a particular discussion of ours - specifically his ideals regarding character development - I ponder to this day. In a summarized form, here is his quote:
This in itself is why I laud works of fiction such as the manga Death Note (In its characters Raito and L) and the book Lord of the Sea (In Prince Haku and Joshua); moral ambiguity is quite frankly near always present in sufficiently developed antagonists: they have a driving reason behind their actions. They aren't evil for the sake of the title, they're attempting to accomplish something, whether that goal is World Domination or simple acknowledgement.
I've observed multiple people on this site who are accustomed to accusing certain characters of being plain 'evil'. As stated previously, evil and good in their traditional definitions regarding morality are null in the fase and creative domain of a good writer.
What I've found even more interesting, however, is how this principle of a reinvigorated moral ambiguity can be paralleled to Taoism's main philosophies.
As we know the story of Ying and Yang in Taoist culture: one cannot exist without the other. They complement each other perfectly; while not only supplementing what the other lacks, it has the perfect balance in its own quantities to not overshadow the other.
As Madara - my personal favorite character in this Manga - once stated, wherever there is Light also exists Shadow.
Taken literally this can be a physical manifestation of the Ying Yang, although I choose to interpret it in a slightly different fashion: good cannot exist without evil. Except, it's impossible to differentiate them to everybody. They both mean different things in everybody's mind. in Taoist metaphysics, good-bad distinctions and other dichimotous moral judgements are perceptual, not real.
"Kokoro wa dōtoku no asobibadesu."
This roughly translates to "The mind is morality's playground." Morality is subjective.
As previously said, many antagonists receive not the reception I believe they deserve from readers of this manga because they're not understood enough. I've taken the most misunderstood antagonists and attempted to clarify their motives.
Thanks for reading. I hope my analysis has spurned your curiosity and answered some questions.
Although we discussed many principles varying from Aristotle's rules regarding dramatic literature to the ideal plot of a story in a Dystopian setting, a particular discussion of ours - specifically his ideals regarding character development - I ponder to this day. In a summarized form, here is his quote:
This in itself is why I laud works of fiction such as the manga Death Note (In its characters Raito and L) and the book Lord of the Sea (In Prince Haku and Joshua); moral ambiguity is quite frankly near always present in sufficiently developed antagonists: they have a driving reason behind their actions. They aren't evil for the sake of the title, they're attempting to accomplish something, whether that goal is World Domination or simple acknowledgement.
I've observed multiple people on this site who are accustomed to accusing certain characters of being plain 'evil'. As stated previously, evil and good in their traditional definitions regarding morality are null in the fase and creative domain of a good writer.
What I've found even more interesting, however, is how this principle of a reinvigorated moral ambiguity can be paralleled to Taoism's main philosophies.
As we know the story of Ying and Yang in Taoist culture: one cannot exist without the other. They complement each other perfectly; while not only supplementing what the other lacks, it has the perfect balance in its own quantities to not overshadow the other.
As Madara - my personal favorite character in this Manga - once stated, wherever there is Light also exists Shadow.
Taken literally this can be a physical manifestation of the Ying Yang, although I choose to interpret it in a slightly different fashion: good cannot exist without evil. Except, it's impossible to differentiate them to everybody. They both mean different things in everybody's mind. in Taoist metaphysics, good-bad distinctions and other dichimotous moral judgements are perceptual, not real.
"Kokoro wa dōtoku no asobibadesu."
This roughly translates to "The mind is morality's playground." Morality is subjective.
As previously said, many antagonists receive not the reception I believe they deserve from readers of this manga because they're not understood enough. I've taken the most misunderstood antagonists and attempted to clarify their motives.
- Orochimaru: One of the most intriguing personalities in this manga for sure, Orochimaru is hard to define. He seems to have an end goal: to learn all the Jutsu of the Shinobi world. But what following that?
The chapters in the mid 300s swayed me to believe something quite diffferent: he seeks his rebirth. He's displayed a general disdain for the fragility of the average Human Life, and seeks something more.
His rebirth into, so to speak a world in which he is God. All the Shinobi techniques at his disposal, and near immortality; him finding a white snake near his parents' grave and Hiruzen's explanation of said animal being utilized as a symbol for Rebirth explains his reptilian persona and body shedding.
He seeks Rebirth.
- Kabuto: Another intriguing personality, Kabuto was discovered and taken into an orphanage from a young age, while he himself had no memories of his past even directly prior to that event. He grew up unsure of himself - even after being recruited as a Shinobi -, a point that peaked when he unknowingly mortally wounded his 'mother', one of the primary caretakers at his orphanage.
From here, Orochimaru used his guile and the boy's own uncertainty to convert him into his assistant, promising an identity for the boy. A promise he wasn't able to keep before his untimely sealing by Itachi.
Kabuto assumed the persona of Orochimaru; he had previously felt confused, but know with his master gone what was preventing him from becoming the next snake master? Except he had evolved past the level of a snake; he believed himself to be a Dragon, the final identity that he had sought for his entire life. Something that he can know himself by.
He seeks identity.
- Hidan: The character most often mistaken for plain evil. He kills for his God, and for the physical pleasure it brings him. He finds Solace in physical pain, and it pleases his God. A win-win. Pain is his drug, and Jashin is its supplier.
He sought the thrill of battle and its rewards.
- Deidara: Deidara is a more fun character to describe. He lives for his art, and his art alone: to him it is the pinnacle of beauty to send his opponent's organs splattering in different directions. Akatsuki was a mere toy to him, a fraternity he was forced into by the one person who's art he has acknowledged aside from his own. Hasty to defend his 'projects', his most beautiful creation was in the end himself: he truly went out with a bang, and he died for what he believed in.
He sought Artistic Expression, living for his art and his art alone.
- Danzo: Danzo is hard to classify. His hesitation was what held him back in his earlier years; from there on his Machiavellian tendencies were born. Despite being denied the seat of Hokage, he still developed the secret Shinobi group 'Root' in the shadows, and taught them his ideals of a shinobi: one who sacrifices their life from the shadows, lives through pain so that others do not have to live through it themselves.
Except he directly opposed his own ideals; in reality he was a cruel man. He sacrificed the same people he claimed he sought to protect, sabotaged his own village, even went as far as to pull the strings regarding the Uchiha Massacre to some extent, all in the name of 'The greater good'.His final moments wet perhaps his purest; sacrificing his own life to attempt to protect the village. There are many questions still left unanswered in regards to his character, but we know one thing.
He sought power.
Thanks for reading. I hope my analysis has spurned your curiosity and answered some questions.
