"Attack on Titan" has no unfinished ending, and the theme of "freedom" is carried through from beginning to end.
As soon as Chapter 139 came out, it could be said that there was a lot of scolding, and many people wanted to rush to turn the hot spring of Isayama into a septic tank. But obviously until chapter 138, most readers still think this is a very good work.
Indeed, from the perspective of commercial comics and screenwriters, Chapter 139 is not well rounded: it does not make readers "cool", some characters are obviously separated from the previous ones, and the ideas expressed are also controversial - however, this is really Did you just shoot the entire work?
In fact, as long as we take a look at what "Giant" is talking about, it is not difficult to know that chapter 139 is actually a reasonable conclusion to the whole article. The expression of the theme is complete and consistent, that is, "freedom and the meaning of life", and it is rich Existentialism.
The cruel and beautiful world: the world is ridiculous, life is painful, but worth living
The world of Giants is full of misery. Two thousand years ago, the ancestor Ymir lived in pain as a slave of the Eldia Empire, only hoping to get the love of King Fritz and to be able to live freely. Until an accident, the monstrous bug combined with Ymir, giving her the power of a giant. This power broke the balance on the battlefield, allowing the Eldia Empire to dominate, and the whole world fell into the misery of being enslaved by Eldia. However, until Ymir died, she was still a slave of the royal bloodline, trapped on the road, and continued to provide giant power to future generations.
However, the world did not achieve peace because of unity. Without foreign enemies, the nine giants have their own intentions and fight each other, so even if the Eldia Empire is very strong, the suffering continues to spread, and the chain of hatred is getting bigger and bigger . It was passed down to the 145th generation of King Fritz. He couldn't stand it anymore, so he directed and acted in a play with the Warhammer giant, bringing a large number of Eldians to Parady Island, surrounded by walls, cleared their memories, hope Able to stay away from disputes and spend the last time of the Eldians in peace.
However, even if the memory of the Eldians is cleared, and they "start over" within the walls, there will be no enemy disputes, sufficient natural resources, beliefs (wall religion), and a highly unified ideology/worldview (education, Political propaganda), the military police to maintain order, etc., the world has not become a better place: the world has only become smaller, and the background of life is still suffering.
The aristocrats who know the real history rely on the support of the people of the entire world within the walls and enjoy the prosperity and wealth, but when the people die in large numbers, they are indifferent at all and only care about their own interests - Eldi, who has lost his memory in the entire island Demi-humans are nothing but blood-sucking objects for the upper-class nobles. This is even more intense in the underground world of the soldier's side story - the poor and the poor cannot even have sunlight.
As for the outside of the wall? The world was not immune to the domination of giants by the retreat of the primordial giants. With the power of giants, Marai took over the position of the Eldia Empire and became another hegemony that oppressed the whole world. After Marais had power, he turned from a victim to a perpetrator.
From the moment of birth, the Eldians in the Reberio Containment Area bear the "original sin" and face the oppression and abuse of the whole world, and they can only work for Marais. Become an Unsullied Giant and use it as a weapon. The best outcome is to strive hard to become the successor of the next wise giant, and invade other countries for Marai, in exchange for the remaining 13 years of life, better treatment from his family, and as an "honor". The false dignity of the Marais".
What about humans other than Marais? Yes, they are the victims of the power of giants, the one that was invaded, but is the root of all war crimes only the power of giants? We might as well substitute it into reality: it is true that you will be beaten when you fall behind, but advanced technology and military are not the root causes of wars of aggression. Power itself is neutral, but after some countries have power, they are keen to use power to deprive the people of other countries. freedom and oppression of other peoples for their own gain.
The world of giants is very realistic, there is no single "evil of the world", and all the faults are not blamed on the grotesque, and killing a big boss can't solve all problems. All the evil in the world stems from human nature in the final analysis . The power of giants is only a fuse that sparks disputes, and it is just an opportunity to create an imbalance of power, so that people's evil erupts more recklessly.
If one day, the military technology in the world is powerful enough to destroy giants, then the Marais may not be as simple as the fall of hegemony. The Marais are likely to suffer bloody revenge, and they will become slaves and lose their freedom. The Maleficent is on. This is also why Marais is extremely anxious about the advancement of technology, and has to recapture the ancestors.
As we look back, Malee, who defeated the Eldia Empire, ended up being just as brutal as Eldia. It is conceivable: if a country finally defeats Marais with advanced technology, and one family dominates, it is probably just another country to oppress the whole world . Humans are always enslaving others, hating each other, and unwilling to understand. Human suffering actually originates from human beings, whether past or present, inside or outside walls, Eldian or non-Eldi. Demihumans, even with or without the power of giants, are eternal and unsolvable. The absurdity of the world is reflected in this.
So, since suffering is always present, where does "beauty" come from? Why is life still worth living?
Indeed, the world is absurd, but we can actually feel good in life.
These beautiful things may not mean much, maybe just trivial things, like:
Kushawa and Gick played throwing and catching;
Ani's father was beaten to the ground by Ani, but laughed happily;
Sasha loves the dishes made by Nicolo so much;
Armin likes to read at home on rainy days, and likes to race against Ai Lian and Mikasa in the sunset. He also yearns for the sand and snow field, the water of fire, and the land of ice outside the wall;
Ellen put a scarf around Mikasa;
It is even just born in this world, so there is the classic sentence: "born in this world, it is already great - look how cute he is."
It is these seemingly trivial things that make people feel that life is worth living, and give people reasons to confront the absurdity of the world and not give up living in this world.
We are all slaves to something: veiling the absurd
More terrifying than the absurdity of the world is the "covering absurdity" . The existentialist view holds that the world is irrational, chaotic and meaningless, and there is no transcendental value and order, but human beings always respond to the call of reason to the world, hoping that the world has purpose and meaning, Especially hope that the suffering you endure has meaning - and "meaning" can never be obtained, so the connection between the world and people is absurd.
When people are unable to recognize the absurd nature of the world, but instead always look to false and non-existent meanings, this is "covering the absurd." When the absurd is covered up, people can't resist, can't devote themselves to life, and even lose their freedom, that is, "everyone is a slave to certain things" as Kenny said , such as: grand historical narrative, national hatred, blind love , excessive material desires, distorted desires for power, etc., this covering of the absurd will oppress human nature and further aggravate the misery of the world.
In Attack on Titan, there are three shades of absurdity: walls, grand narrative, and hatred
wall
On Parady Island, with the addition of memory removal and brainwashing, the Eldians can live in peace and stability. It looks good. Although it is still not free, it is better than fighting all day long. However, the peace within the walls is fragile and can be broken at any time. Just like the towns written in Camus' "The Plague", under the stability and prosperity, there is a potential disaster (the plague), once it breaks out, it will take everything away and expose the absurdity. So when walls are broken and giants attack, peaceful lives are unreasonably destroyed, loved ones die inexplicably, property vanishes, and the truth of life's suffering is immediately laid out in front of you.
grand narrative
Because of the acceptance of a "Eldians are demons" narrative (note, this is not hatred per se: Fei didn't kill, and the Eldians inside the wall hadn't killed Marais before), Marais and The whole world is oppressing the Eldians, and even letting a dog kill the Eldians is okay.
The Eldians in Reberio's containment area are actually very similar to Parade Island. The Marais built the walls of concentration camps for them, and brainwashed them ideologically, by teaching them the wrong history, the Eldians themselves thought they were demons, and at the same time created a false meaning/hope: just be an honorary horse Lai people, by contributing to Ma Lai, can wash away their sins .
People who believe in Marais nonsense, such as the early Jiabi, are keen to make contributions to Marais war of aggression, and indulge in killing all the Eldians of Parady Island, regardless of the fact that the enemy is actually the same as himself. Jabi thinks that this will wash away her own sins that don't exist, thus freeing the Eldians, and that's what she means most - and when she confronts Kaya, when she knows that the earth is about to bring down the world , she gradually realized how ridiculous a set of historical narratives she had always believed in, and how absurd the world was.
In this sense, so did the early Reiner. He wants to be a hero, thinking that he can save the world by taking back the first ancestor and destroying Parady Island. He is also blinded by the big narrative and cannot see the truth of the world. In contrast, Anni, who only wanted to go back to the island to see her father, was much more sober than Reina.
hatred
Grisha was overshadowed by hatred because his sister was murdered by the Marais, and vowed revenge against the Marais. And after he joined the underground party, he began to believe in another big narrative: "Overthrow Marais and liberate the Eldians", which is what he means.
As a result, he forced Geek to become a warrior for his "grand wish", and he must inherit the giant, and never considered Geek's own wishes and needs, causing Riker to suffer.
It was not until he was exiled to Parady Island that Grisha noticed: he rebuilt his life and found that the most worthwhile thing was actually his wife and son Alan. At this time, he finally recognized the absurdity of the world and stopped obsessed with robbing the ancestors - what he did under the influence of Allen was later.
As Kenny said: Everyone is a slave to something, or they can't live at all. When people face an absurd and meaningless world, they always find something to deceive themselves, and cover up the absurdity by devoting themselves to a certain constructed meaning: family and country, historical narrative, fame and fortune, pleasure... This is Ken. The fundamental meaning of what Niel said "everyone is a slave to something".
And when the "coverage of the absurd" is torn apart, people are like falling into the abyss and losing their way.
Therefore, when the values that Jia Bi had always believed in were broken, she felt lost;
Therefore, after cutting down the monkey, the captain of the army was empty;
So when Reiner realized that the people on the island were not demons through his life with his classmates in the 104th period, and that he was killing people like hemp, he wanted to commit suicide.
Kill all the giants on the island, there are enemies across the sea. Kill all the people across the sea? Is man free? Is man liberated from absurdity? No. Human suffering and the absurdity of the world are still the same, but the world has become smaller, disputes will continue, and people will not be freed by this. To achieve a certain goal, to eliminate some people, it is impossible to eliminate absurdity. If Earth-Ming Destroys the World is successful, it will not bring redemption, nor will it achieve freedom.
Gek recognized the absurdity of the world, but in the end he chose to devote himself to nihilism, and simply gave up life completely, equating the purpose of life with reproduction and continuation, so he concluded that euthanasia was the best fate for the Eldians. In other words, Gek surrendered to the absurd.
However, he woke up at the end of his life: if it was just to play pitching, he would choose to be born in this world. "The weather is so nice, if only I could have thought about it earlier."
So, how does one achieve freedom? If the world is meaningless, the beauty in life is so fragile, and fate cannot be defied, what should people do?
The only way is to "tear the cover of the absurd" and resist. Only when you clearly realize the absurdity of the world, regardless of the outcome, keep moving forward. Just like Sisyphus, who suffered eternal punishment, although he pushed boulders up the mountain in vain forever, he also defied the gods, faced the absurdity, and rebelled against fate.
In this way, man is truly free.
Fight relentlessly for freedom: I resist, so we are
The word "freedom" has a very rich meaning. And Allen's ever-evolving and progressive concept of freedom is a good interpretation of the meaning of freedom.
In the beginning, Allen just wanted to get out of the wall, see the beautiful world, and break the physical limitations. This is a kind of negative freedom ; Allen constantly improved his abilities, improved his combat skills and the power of giants, so as to better achieve his goals. His own desire is to pursue positive freedom ; after the wall is broken, Allen wants to kill all giants, defeat political enemies, and later hopes to kill the enemy across the sea. These are all in pursuit of freedom from being dominated by others . However, even so, people still do not seem to be completely free.
Therefore, the discussion of freedom in "Attack on Titan" actually has a more philosophical meaning, that is: to practice human autonomy
Existentialism believes that the reason why people are human is that they are aware of their own existence, and as an individual, there is no a priori, definite life, value, or original sin. Existence precedes essence. The essence of man is created by man through continuous selection and practice. This process of autonomous choice is the embodiment of human freedom.
Although the Eldians of Parady Island have been walled, amnesticized, and brainwashed, there are still people who have awakened to free will either spontaneously or under the influence of others. There are miners who are dissatisfied with the status quo, teachers who question history, and of course the investigation corps who yearn to go beyond the walls and pursue the truth.
Although they were surrounded by walls, they were different from the public. Allen and Armin still wanted to go out to see. Grisha and his sister Fei walked out of the containment area that day.
Although Kony wanted to resurrect his mother, he chose to fly to save Armin.
Although Erwin's greatest wish in life is to know the truth of the world (the happiness and freedom of human beings within the wall are second), but at the last moment, he chose to give up his selfish desires and truly dedicate his heart to mankind.
Although the captain wanted to save Erwin, he finally chose to do it.
Although the members of the Salvation Squad once fought each other and killed each other's comrades, they finally chose to let go of hatred, prejudice, and big narratives, and worked together to stop Di Ming.
Although Mikasa loves Ellen deeply, she chooses to swing her blade at Ellen.
Before all kinds of difficult choices, people shape themselves through choices and practices, and take responsibility for them - this is the embodiment of freedom.
Grisha and Alan are free, not because they inherited the Attack on Titan, so they pursued freedom, but they pursued freedom, recognized the absurdity and resisted fate, so they were the Attack on Titan.
Armin, Mikasa, Irwin, and even all the members of the Salvation Squad later, all who have clearly recognized the absurdity and are no longer obscured by hatred and big narratives, they are like Oedipus tortured by fate, pushing the boulder forever. Sisyphus, even if the fate of suffering is bound to happen, they still resist, then they are free.
Even if they fail and they achieve nothing, the meaning will be passed on to future generations. Breaking the chain of hatred, breaking through the big narrative, and defying the irresistible fate, this kind of resistance will finally connect people with each other: "I resist, therefore we exist."
Therefore, in every era, those who relentlessly pursue freedom are "attacking giants".
To tear apart the veil of absurdity, resist the unchangeable fate, embody the freedom of man, and devote himself to life, this is the most important theme of "Attack on Titan".
So the ending of Chapter 139 is actually reasonable and thematically consistent. Although the world has not been peaceful, Pao Island is still dominated by the main war faction and the Ye faction, but this is not to express "the war is right and deserved", it just presents a very realistic ending.
On the contrary, there is no lack of ridicule about war in the ending: when the people fanatically want to start war, the reporters, Xiqi, Sasha's parents and others in the picture disapprove, and Armin's protagonist group and others are also working to create peace. It’s just that struggle and confrontation are the norm among ethnic groups. There are still a lot of people in Pao Dao and Malai who indulge in ethnic hatred and historical narratives. They insist on continuing the war, so even after experiencing the tragic Earthquake, the world will not Achieving peace is also a portrayal of the "ridiculous".
As for the controversy about the ending plot, in fact, all the very cruel choices, including the annihilation of the earth and the killing of the mother, are to finally achieve the condition that Ymir can see "Mikasa chooses to hack Alan on his own initiative" , otherwise The power of giants will never be destroyed.
Although many people complain about this, the idea expressed does not conflict with the theme of "freedom": Ymir longs for the love of King Fritz, so she has been haunted on the road, maintaining the power of giants in the world. Because of this obsession, she lost her freedom and became a tool and slave of the royal bloodline.
And Mikasa's love for Allen is actually very similar to Ymir's. This kind of love makes both Mikasa and Ymir lose the independence and autonomy they should have. Before the Salvation Squad set off, Anni and Mikasa had discussed, if in the end, killing Allen was the only way to stop Ji Ming, would Mikasa protect Ellen in return? At that time, Mikasa felt that even if the whole world died, she would still protect Ellen at all costs. In other words, Mikasa became Ellen's slave out of blind affection.
Therefore, when Mikasa can make a choice, she can kill the person she loves most for the "right thing" (human freedom), Ymir will let go of the obsession for two thousand years, and he will be liberated and free: she No more being a slave to Love or King Frieze.
This is actually the same as Captain Erwin's choice to take the lead in the charge at the end of his life instead of going to the basement to see the truth. It is essentially the same: to choose and practice for the freedom of human beings/the right thing, you will no longer be "someone" slaves to these things”, and also became free. (Although it seems that the argument of being a love slave is relatively low...)
And what is the significance of making Armin the savior and destroying the power of giants? It is to finally let the Eldians no longer have to bear the name of innate demons, so that they can freely define and create themselves in the future. However, in order to realize the freedom of the Eldians and allies, Ellen chose to sacrifice 80% of the population. There is indeed a moral challenge. It's actually a bit like the trolley problem, and Allen is the one who holds the lever, no matter what he chooses, for example:
A. Completely annihilated
B. Destroy 80% of the people and achieve the conditions for destroying the power of giants
C. Elope with Mikasa, regardless of whether the Eldians live or die
D. Any other options that do not achieve the disappearance of the giant's power, including not eating mom / eating babe / shocking the world through the sound of the earth while developing Pa Island, etc.
There is a huge moral controversy, and the outcome is unpredictable, and it is impossible to determine which is better in the long run (Alan can't see the future after death), so it is an unsolvable situation. In the end, Aaron chose to destroy the world and let the Salvation Team stop him for various reasons, including selfishness and "reasons I don't know" (probably because his consciousness was influenced by Ymir).
As for the reconciliation between Armin, Jean, Kony, Captain and others of Pao and Ani, Reiner, and Jiabi of Marais, many people cannot accept it . Chains of Hate" , they were liberated from "covering the absurd", so it wasn't a particularly problematic plot.
Many people for Armin "thanks" Allen for the massacre, and Allen's downplaying of the massacre and mother-slaughter, is very damaging to the character. I think there are indeed some gaps in character creation. If there were more pictures showing their struggles, it would be a lot more reasonable. It may be due to the lack of space and the ending is casual. Although Isayama himself probably doesn't care about the dissatisfaction of readers, these flaws are not enough to overturn the core of the whole work.
It needs to be pointed out that at the end of chapter 139, the work itself does not agree with the practice of "achieving one's own freedom by depriving others of their freedom", nor does it rationalize or advocate war , but just presents a very realistic scene: people Nothing will be learned, whether the struggle should continue after the battle is over, the absurdity of the world has no solution, but there will always be free people like the Armin protagonist group who continue to rebel against fate.
In addition to completing the theme expression, "Attack on Titan" does have many plots that do not conform to public order and good customs, such as genocide, mother-killing, sinners get a good death, etc. This point will be doubled in the environment of Chinese public opinion, and it may not only be It's as simple as "hurting the reader". Therefore, if you strongly believe that literary and artistic works must ultimately advocate "public order and good customs", it will naturally be difficult to accept these plots, but this is another topic, and has nothing to do with "unfinished" or "thematic expression".
The above is my analysis of the whole article of "Attack on Titan". If you find something useful , please click on it. Thank you.
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