War and Peace, Nature and Man, Hope and Despair: The Relationship Themes of the World of Nausicaa
NOTE: This was originally an essay for school, so that’s the reason it sounds so formal. I was thinking of changing it slightly to put it in a different tone, however that would require me to more or less rewrite the entire thing. So I decided to leave it as is.
NOTE II: This is based on the manga of Nausicaa. So if you haven’t read it, there are many parts I describe that you will not know. It isn’t necessary that you have read the manga to still understand what I mean, but it’s just a heads up.
“Enough with the notes Kastom!”
Ok, ok, sorry everyone! Here it is…
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki is a series of seven graphic novels that take place a thousand years in the future, after an apocalyptic-like war. The earth is poisoned, and a forest known as the Sea of Corruption that spews a deadly miasma covers most of the world. The story itself is rich with symbols, metaphors, and ideas, many of which develop intricate themes. From the themes developed in the series, it can be understood that humans will destroy themselves. Through war, many people have died, and many more will, making war a possibility for the death of all of the species. Nature, the earth itself, is needed for the survival of humanity, so with the continuing destruction of it, it is quite possible that humans will die out once they completely destroy nature. Hope can keep a person alive no matter what the circumstances, and contrastingly, once a person falls into despair, they do not care if they die or not. From the themes in Nausicaa, it is quite apparent that humans will destroy themselves.
One of the most obvious themes in Nausicaa is that of war and peace. An obvious way that people will destroy themselves is through war. True, most people do not like war. However, for various reasons, people are often at war. Maybe even not war, but some sort of conflict, simply because people do not agree with each other. This is often because of people’s individuality, which does seem rather odd, but frighteningly true at the same time. Because people think differently, one person will believe that what they say is right, another will disagree, and thus a conflict is begun.
One cause of war is the want for power. People’s ambitions can cause them to wipe out countless amounts of people, all simply because they want to have power over others. Namulith, the Divine Emperor of the Dorok, desires power so much that he goes so far as to murder his own brother to keep the throne for himself. Despite the fact that the Dorok’s lands have just been swallowed by the Sea of Corruption, he threatens the other ships in the military fleet, saying, “Those willing to vow your allegiance to me, stop your ships. Traitors will be shot down.”(Miyazaki, Volume 6, 50) His desire for power is so great that he would be willing to shoot down entire ships of people, which, on top of being his own people, truly are some of the last people alive on Earth. That he would be willing to kill for power, even though the world is dying around him, just truly shows how stupid and selfish people can be, as this act is simply aiding the destruction of all humankind.
One enormous human flaw is the fact that everyone generalizes in some way. Based on one experience, people will often generalize their view on all things related to that experience. In war, people will generalize with a “them versus us” mentality by saying that the other side is completely evil and all are trying to kill them. Ketcha sees a Torumakian noble beating several Dorok slaves, and immediately exclaims that “Torumakians are lower than pigs!”(Miyazaki, Volume 5, 21) Because of her experiences with Torumakians, Ketcha now hates all Torumakians. Even though there are those that are not at all like the one that Ketcha saw, she will believe that they are exactly the same, as she has labeled all of them as one personality. Everyone does this, which is another major cause of war, and a major cause of wars not ending. Because of human’s shortsightedness and wanton ignorance, humans will end up of killing each other off completely, simply because they do not want to think that situations that they are in may be much more complicated than they believe.
Whenever a war is ended, there is a “winner” and a “loser”. Although, truly there are only “losers” as both sides will have casualties. When someone is lost, others may become angered, and often want revenge. Princess Kushana surrenders to Yupa and Prince Asbel when their party finds her. Asbel sees Kushana, and immediately runs to attack her, as she was the leader of the attack on Asbel’s hometown, Pejitei. Yupa stops Asbel, and opens Asbel’s eyes telling him, “Look at your feet, Asbel. These white mounds of spawn are human corpses that have become seedbeds. Half the world is about to be lost.”(Miyazaki, Volume 5, 46) Despite the fact that they are in an extremely dangerous situation, and more and more people are dying, Asbel wishes to kill yet another, because she killed his friends and family. Nausicaa understands this perfectly as she describes to the Dorok people that war is a path that “leads only to hatred and an endless cycle of revenge. Hatred and revenge give birth to nothing. It was hatred that brought the world to where it is now.”(Miyazaki, Volume 6, 131) Through war, new hatred is brewed, and new wars shall arise, and thus the endless cycle that most humans are unable to see, even when caught up in it, is created, and will most likely not end until one side is completely dead, or everyone is simply “revenged” to death.
War is most likely the principal reason that people will eventually destroy themselves, as a war can easily spiral out of control until it is simply a beast that cannot be tamed, and no longer is under the control of any humans. It will simply kill until there is no one left, and thus the end of humankind.
Another obvious theme in Nausicaa is that of the strife between Nature and Humankind. Humans need nature to live. It is a simple, and extremely obvious fact, as, without the Earth and all living creatures that go along with it, humans will die. That is why it is a wonder that most humans do not care for nature. Most humans murder nature without one thought about what they may be doing. Because there does not seem to be any general want for the reversal of these common thoughts, it is obvious that humans will destroy themselves yet another way: through the destruction of nature.
One problem with people is once again their want for power. This want even extends out into nature, as they try to be God, and play with the essence of nature. To a certain extent, such as using genetic engineering to cure diseases, makes sense; however, will humans really stop there? Or will they continue on, changing themselves, or even nature itself? The Doroks, in an attempt to kill the Torumakians, genetically create a mutant mold that they set on the world in hopes that it will imitate the effects of the Sea of Corruption directly on the Torumakians, killing all of them. However, things never go as humans plan, and the mutant mold ends up growing and killing most of the Doroks’ lands. It is only stopped through the Daikaisho, in which all of the insect-like Ohmu are killed. Nausicaa is so heartbroken when this happens that all she can ask is “Why? The mutant mold was created by human beings. Human beings are to blame for all of this. So why do you all have to die?”(Miyazaki, Volume 5, 131) Because of humans’ folly, nature will die. The idea of people playing God can also be seen from the overall start of Nausicaa: the God warriors. Humans created the God warriors, which are basically living machines of death, and because of the radiation they give off, the entire world was plunged into the post-apocalypse world that Nausicaa and all other of her time are now living through. By playing God in such an extreme way, humans end up only destroying nature, and with its destruction, the rest of humanity will be destroyed.
A very large problem facing humanity is the overpopulation of the world. Nature can only sustain so many people, and though nature may be crying that it cannot support so many as it is, no one seems to be listening. Nausicaa tells the Dorok people to not follow their Emporer, as he “intends to take the God Warrior and all of you to settle in Torumakia. He believes that is the only way for all of you to survive. But he’s wrong.”(Miyazaki, Volume 6, 131) When room becomes scarce, people begin to fight, and thus destroying themselves because they did not listen to the pleas of nature. If people continue to overcrowd the world, they will begin to fight for more room, and nature will all but be destroyed. With the death of nature, consequently humankind will die.
Whatever the reasons, humans destroy nature, destroying themselves in the very process.
There is another theme that is developed to a great length in Nausicaa; however, it is not nearly as obvious as the other two. It is the idea of hope and despair, and how humans, once they have given up hope, are sure to die.
Truth can be a scary thing sometimes. The truth behind a simple mystery, the truth behind life, the truth behind the afterlife; all may reveal something so terrible, that people would give up hope, and fall into despair. Nausicaa eventually finds out the truth behind the Sea of Corruption (it was created by humans to cleanse the Earth), as well as the fact that once the forest has cleansed the world, most humans will die, as they have been conditioned to the poison in the air. Even so, Nausicaa continues on trying to help people realize that the Sea of Corruption is cleansing the world, and lies, saying that once the world has been cleansed, everything will be back to what the world was like thousands of years before. She is horrified at what she does; yet she says that she will “go on telling this lie. Human beings transformed the human body to suit a polluted world. But what good can come of making that known?”(Miyazaki, Volume 7, 171) If she revealed the truth, many, if not all humans would give up hope, and fall into despair. While hope can keep a person alive, despair can just as easily kill a human. Sometimes it is good for a person to remain ignorant of something so powerful, that it will destroy any hope they have, as without hope, a human cannot expect to live.
Sometimes people will dedicate their lives to something, or someone, and once that goal has been reached, they do not care if they live or die. Kushana wishes to kill her father and her three brothers, as they were the ones that poisoned their mother, trying to kill Kushana. Kushana’s father is afraid of his children, as he does not want to give up his power, and therefore sets them on each other, all while trying to kill them himself. Kushana eventually becomes so wrapped up in it, that her only wish is to kill as many of her brothers and if possible, her father before she dies. She sees her eldest brother killed by the insects, and immediately after running for cover herself, she realizes that she can now die happily. An insect lands in front of her, and she calmly asks it, “Are you my death…? Yet you killed him so casually… I’ve lived all my life thinking that I would gladly die if only I could take them with me…”(Miyazaki, Volume 4, 77) She ends up not being killed, and realizing that she has much more to live for. However, in that moment, she gave up all hope, and simply sat immobile in front of something that would most likely kill her. When someone is so wholly dedicated to something like this, they will give up all will and hope to live once it has been reached. Before it is finished, they will fight with all of their might, showing the true power of a human’s will and hope to live. However in contrast, this person can also show the depth of human despair, and how once hope has been given up, death is almost certain, showing how easily humans may die, destroying themselves utterly.
Emotions are quite possibly the most important part about a person. They are how humans communicate, how humans do all the things they do. The emotions of hope and despair are no different than all the rest; except for maybe they are the most powerful emotions of all. As the Ohmu rushed towards their deaths to stop the mutant mold, Nausicaa prepared herself to go with them. At this point, she was so incredibly saddened by what was sure to be the deaths of all Ohmu, that she gives up all hope, and says to herself as she boards her Mehve (her glider-like aircraft), “So this is my last flight.”(Miyazaki, Volume 5, 126) The Mehve is a symbol of Nausicaa’s freedom to achieve anything, to bring about an era of what she believes will be right for both humans and the world, and with her remark, she has said that she has given up. She has said that there is now no point for her to live. She has said that all of her hope is now gone. With this simple, almost casual, comment, Nasicaa has given up all hope, and is now plunged so far into despair, that she is willingly going to her death.
The fact that emotions such as hope and despair may control a person’s life, truly shows how people will destroy themselves, as once things get bad enough from all other sources of the end of humanity, humans will give up and die.
In all three ways, through war, the destruction of nature, and the emotion of despair, it can be understood that humans will destroy themselves. War is constantly occurring, and with each passing day, more and more people are being taken victims by it. It is only a matter of time before another World War occurs, and the entire world is destroyed. Nature is the very foundation of the world. By destroying it, humans are merely shortening the amount of time they have left to live on this planet. Human’s emotions drive everything we do, so when someone has given up hope, and fallen into despair, they no longer have the will to live, even if they are able to. Because of these powerful emotions, humans, once their destruction begins, will give up and be sure to die. When it comes down to it, it seems to be almost certain that humans will be the cause of their own extinction. It’s just as Nausicaa says, “there’s no way to stop humanity’s foolishness… There’s no way to undo any of this.”(Miyazaki, Volume 5, 132-133) Yet one must wonder, is there a way to stop this, or is humanity truly doomed?
Works Cited
Miyazaki, Hayao. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (4-7). San Fransisco: VIZ. 2004
Bibliography
Miyazaki, Hayao. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1-7). San Fransisco: VIZ. 2004
Miyazaki, Hayao. “At the shore of the Sea of Corruption”. Ikiiki mizu book: Living Water, Loving Water. 1996. October 25, 2006.
Toyama, Ryoko. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. October 25, 2006.
