Note: This was originally posted on Reddit last year as an addendum to my essay “The Basement, the Massacre, and Authoritarianism: Why Attack on Titan Resonates with Me.” Reposting it here since the hyperlinks in the original post are broken.
It dawned on me after rereading Chapter 131 of Attack on Titan that this quote from Liu Xiaobo’s Nobel Peace speech sums up to a T what I think is the most important message of AoT’s story up to this point:
「仇恨會腐蝕一個人的智慧和良知，敵人意識將毒化一個民族的精神，煽動起你死我活的殘酷鬥爭，毀掉一個社會的寬容和人性，阻礙一個國家走向自由民主的進程。」
“Hatred can rot a person’s wisdom and conscience. An enemy mentality will poison the spirit of a nation and inflame brutal life and death struggles, destroy a society’s tolerance and humanity, and hinder a country’s advance toward freedom and democracy.”
Various elements within the story reinforce this message: From the endless cycle of conflict on a macro level between Marley and Eldia, both of which saw authoritarian regimes come to power as a result of these conflicts (e.g., the Eldian Empire of old, Marley’s military dictatorship, Paradis’ royal government, and later, the Jaegerists’ fascist putsch); to the kaleidoscope of personal tragedies on a micro level in the stories of Eren, Reiner, Grisha, Gabi (see this essay), Sasha, Floch, Zeke, and many more.
In particular, the disturbing juxtaposition of these two panels demonstrates just how incompatible hatred and an enemy mentality are with the pursuit of true freedom:
In his quest for freedom at all costs, Eren is forcing himself to revert back to that hateful and toxic enemy mentality he had once possessed as a kid even though, as an adult who is fully aware of the shared humanity of every single person in the world, he can longer truly hate his so-called “enemies.” Doing so erodes both his body and his soul to the point of no return.
In other words, by commanding his army of titans to crush the entire world into a living hell for his fellow human beings, Eren is also crushing his own conscience and humanity. It’s just incredibly heartbreaking to watch.
Will AoT’s final chapters provide a healthier, more peaceful path to freedom in a world that is full of hatred, violence, and oppression? Does one that is feasible even exist?
As Liu Xiaobo faced life imprisonment for daring to ask the regime ruling his country for freedom and democracy, this was his answer:
「所以，我希望自己能夠超越個人的遭遇來看待國家的發展和社會的變化，以最大的善意對待政權的敵意，以愛化解恨。」
“Therefore, I hope to see past my own ordeals as I appreciate my country’s development and societal changes; I hope to treat the regime’s hostility [towards me] with maximum kindness; and I hope to dissolve hate with love.”
He died an idealist as his home country slid (and continues to slide) further and further down the self-destructive path towards ethno-nationalism and jingoism.
History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes. As a citizen of a nation whose ugly and tragic past serves as a chilling historical lesson to its East Asian neighbour, what answer will Isayama give us?
As someone whose worldview has been positively impacted by AoT, this is what I’m looking forward to the most as Eren’s story approaches its conclusion.
(h/t this thoughtful thread on adult Eren’s state of mind) [backup link]
