Naruto: Part 2
Naruto: Part 2
Naruto vs. Neji: Free Will vs. Destiny
https://1anime.to/episode/175708-naruto-episode-62_61945-english-dub - 1:30 - 21:05
https://1anime.to/episode/175709-naruto-episode-63-english-dub - 4:05 - 13:45
When I studied psychology as an undergraduate at Caldwell College (it’s a university now - it was still a college when I was a student there), I was part of a program there that I had to do a project for. I chose to do this project about the psychology of religion (I also minored in Theology). I wrote a paper for this project too, and in both, I focused on the psychology of religion according to the psychologist Carl Jung. In my paper about this, I wrote an introduction about the relationship between psychology and religion before focusing on what Carl Jung thought about it. In this introduction, I also talk about how psychology, which is considered a science, appears to be opposed to subjects like religion for several reasons. One of these reasons has to do with behavior, which is also seen in the fight between Naruto and Neji.
https://1anime.to/episode/175709-naruto-episode-63-english-dub - 4:05 - 13:45
When I studied psychology as an undergraduate at Caldwell College (it’s a university now - it was still a college when I was a student there), I was part of a program there that I had to do a project for. I chose to do this project about the psychology of religion (I also minored in Theology). I wrote a paper for this project too, and in both, I focused on the psychology of religion according to the psychologist Carl Jung. In my paper about this, I wrote an introduction about the relationship between psychology and religion before focusing on what Carl Jung thought about it. In this introduction, I also talk about how psychology, which is considered a science, appears to be opposed to subjects like religion for several reasons. One of these reasons has to do with behavior, which is also seen in the fight between Naruto and Neji.
In the fight between Naruto and Neji, we see more than a fight between two people, but also between their behavior. On one side, we have Naruto, or religion, representing free will, and on the other, we have Neji, or science, representing destiny. Anime fights are another good example of the idea of there’s more. Either you don’t get anything out of the fight except for the fight itself, which is what most people prefer, or you look more into the actual fight, which is what I attempt to do. Even in non - fighting anime, conflicts come up, and that is what the fighting is about.
Anyway, we also see this conflict between Naruto and Neji in terms of their behavior, which not only represents the conflict between science/psychology and religion, but also their experiences. Before, and during, his fight with Naruto, Neji believed his experiences were determined by destiny, meaning he couldn’t do anything about them. He uses the birth of his uncle and father as an example of this when Naruto wants to know more about Neji, and his relationship with Hinata, his cousin, which is what I start their fight with. Since Neji’s uncle was born before his father, Neji’s uncle became the head of the family, while Neji’s father became part of their branch family. The branch family protects the head family. A curse mark is used by the head family to control the branch family, and remind them of who they are, and what they are supposed to do. Neji also believes that the head family took this too far in an incident where his father had to die instead of his uncle in order to protect the head family, as well as prevent a war. This is why he also believes that this fight is also determined by destiny, like the incident he told Naruto about, as well as what he thinks about it, which his uncle talks to him about after his fight with Naruto, but before that, Neji still needs to finish what he started with Naruto.
Even though Neji believes it’s Naruto’s destiny to lose this fight with him, Naruto clearly thinks differently about that, and just because Neji says this, the fight isn’t over. Naruto still has to prove Neji wrong, and correct his way of thinking, with the help of Neji’s uncle. Naruto beats Neji with the power of believing in oneself as the way to change your destiny. It has helped Naruto before with his own curse mark, which also helps him now when Neji claims Naruto can’t understand him. Naruto does understand Neji, or at least what Neji tells him. The problem is that Neji doesn’t understand Naruto, including what he says and does. After Neji loses this fight to Naruto, he still thinks about what Naruto told him.
While Neji is still thinking about what Naruto told him during their fight, Neji’s uncle comes in to see him to tell him what really happened in that incident where Neji thought his father had to die. It turns out that Neji’s uncle was willing to die, but Neji’s father was also willing to die for him, which Neji’s uncle didn’t understand. Neji’s father even went so far as to prevent Neji’s uncle from interfering with what he wanted to do. Neji’s father explains that he is willing to die not only for his brother, but also to protect his family, friends, and village. In choosing death, he chooses his freedom (I consider this martyrdom - another good example of this is seen in the next reflection; it’s also a good example of something we reflected on already, which was the power of friendship). This is the only time he gets to make a choice. Even if it’s the last choice he’ll make in his life on earth, he could still choose to do it, and not do it because he is destined to do so. Destiny is something that he created for himself, and his final message to Neji is for him to do the same. This influences Neji, and with the power of Naruto’s words to him, starts to change (he eventually has his own martyrdom, which is how I can understand his death).
And this is also what we can do. Destiny is something that we create ourselves. Even if our lives our determined by destiny, how can we know that? Our answer to this question is to either live like Neji before his fight with Naruto, or live like Naruto, or Neji after fighting Naruto, and thinking what Naruto, and his uncle, told him (we will also see another example of the power of Naruto’s words, known as his talk no jutsu, in the next reflection, and when reflecting on Naruto next week).
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
- What do the ideas of destiny and free will mean to you?
- What about martyrdom?
Love and Legacy: The Will of Fire
Another important topic brought up in our Convocation assemblies is legacy. We all need to have a shared history, and the one we get from an institution is one worth having, especially since that isn’t very common. Before talking about how legacy is seen in anime, with an example from Naruto again, I would also like to talk about another important idea that is also an important part of legacy, and is important in general, which is love. Love is not only seen in our Convocation assemblies too, but also in the idea of legacy, both in our Convocation assemblies and the anime Naruto.
In the first part of the Naruto video I show here, Naruto is finishing his fight with Gaara, and at first, Gaara doesn’t understand why Naruto is still trying to win the fight. Both Naruto and Gaara are pretty much done in terms of fighting strength. But Naruto still has his talk no jutsu technique, and uses it to tell Gaara that love is what keeps him going. Their shared experience of being hated for what’s inside them, especially when growing up, also helps Naruto with this. While Naruto was able to overcome this, which he still has to do even at this point, Gaara accepted this hatred, and used it to determine his actions until now (people tried to kill Gaara growing up, so he decided to return the favor). Naruto reminds Gaara about the importance of loving others, not just yourself, which Gaara remembers his uncle telling him when he said “Love is the heart’s desire to serve someone who is precious to you. To watch over them.” He also reminds Gaara that his mother does this for him now in the sand that protects him (this was an interesting relationship - he tried to kill Gaara too by his own choice, even though Gaara thought he was the only one who loved him). Naruto and Gaara’s friends then arrive to take them back to their villages. Naruto has not only defeated Gaara, which no one else has ever done before (we see an attempt tomorrow), but changed Gaara for the better, like he did with Neji in the previous reflection. However, there is another important experience for Naruto after this fight.
This experience is the funeral for the third hokage, or leader, of Naruto’s village, which is seen in the second part of video of this reflection. This is an experience that Naruto has with his entire village. Funerals are important events for remembering the life of the deceased, particularly what they did, and your memories of/with them. Remembering why he died is also important here. While the village was under attack, which is why Naruto fought Gaara, the third hokage sacrificed his life in order to try to take his former disciple Orochimaru, who became bad (then good again - this happens in anime too), with him (the attempt failed, but he was able to render Orochimaru’s arms useless, which Orochimaru reversed eventually anyway). In order to save the village, and thus everyone in it, the third hokage had to die (other people did, and do, this too). He didn’t die for nothing, and it’s important to remember that.
Even if you don’t understand legacy, or the will of fire, which is seen by Naruto when he asks his one sensei why people risk their lives for others (as we saw in the beginning of this reflection, Naruto did this himself), we still have to help each other anyway, both now and always. This is done both at the funeral for the person who taught the importance of this idea to the village, which continues as long as there are people to remember this, and in our own lives, not just at our Convocation assemblies.
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
- What do you think about the definitions of love and legacy in Naruto?
- How would you define love and legacy?
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