A Marxist Analysis of Attack on Titan

While the term "Marxism" undoubtedly evokes in the minds of most Americans such bloody dictators such as Josef Stalin or Mao Zedong; Marxist literary analysis has little to with such communistic politics. Instead it analyzes a piece of literature (or a film or a television show) as a product of its time, attempting to see how the values and concerns of that particular period are reflected in the work; along with whether these values are reinforced or subverted. As a case-study for Marxist analysis, I have chosen the manga/anime Attack on Titan. Before I begin this analysis I must note that I will only use the anime for the analysis for two reasons: 1) I have completed the anime series but have yet to catch up with the manga and 2) many people have only seen the anime and I wish to avoid spoilers.

The basic plot of Attack on Titan (or Shingeki no Kyojin as it is referred to in the original Japanese) is simple: humanity has been reduced to a small remnant that lives inside walled areas out of fear of gigantic, humanoid, man-eating creatures known as "Titans" and a diverse cast of soldiers strives to defend our species. I will discuss the plot further only as it relates to my analysis and recommend that one go to Wikipedia or just watch the anime for a full understanding of the story. I would also suggest that those who have not seen the anime not read the post, as I will be discussing many of the surprising plot twists in the story.

Watching the anime, I soon realized that many elements of the story strongly correlated with certain historic events of two generations ago. These events are those relating to the Third Reich in the Second World War and in particular to the Eastern Front. In this parallel the humans clearly resemble the Germans and the Titans the Russians, as portrayed in Nazi propaganda. Obviously, though, these parallels will not be exact as the primary purpose of the series was not allegorical. Finally I will attempt to show how these parallels relate to current events.

To start with, let us look at some of the characters in the anime. The main character in the story is Eren Jager (it should be noted there are variable spellings for various characters due to romanization) who due to her mother's death at the hands of the Titans, vows to kill all those of that species. This of course, is quite similar to the genocidal fantasies of Adolf Hitler regarding not just Jews but also Gypsies and Slavs. The parallel is furthered by the fact that Eren is revealed to be a Titan later much as Hitler had (unsubstantiated) rumours of Jewish ancestry. Lastly, the last name Jager is German for "hunter", which both signifies Eren's actions and furthers the use of Germanic themes and names.

Mikasa is one of the few characters without a visibly European appearance and is in fact acknowledged to be the last Asian in existence. However, this only serves to emphasize the point that the majority of the characters on AoT are white. In addition it can't be forgotten that Mikasa is also explicitly stated to be half-Asian and half-white, reflected by her Germanic surname of "Ackerman" (meaning ploughman). While it shouldn't be surprising considering this is a Japanese production, it is rather amusing that the only Asian character happens to ethnically Japanese, Germany's wartime ally in the Axis.

Going through the names of the remaining list of characters, we find that several of them to be also Germanic:
Armin Arlert-First name refers to Arminius, the semi-legendary deliverer of the German people from Roman rule at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest.
Reiner Braun-Not sure how a name can get more Teutonic than this
Jean Kirchstein-First name is French, but surname is Germanic 
Krista Lenz-Again, a highly Germanic name

Commander Erwin Smith is an interesting case since while his last name is quite English, his first name is a fairly obvious references to Feldmarschall Erwin Rommel. Driving home this point is that his birthday is the same day the Wehrmacht commander was forced to commit suicide for his alleged involvement in the July 20th plot. 

Turning from the characters we move on to the setting...

The above is Trost District from AoT, while below is Rothenburg, Germany. 

The lyrics of the songs from Attack on Titan further the parallels with the Third Reich. Let us consider the theme song for the first half of the episodes in Season 1, namely "Feurroter Pfeil und Bogen":

Sind Sie das Essen? Nein, wir sind der Jäger!

Unknown are the names of the flowers that have been trampled

Birds have fallen to the earth and long for the wind

Prayers won't solve anything

Only the will to fight can change the here and now!

O pigs who laugh at the resolve

to walk over corpses to move forward

Livestock complacency? False prosperity?

Give us the freedom of dying starving wolves!

The humiliation of being caged is what triggers us to fight back

We hunters slaughter prey beyond the castle walls,

consumed with surging bloodlust,

as our crimson bows and arrows pierce scarlet holes into the twilight

Few songs besides those in patriotic and military songs have such uncompromisingly bellicose lines. In fact one can easily imagine the opening line's rhetorical question of "Are we the prey? No we are the hunters!" on a Nazi-era propaganda poster accompanied perhaps by a Nordic-looking man breaking his chains or in a Feldgrau uniform.  The rest of the lyrics are no different: were they slightly reworded in order to be prose, it would not have been out of place in a wartime speech given by Dr. Goebbels urging the German people to commit to a total war effort or in a Das Schwarze Korps editorial attempting to embolden the Wehrmacht, Waffen-SS, Hitler Jugend, and Volkssturm men vainly trying to prevent the advancing Allied troops from entering German soil.

The theme song for the second half of the season, "Flugel der Freiheit" is no different:

O, mein Freund!

Jetzt hier ist ein Sieg.

Dies ist der erste Gloria.

O, mein Freund!

Feiern wir diesen Sieg, für den nächsten Kampf!

　　

"It was a pointless death."

Nobody should say that…

Till we’re down to the last man…

　　

Der Feind ist grausam… Wir bringen…

Der Feind ist riesig… Wir springen…

　　

With gloria in our hands, we sing of sieg, bearing the Flügel der Freiheit upon our backs

(Diese elenden Biester…)

Clenching our resolve to our hearts, we tear through the Ringe der Torheit

(…Werden vernichtet!)

Let us dance in the clear skies——

Flügel der Freiheit!

Der Feind ist grausam…

The opening and certain other segments of "Flugel der Freiheit" have melodies resembling of a marching song. In fact some have found it resembles "La Marseillaise", the French national anthem, although I have not seen any such similarity. Regardless, the song which sings triumphantly of "victory", "glory" and the "next struggle" is one that would have easily fit in with dozens of German military lieder such as the Horst Wessel song, "Vorwats Nach Osten", and many others. But it is with the SS combat song "Sieg Heil Viktoria" that "Flugel der Freiheit bears the most stunning resemblance.

Ade, mein liebes Schätzelein,

Ade, ade, ade.

Es muß, es muß geschieden sein,

Ade, ade, ade.

Es geht um Deutschlands Gloria,

Gloria, Gloria.

Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil Viktoria!

Sieg Heil, Viktoria!

I cannot help but wonder if the lyrics for "Flugel der Freiheit" had not been inspired at least partially by this seventy-year old marching song. 

Now that we have established the clear presence of Third Reich motifs in Attack on Titan, we must analyze how this relates to the present-day situation. Unlike most other anime that deals with war (such as Gundam or Legend of Galactic Heroes), AoT has not been strongly anti-war in its themes. Indeed, going by the song lyrics shown above, one can even say AoT has militaristic themes. This does not mean, of course that AoT whitewashes war-we see the clear costs of it in the bloody deaths of several characters. Nonetheless, the overall message seems to be that the war against the Titans is necessary for the survival of the human species and its liberation from the confining walls in which the race has been trapped in for so long. 

The anti-war animes that I mentioned above were created in the decades following Japan's crushing defeat in the Second World War which included the dubious distinction of being the only country to ever have to suffer atomic bombing on its cities. Due to this national trauma and the enshrinement of pacifism in the postwar Japanese constitution, Japan has maintained a minimally sized military and had a largely antiwar popular culture. Of course there were exceptions, such as the far-right Japanese nationalists (most notably the writer Yukio Mishima who attempted a putsch and committed ritual suicide when it failed), but most Japanese were deeply sceptical of what a large military or foreign wars could cause on the country. However with the passing of the post-World War 2 generation, most Japanese today have no direct memory of the war. In addition China has increasingly exercised itself as a power in the East Asian region, particularly over the Senkaku Islands which are under Japanese control but claimed by Chinese. Due to these factors, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has urged dropping the provisions which renounce war in the Japanese constitution and expanding the military. 

Thus it seems clear that Attack on Titan reflects these evolving attitudes regarding the military in Japanese society. While overall a Japanese military buildup would be a positive for the United States by reducing America's burden of defending its ally, one must be cautious that this does not result in a resurgence of Japanese revanchism or denial of war crimes. In addition, I hope to continue to analyze developments in AoT and see if there are any further parallels with the Third Reich. 

The Downfall of a Politician

It appears that Kim Jong-Un of North Korea has decided to imitate Prince Hamlet of Denmark in removing his uncle, Jang Sung-taek. The significance of this event can hardly be exaggerated, for this is relevant not just to the internal politics of North Korea, but to the region and wider world. 

Jang had often served as the bridge between North Korea and its Chinese ally, often visiting the latter country which the current leader of North Korea has yet to do. This made him often advocate for the positions China wanted for North Korea such as reforming the highly centralized economy, much as the former country did in the last generation. Thus to a certain extent the blatant ouster of Jang, to the point that his arrest was carried in the middle of a meeting and photographed for all the world to see indicates Kim Jong-Un intends to continue his assertion of independence from China. This desire has already been displayed this year through the North's nuclear tests, which the Chinese opposed and which led them to respond by supporting UN Security Council sanctions. 

When Kim Jong-Un first came to power almost two years ago, there was some hope that he would be a reformist who would begin to open up the "hermit country" to the wider world. Yet this was not to be: North Korea instead has stepped up its bellicose rhetoric by constantly threatening to renew the war against the South which ceased some sixty years ago. The increasing fraying of relations with China threatens to further increase the isolation and block off what was hitherto a moderating influence.

Thus the arrest of Jang has served to but  add tension to the region of East Asia already fraught by territorial disputes between China and Japan over the Senkakus. The United States must navigate this new situation carefully, promoting what good it can by continuing efforts to denuclearize North Korea but also be prepared to meet any sudden action by the North with strength. We cannot but hope that the removal of Jang does not signify anything worse. 

A Further Explanation Part II-Reforming the Way We Vote

Last time on this blog I discussed why "something was rotten" in the current state of the Republic. One of the biggest problems noted there was the nature of how both the President and Congress was elected which often served to obscure the opinion of the citizenry then give voice to it. Thus, using examples from other countries, I will attempt to show how the way we elect our lawmakers should be changed. Now, a major criticism will be that this will be fundamental constitutional revision and go against the will of the Founding Fathers who were suspicious of a pure democracy. That is absolutely true, but the Founding Fathers were working in a context where the smaller states had to be appeased in order to sign on to the Constitution, so the nation would stay united which resulted in the Senate. Similarly, the Electoral College was based on the assumption that people's primary loyalty would be to their state and its Presidential candidates, leading to the election regularly being sent to the House of Representatives. However in reality this has occurred has only once. Finally the Founders' suspicions about democracy must be analyzed in the context of the times, considering most of them were wealthy merchants and landowners who feared a tyranny of the majority that would threaten their property. It is quite clear, with the expansion of suffrage (which many, if not most Founders favoured restricting to property owners) that such an ignorant mob has not arisen. In light of these changes, I would suggest the following changes to our way of elections.

First of all, the way we register voters and conduct elections should be changed to increase awareness and turnout, especially among demographics who have low turnout rates such as youths, minorities, and the poor. Many countries such as Germany and Israel, automatically register voters once they're eligible. Similarly, I believe all US citizens over the age of 18 and without a criminal record should be put on the voter rolls without having to sign up. This will not involve compulsory voting, however, as is the case in some countries such as Australia. I believe, in addition, that election laws should  so that the time when polling places are open, early voting opportunities, and voting by mail procedures are consistent nationally. Making Election Day a national holiday would also be a good idea by ensuing that many people who are pressed for time due to work and other commitments have the opportunity to vote. 

With regards to Presidential elections, the Electoral College needs to be abolished as soon as possible joining the powdered wig and the musket as an 18th Century invention. While the obvious replacement is to have the President be elected by the popular vote, a problem arises if we implement the system of making the candidate who receives the most votes the winner as that means a party that had split or had a significant third party leeching off ballots (as was the case with Ralph Nader in 2000) will often lose, even if among the top candidates that party is preferred. As a result, implementing a two-round election system (as France does in its presidential elections) would be a better idea. In such a system, if no candidate received 50% or higher of the vote, a run-off election would be scheduled some time later between the top two candidates to determine the final winner. Ideally this would encourage political diversity by allowing more candidates  With the President elected directly by the popular vote, candidates would have to visit and campaign in all corners of the country rather than just in a handful of swing states. While some may argue that this will lead to states that have few people being ignored due to candidates looking for the most amounts of voters, this is a nonissue as most small states are (with a few exceptions such as New Hampshire) already safely in the camp of one party such as Vermont which is overwhelmingly Democratic or Idaho which is strongly Republican. 

Avoiding the issue of reforming the distribution of powers in Congress for the moment, the structure of House of Representatives also demands change. As pointed out previously, the number of Representatives has not been increased for over a century (with a brief exception when Alaska and Hawaii were granted representatives), the number of people represented by a single Congressman has grown to an average of 710,767. To reform this system, the number of Congressional districts ought to be increased by a large amount-for example were it increased to 800, the number of people in an average district would go down to about 396,485, which still is far higher than most other countries. The 2012 elections for the US House showed another problem, as while Democratic candidates for the House received more votes, the Republicans still retained a safe majority. Part of this was caused by gerrymandering (which should be corrected by establishing a nonpartisan committee to redraw Congressional boundaries on a national level as is already the case in some states such as California) but it was also caused by the way Democratic and Republican voters are concentrated. To ameliorate this, a move towards a German system of a mixed-member proportional system which combines the current representatives elected in geographical districts along with representatives elected on a national level by party. The nationally-elected representatives should be distributed in a manner that will actually reflect the vote totals for Congressional candidates to correct for the geographically elected members. 

As stated previously, this series will continue with addressing other fundamental problems our country has along with proposing some solutions to them. 

Featured Music-Battle Hymn of the Republic

Excellent rendition of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" by the Robert Shaw Chorale, a truly superb musical group.