"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange."
--
Fullmetal Alchemist is a behemoth of a series. Packed with themes, nuance, and topics that could have us talking for hours. I may delve into more than one, but the biggest theme I want to talk about from Fullmetal Alchemist today is that of "truth." A very philosophical concept, indeed. While I hope most readers are familiar with Fullmetal Alchemist and I will be spoiling and referencing things in fashion for an audience that is, I will briefly go over the premise of the story;
Set in a 1910's like world, Fullmetal Alchemist follows the journey of two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, as they search for the Philosopher's Stone in hopes they can use it to return their bodies back to normal. Edward has two mechanical limbs, and Alphonse is only a soul stuck within a suit of armor. They tried to bring their mother back from the dead with a half-science, half-magic known as "Alchemy," which much of the story and setting is based around, and in the process it backfired and ruined their bodies. This is certainly a "back of the book" description of the story, as there are many other themes in Fullmetal Alchemist; the horrors of war, the contrast between faith and science, the circle of life and how we can't remove ourselves from it, and the simple truth of existence; the dead cannot come back.
I think many of these themes are not only connected inherently, but connected to the idea of "truth" as well. First and foremost, we come to the concept of the "Philosopher's Stone." This object has appeared in other fantasy media, like Harry Potter, and while it isn't a real thing, it was certainly a real idea. There are many recorded references to it found in scientific writings from as early as 300 A.D., as it was supposedly an "all-powerful" material said to turn metal into gold. Alchemists, which were scientist-philosophers playing around with metals and chemicals before actual chemistry was a thing, would attempt to find or create it, resulting in the the term "magnum opus." The stone is used far differently in Fullmetal Alchemist, as it's not just used for metal, but can do basically anything and thus supposedly breaks the law of "equivalent exchange." As we see from the first volume, alchemists in the universe of the story are already able to turn other materials into gold. The Philospher's Stone is instead used as a macguffin until the characters learn how it's made and why it can sustain such immense power -- it's crafted with the transmuted souls of many, many other humans. By using the energy of their harvested lives, the laws of alchemy can be surpassed. But even then, it's not infinite. When a stone's power is used up, it falls to ash.
What's interesting here is that after the pieces fall into place, we see that the Philosopher's Stone isn't actually surpassing anything. The value of a human soul, in Fullmetal Alchemist's world, is quite a lot -- but it is still just a part of the world's flow like everything else, and is finite. The law of Equivalent Exchange is not being broken with the use of the stone -- it's just that an overwhelming amount of energy is expended, thus allowing for the creation of many complex things. In the end, it breaks like every other machine, and dies like every other life.
The Philosopher's Stone is a brilliant metaphor for the value of our lives pitted against the value of everything else; one life is equal to exactly that. One life. No matter what race, gender, ethnicity, class, creed, faith, profession -- the truth is that of the cycle of the world, as we are all equally a part its of ecosystem. One is all. All is one.
This is why the main antagonist, Father, ultimately fails at obtaining the power of God; because no one can become greater than this great flow -- and God, in this sense, is the truth; which represents all of us and our world, parts of one greater whole that cannot be surpassed.
Another truth the story demonstrates is the cyclical nature of vengeance, and the way it begets more violence. "Vengeance sows seeds for more vengeance." We see this with the character of Scar, a victim of the Ishvalan War of Extermination; a military genocide, created specifically for the purpose of completing a nationwide transmutation circle so the main antagonist, Father, could ascend to godhood. State Alchemists and the rest of Amestris's military marched upon the land of Ishval and slaughtered their citizens in the hundreds, and in the process, Scar lost his arm and his brother. (An interesting parallel to Edward, no?) In a fit of blind rage, when he wakes up from an attack and discovers his brother had grafted his arm onto Scar's body with alchemy and perished in the desert, he kills two of the Amestrian doctors taking care of him.
Scar's character arc is that of becoming a terrorist against state alchemists, and rising out of this prejudice after finding out the doctors he killed were the parents of one of the main characters, Winry Rockbell. A wanton massacre of innocent people obviously can't be excused, and Colonel Mustang, a participant in the "war," plans to hold all of those accountable once he becomes furher. However, revenge only piles up on more revenge, and perpetrating violence after being a victim only furthers these problems.
Lastly, before I start talking about the impact this story had on me specifically, I want to briefly mention how truth fits into one of Fullmetal Alchemist's other major themes; that of faith, and science. Both are "truth" to different people and play significantly into one's way of life. But too much of either one has lasting consequences. We're introduced to a fanatical religious organization, the Church of the Sun God Leto, right at the beginning of the story, as Edward exposes the main priest's scheme to the people who had fallen for it. What once gave them purpose now became an object of fierce loathing, and Edward himself, a cold-hard athiest, outright says that "alchemists don't believe in unprovable concepts like 'gods'." Conceited in this belief, he outright mocks the faith of a religious character.
However, the alternative to faith is the world of proof, theory, and science. In the world of Fullmetal Alchemist, this is synonymous with Alchemy. But we see the horrors that can be brought about when science goes too far, with the Ishvalan War of Extermination, the Hommunculi, Chimeras (mainly Nina and Alexander) and every other twisted thing created with Alchemy. By volume sixteen, Edward admits that the idea that "an alchemist is one who seeks the truth" is a pretentious point of view, and truth is not as black and white as faith or science, but it's something in between.
--
You see, Fullmetal Alchemist was there when I was truly starting to become the person I am now. (The rest of this essay is about to get very personal).
In middle school, I discovered anime and manga. I'm not sure why, but I instantly fell in love with its topics and styles. It was so unique. So strange. I've talked a little bit about this idea in my Kingdom Hearts post a few years back, when the third game came out; but the wide array of similar aesthetic styles in anime and manga were really captivating to me, and they still are.
Right around this time in my life, however, I was twelve, thirteen. I was still attempting to fit in with the more typical kinds of kids, and I didn't yet have the self awareness to understand just how easy of a target I was making myself by being open about my love of anime. I went to sleep overs and hang outs with a lot of different boys my age, and I tried to broach the topic of anime -- over time, I continued to get it spat back in my face via bullying, harassment, sometimes smaller things like snide comments and mockery... but they always stick with you. I struggled with who I was, and who I was trying to be.
Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (yes, both of them. Thank you Netflix) were shows I was watching/had watched with my father at the time (my dad seems to have an affinity for cartoons as well, I catch him watching Futurama almost every night, and I've watched multiple anime series in their entirety with him) and they had a really strong effect on me. When I brought up anime with my friends, Fullmetal Alchemist was typically one I would be talking about.
Nowadays I can look at the series and appreciate it for its complex themes, its great characters, its fantastic storytelling -- but back then, the single fact that I could watch something like that with my dad was very important to me. Doubly so because I don't think I've ever related to a protagonist as much as I do with Edward. We're both shorter than average, we're both picky eaters, and his agnosticism is one of the first times I interacted with main characters that shared my point of view of God and faith. It was still a confused and developing worldview back then; I come from a pretty conservative, religious town -- (just one more reason I have never fit in) and I also come from a conservative, religious extended family; so entertaining different notions of our universe out loud came with a price. But the value in seeing one's self in art and media cannot be understated. It's why diversity is so important in stories, and even though my relation to Edward had nothing to do with race, I still managed to see someone much like myself grow and change, and it changed my life. Paired with watching it with my father and having it at a time where I was growing into the person I am now, Fullmetal Alchemist is a piece of art that means the world to me.
These things definitely make my experience with Fullmetal Alchemist a personal, subjective one. But the older I get, the clearer I see that it's not possible to separate life, yourself, and your personal truths with the art you consume, and the art you create. That subjective experience with something gives it meaning. Right? That isn't fact. Instead, it's truth.
--
Thank you Kato on YouTube with your great Fullmetal Alchemist and Truth video. It helped me flesh out my ideas a lot!
As always, thanks for reading. And remember; something cannot be gained without first giving something in return.
No comments:
Post a Comment