Aug 11, 2023
The only obstacle to the realization of the human being and to his liberation is not events and it is not others, but himself" illustrates the perpetual conflict of our mc. We can understand "the realization of the human being and his liberation" as the idealized version of Agreste: the baron of lilac - a person spreading joy around him, not selfish or egocentric, the "perfect" man, a "smooth" man without flaws. But there's an obstacle to this ideal version, Agreste himself: the Agreste who has flaws, doubts, regrets, who wants to be seen, who wants to be loved => the human Agreste, if I may say so. Once again, isn't this a wonderful way of making Agreste human? To tell the truth, we all have an ideal version of ourselves, whether physical, psychological or behavioral, a flawless version that we keep in a corner of our minds and try to achieve. Then comes the moment when we slowly realize that, for one reason or another, we'll never be able to be this version of ourselves, simply because it's not us, because we have inherent flaws in our lives: we have a personality. Of course there will be flaws that we can correct, but sometimes we see things as flaws when they're not necessarily so. And I think that's the case with Agreste: he wants so much to do right that he does everything wrong, and outright tries to erase his personality in favor of a smooth mask, making him somehow insensitive.
But Man's (and fairies') faults are not what make him bad. We see this here with Theresia. Above all, she's someone Agreste cares deeply about. A person he sees above all as "perfect". However, her "imperfections" are the first thing he sees, like the little scar at the corner of her eye. Which is just incredible, because for the first time, he's seen her physically without her mask, so to speak. And wasn't it by seeing the other person's faults that we learned to love them? Don't we love someone for their qualities and imperfections ? Even if he sees "an imperfection", he doesn't forget her "qualities" (on a physical level), her light citrus scent, red cheeks, little freckles. Her starry eyes where stars are shining. It's often said that the eyes are the reflection of the soul, so in describing his eyes as a haven of peace full of hope, he puts into words his calm, gentle personality.
Next, let's talk about that wonderful metaphor of the library and personality. When we introduce ourselves to someone and establish human relations, we present to them with a display of books, each book representing a facet of ourselves that we want to show. Our tastes, our passions, the things we don't like: more generally, not our imperfections. But this doesn't reflect reality: it's just a facade, a mask we've created, and few people will have the privilege of accessing books that are "forbidden to the public" => our secrets, our weaknesses, our imperfections, our doubts, our fears. In other words, the most valuable books, because these are the books that make us who we are, the books that make us unique, the real us. Here, fate has granted Agreste the opportunity to discover some of her "physical" books, so he can contemplate all the little details of Theresia. Theresia stands before him, stripped of the few pages she made him read, her mask: it's simply Theresia the human. What's more, it's important to emphasize that in this interaction, all our mc's 5 senses are mobilized, a way of saying that his whole being, at this moment, is hers.
Speaking of the 5 senses, it was hard to overlook the gustatory aspect. First of all, we learn that Agreste loves spices and flavors, and this is the first trait of his personality that we discover. But the food of the undines is bland, with no stars to brighten his palate. On the other hand, to say that eating the bland food of undines is like standing under a blanket of dark grey clouds, would reflect his current state of mind in a way. Anyway, what we also know is that food is a way to the heart, a way that our mc has chosen to ignore. In a way, this makes sense, since he's always prevented himself from being happy. But now, as he bites into the fruit, a wave of emotions washes over him: euphoria, a feeling of sweet summer. More generally, positive feelings that his heart hadn't known for a long time. And this fruit he shares with theresia will taste the same for her.Given the symbolism of sharing fruit in Crell, giving her a piece is like giving her a piece of his heart in a way. But this symbolism Agreste didn't grasp; he thought it was a simple gesture. Here, too, something seems "off": Something he considered inconsequential actually has enormous consequences. After all, wouldn't the same thing have happened with Nagahiro?
Side note 1: I've just realized two things (unless I'm mistaken)
- Agreste' is first and foremost a nickname, a nickname given to him by Nagahiro in relation to his 'baron of lilac' mask (the person he was trying to become) and not himself (his real person). In a way, she was denouncing his insensitivity and the fact that he couldn't understand hearts simply because he didn't have any, seeing as it's only a mask.
- We still don't know our MC's real first name (again, knowing your sens of detail, I doubt it's a simple oversight :) ) it goes back to the idea that part of the story would be a quest for his true identity, at which point at the end of the story (depending on his choices + if it's a happy ending) he'd learn to love himself, to be himself, and we'd know his real first name. Why not Hoshiko? Star in Japanese. It would be a good parallel with all this star symbolism, in a way our mc was a star from the start, he just had to realize it to shine.
Side note 2 : When Agreste mention the stuff with the sun he will put down in order to make Theresia shine even more. Maybe later, the Sun might be himself with the baron notoriety ... so at some point he will be force to make a choice ?
Side note 3 : good morning ^^
