Post by cuore_ridente on Feb 24, 2009 2:13:40 GMT -5
As I was finishing up watching Adventure 02 with English subs, the scene when Ken is watching the Digimon Kaiser being abused during his hallucination by BelialVamdemon struck me.
I just finished studying Crime and Punishment in honors English, and in some ways, Ken reminds me of Raskolnikov, the protagonist of the novel. One of the things we discussed is that Raskolnikov can be considered both a Christ figure AND a Lazarus figure. Ken, I think, can be the same.
At first, I expected obvious Christ symbolism during the scene I first mentioned, and in a way, you could interpret it to be so. However, the Kaiser is only tied to a pole, and his arms are not extended as though he were on a cross. But I think the writers decided not to do that because it could confuse kids/kids wouldn't understand it/parents might be upset. So let's just assume he should. After all, there are a bunch of Digimon whipping him and attacking him, and eventually he dies/is deleted.
Christ, of course, is never portrayed to be as evil and as awful as Ken was when the Seed of Darkness (Dark Spore) infiltrated him. However, while it is actually a manifestation of evil, we first see Ken as perfect at everything: intelligence, sports, you know the drill. He has powers that seem mystic at first to the Chosen Children (Dark Towers, Evil Rings/Spirals). And of course, he's an emperor/king, in a way.
Ken has some of the other aspects of a Christ figure after he "turns good." His crest is Kindness/Gentleness; enough said. He also fights for justice, obviously. Another is looking up to a father figure, but for Ken, I think he looks up to his brother, Osamu. When he was a child, he did resent him, but at the same time, he thought he was a god. (AKA: Who did he resemble when he was the Kaiser?)
But this major one is where I get stuck: Sacrifices. I'm tempted to say that Ken has made a lot of sacrifices in his life. And sacrifices = Christ figure. (Oikawa and BlackWarGreymon at the end, much?) But the more I think about it, the more I think he was just...unfortunate, you know? The question he asked ten billion times in the series: "WHY ME? IT COULD HAVE BEEN ANYONE." Fate, I guess.
The only thing that sticks out at me is the scene when he is using his digivice to send Daemon into the Dark Ocean. He is screaming because he is facing one of his biggest fears, but he knows that he has to do it to save the kidnapped children.
Of course, you could also say, "Well, he's kind of risking his life to fight and save the world." First of all, no he's not. WORMMON is. (Side note: That is why Tamers = So much love; 'cause they don't just freaking stand there!!!) Obviously, Wormmon would not be powerful enough to even stand a chance without Ken, so of course I give him that. And maybe it seems too significant to blow off, but it's like, okay, EVERY Chosen Child is doing the same thing. And I wouldn't say that every Chosen Child is a Christ figure.
Can you think of any other examples of his sacrifices? Do you think Ken is a Christ figure? Why or why not? (Yes, you will be graded on this later. =P)
Now let's look at him as a Lazarus figure, which is definintely much more evident. (If you don't know the parable of Lazarus, look it up.)
A Lazarus figure must fulfill several aspects.
First of all, he must suffer. (Side note: RUSSIAN LITERATURE = SUFFERING!!! *cough* Anyway...) I don't think I need to go into detail that for Ken. It's pretty much his life in a nutshell.
Second of all, he must die. This is probably when the clothes of the Kaiser disintergrated after he is defeated.
Thirdly, obviously, he must be resurrected. We could interpret this moment in several ways.
One may be the end of the episode when we learn Ken's dark past, when he "finds his heart," and when Wormmon is reborn.
Another may be when he decided to join the Chosen Children (although there was never really a definitive moment, as far as I can remember).
And a final is during that hallucination I mentioned earlier, when he finally accepts his past and realizes that he has atoned for his sins. (I think this is when he is FULLY redeemed.)
And finally, there must be someone who resurrects him.
Please don't kill me because I'm a Daiken fan, but I really, truly, honestly think this person is Daisuke. He was the first person to really try and reach out to Ken and get him to join the Chosen Children. Granted, he was a little rushed about it. But thanks to his encouragement and friendliness, eventually, he did. And it was for the better. Look at Daisuke during the finale; he is pretty much the one bringing everyone out of their hallucination. And as we see, by the end of the series, Daisuke and Ken are best friends. Without Daisuke, the others may have never reached out to him (or at least, it would have taken MUCH longer), and shy Ken would have never approached them himself (again, possibly after a long time). And Ken not being on the team = no Paildramon = no Imperialdramon = no controlling the Digimon around the world = no defeating BelialVamdemon = DISASTER. I think I've made my point, haha.
(If anyone disagrees with me on this aspect, I'd love to hear it. =D)
So again, do you agree or disagree that Ken is a Lazarus figure, and why?
<3 Character analysis at 2 in the morning. XD
I just finished studying Crime and Punishment in honors English, and in some ways, Ken reminds me of Raskolnikov, the protagonist of the novel. One of the things we discussed is that Raskolnikov can be considered both a Christ figure AND a Lazarus figure. Ken, I think, can be the same.
At first, I expected obvious Christ symbolism during the scene I first mentioned, and in a way, you could interpret it to be so. However, the Kaiser is only tied to a pole, and his arms are not extended as though he were on a cross. But I think the writers decided not to do that because it could confuse kids/kids wouldn't understand it/parents might be upset. So let's just assume he should. After all, there are a bunch of Digimon whipping him and attacking him, and eventually he dies/is deleted.
Christ, of course, is never portrayed to be as evil and as awful as Ken was when the Seed of Darkness (Dark Spore) infiltrated him. However, while it is actually a manifestation of evil, we first see Ken as perfect at everything: intelligence, sports, you know the drill. He has powers that seem mystic at first to the Chosen Children (Dark Towers, Evil Rings/Spirals). And of course, he's an emperor/king, in a way.
Ken has some of the other aspects of a Christ figure after he "turns good." His crest is Kindness/Gentleness; enough said. He also fights for justice, obviously. Another is looking up to a father figure, but for Ken, I think he looks up to his brother, Osamu. When he was a child, he did resent him, but at the same time, he thought he was a god. (AKA: Who did he resemble when he was the Kaiser?)
But this major one is where I get stuck: Sacrifices. I'm tempted to say that Ken has made a lot of sacrifices in his life. And sacrifices = Christ figure. (Oikawa and BlackWarGreymon at the end, much?) But the more I think about it, the more I think he was just...unfortunate, you know? The question he asked ten billion times in the series: "WHY ME? IT COULD HAVE BEEN ANYONE." Fate, I guess.
The only thing that sticks out at me is the scene when he is using his digivice to send Daemon into the Dark Ocean. He is screaming because he is facing one of his biggest fears, but he knows that he has to do it to save the kidnapped children.
Of course, you could also say, "Well, he's kind of risking his life to fight and save the world." First of all, no he's not. WORMMON is. (Side note: That is why Tamers = So much love; 'cause they don't just freaking stand there!!!) Obviously, Wormmon would not be powerful enough to even stand a chance without Ken, so of course I give him that. And maybe it seems too significant to blow off, but it's like, okay, EVERY Chosen Child is doing the same thing. And I wouldn't say that every Chosen Child is a Christ figure.
Can you think of any other examples of his sacrifices? Do you think Ken is a Christ figure? Why or why not? (Yes, you will be graded on this later. =P)
Now let's look at him as a Lazarus figure, which is definintely much more evident. (If you don't know the parable of Lazarus, look it up.)
A Lazarus figure must fulfill several aspects.
First of all, he must suffer. (Side note: RUSSIAN LITERATURE = SUFFERING!!! *cough* Anyway...) I don't think I need to go into detail that for Ken. It's pretty much his life in a nutshell.
Second of all, he must die. This is probably when the clothes of the Kaiser disintergrated after he is defeated.
Thirdly, obviously, he must be resurrected. We could interpret this moment in several ways.
One may be the end of the episode when we learn Ken's dark past, when he "finds his heart," and when Wormmon is reborn.
Another may be when he decided to join the Chosen Children (although there was never really a definitive moment, as far as I can remember).
And a final is during that hallucination I mentioned earlier, when he finally accepts his past and realizes that he has atoned for his sins. (I think this is when he is FULLY redeemed.)
And finally, there must be someone who resurrects him.
Please don't kill me because I'm a Daiken fan, but I really, truly, honestly think this person is Daisuke. He was the first person to really try and reach out to Ken and get him to join the Chosen Children. Granted, he was a little rushed about it. But thanks to his encouragement and friendliness, eventually, he did. And it was for the better. Look at Daisuke during the finale; he is pretty much the one bringing everyone out of their hallucination. And as we see, by the end of the series, Daisuke and Ken are best friends. Without Daisuke, the others may have never reached out to him (or at least, it would have taken MUCH longer), and shy Ken would have never approached them himself (again, possibly after a long time). And Ken not being on the team = no Paildramon = no Imperialdramon = no controlling the Digimon around the world = no defeating BelialVamdemon = DISASTER. I think I've made my point, haha.
(If anyone disagrees with me on this aspect, I'd love to hear it. =D)
So again, do you agree or disagree that Ken is a Lazarus figure, and why?
<3 Character analysis at 2 in the morning. XD
