Saiyuki vol 7 : Gojyo and Sanzo

[louiselux]

I keep looking at one particular bit of volume 7. Opinions welcomed, please.

Images under the cut:



Sanzo hits Gojyo and Gojyo just takes it because he thinks he deserves it.



His submission to Sanzo is very compelling (shut up) because on the surface it's very un-Gojyo-like. But there's more than just surface, because his ashamed, head down reaction to Sanzo's anger is an uncanny echo of his childhood, which we are shown only a few frames previously.



It's as though some deeply ingrained response has kicked in when Sanzo hits him, combined with the awful guilt from thinking he's responsible for Hakkai and Goku's death.  If you take the parallel further, then, alarmingly, this moment puts Sanzo in the place of Gojyo's mother,



who hits him



and leaves him feeling guilty and desolate.

I don't really know what to draw from this, but I love the layers. I think this makes their relationship even more interesting, because  Sanzo has some measure of authority over Gojyo as leader of the group, which Gojyo tacitly acknowledges by never challenging it. Sanzo is also, technically, a holy person. Even though both Sanzo and Gojyo are as far from holy as you can get, Sanzo still represents something unattainable to Gojyo. Perhaps in a spiritual sense, although I think Gojyo becomes more self-reflective as the story goes on, but more in Sanzo's sense of privilege and higher social standing and power.  We know that Gojyo was constantly ashamed as a child and felt terrible guilt. His adult bravado is partly a reaction to that and partly to being an outsider.

Comments

[cicer.livejournal.com]

I love that part. As scribbles said above, Saiyuki has so many fabulous layers, every time you reread a certain section you can find different metaphors and different interpretations.

I do think Gojyo respects Sanzo, because as much as he teases and harasses Sanzo, when they're in a difficult spot he always seems to defer to Sanzo's authority. I think Gojyo thinks that Sanzo is above him, but I also think he thinks that most people are above him. Deep down, I don't think Gojyo thinks very highly of himself. A lot of that can undoubtedly be traced back to his mother.

What I especially like in this scene is the strong theme of guilt. Gojyo feels guilty for what happened to his friends, and he feels guilty that his mother could never love him. He even goes so far as to sympathize with the person who hurt his friends, because he sees them as an innocent child who didn't mean to cause anyone pain, just like himself.

Hm. Very, very interesting.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

I wonder if Gojyo thinks Hakkai is above him too. I get the feeling he does and it's very sad. He really is a very empathic and caring sort of person under the bluster.

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

Did you ever read that piece emungere wrote-- the "God, please violate me" one? It touches on that a little.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, many times. XD

I love the bit at the end where she deals with how Gojyo feels about Hakkai, how he can't help but see Hakkai being his better. I wonder if Hakkai thinks that too, vice versa, about Gojyo. Someone (maybe broken_bird?) recently made a really great point about how Gojyo regularly blindsides Hakkai with the things he says. It's evidence that perhaps Hakkai is in fact the one who looks up to Gojyo, not the more obvious interpretation of Gojyo looking up to Hakkai. But I think there's a bit of both going on, which emungere nails completely in her fic.

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

One of the things-- and I say this over and over again, but it's still true, dammit-- that really stands out to me is all the mirroring in Saiyuki-- Goku and Sanzo have their weird protective/supportive relationship, and Gojyo and Sanzo have all these weird connections they resent and admire and resent admiring each other for, and so, yeah. There's a lot of balance in it.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Yes, the mirroring! Some of it's obvious but more often it's only seen obliquely, or after some thought. I think It's one of the reasons why I love Saiyuki so much - there's just so much there to pull apart and examine.