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

[blu-mondae.livejournal.com]

I think your observation is accurate, but I think that there's another aspect to their relationship which serves as a counterweight, so that Sanzo does not necessarily have the upper hand.

That is: Gojyo is the only one of the lot who is not bound to Sanzo, and who is thus truly free to leave. (And is, in fact, the only one who does.)

Goku is tied to Sanzo by emotional dependency; he initially objects to leaving Gojyo behind, but caves as soon as Sanzo threatens to leave him behind, too.

Hakkai is bound by duty, responsibility, and guilt. When Sanzo told Chin Isou that Hakkai would rather bite his tongue off and die than betray him, he wasn't exaggerating or being presumptuous, he was making a statement of fact. Considering Hakkai's behavior after they leave Gojyo, biting his tongue off might have been the healthier option.

Gojyo, however, is there simply because he chooses to be. The fact that he then chooses not to be is clearly upsetting to Sanzo (although I am not sure I can express exactly how)--the monk is even more of a dick than usual during the Gojyo-less period.

[broken--bird.livejournal.com]

hi. I am a stranger. ;)


exactly. sanzo is totally unused to the concept of being betrayed--ignored, as it were. hakkai would rather bite his own tongue off and die; goku is goku and his loyalty is unflinching and not something easily challenged, so much as questioned. in a way, sanzo is a bit of a control freak, but he's used to it, almost, nearly has every right to assume such. my way or the highway. he never took into account that someone would actually choose the highway.

I think that says as much about sanzo's character as it does about gojyo's. in the end, "free of all, bound by nothing" is a philosophy each of them preach but none of them practice.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

hello! :D


I think that's exactly what makes Sanzo mad, to the point where he can't even bear to listen to Gojyo's name being spoken aloud. His entire existence is about keeping rigid control over himself and his feelings and to do that he needs to keep control of others too, to make sure their actions are expected and ones he can cope with. So he's developed this life where he has the expectation that everyone will do as he says and give him what he needs without question or argument. Gojyo's refusal to comply must shake him hugely.

He certainly is bound by the other three and by the needs of the ordinary people he encounters on the journey. I think the resolution of vol 9 points to him realising this and, while maybe not being happy about it, being able to accept that there are some things he needs, even more than to stay in control.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Word to Hakkai's extremely unhealthy repression of his feelings after Gojyo leaves. I mean it's not exactly clear what he's feeling, but it seems to be a mix of anger at both Sanzo and Gojyo and also himself. I don't buy his 'we're weaker without Gojyo' excuse as the reason for going back for him and neither does Sanzo, who pins it quite correctly to Hakkai's own guilt for not stopping Gojyo.

Have you read scribblemoose's Gojyo essay? She brings out some interesting things about Gojyo's role in the group and his relationship with Sanzo. As Hakkai point out, quite evilly, the lack of Gojyo causes Sanzo to have more wrinkles in his brow, so maybe their bickering provides an outlet for Sanzo's tension that he otherwise wouldn't have.

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

I think also Gojyo is the one who will say no to him-- pretty regularly-- and I think even he realizes that on some level he needs that challenging. Sanzo can be an idiot, but he does have a pretty good idea of his own limitations.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

True. This is one place where Gojyo says no and in the end the group is stronger for it. And so is Sanzo, I think, because by the end of vol 9 he's realising that he's bound to the others and that this is not necessarily a bad thing.

[blu-mondae.livejournal.com]

I think you're right about Hakkai being angry (at Sanzo, Gojyo and himself), but I think his, um, erratic behavior has a more fundamental root. He's lost his anchor, possibly forever. For all his calm demeanor, Hakkai really isn't particularly well-balanced. Gojyo wasn't exaggerating in the Chin Yisou arc, either, when he told Goku that Hakkai wasn't mentally stable. Hakkai has the role of group caretaker, but Gojyo takes care of Hakkai, and I don't think even Hakkai realizes how important that is until he's not there any more. After all, they've pretty much been together for as long as Hakkai has been Hakkai; how would he know how well (or poorly) he'd handle separation?

And, yeah, the "we're weaker w/o Gojyo" thing is total BS. Or, more precisely, it is Hakkai trying to persuade Sanzo to change his mind by appealing to what Sanzo claims is most important--the success of the mission. And of course it doesn't work, because Sanzo is a genius when it comes to discerning the true motivations of anybody but himself, and he sees right through Hakkai's attempts at manipulating him.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

I don't think even Hakkai realizes how important that is until he's not there any more. After all, they've pretty much been together for as long as Hakkai has been Hakkai; how would he know how well (or poorly) he'd handle separation?

Oh, yes, brilliant! I love this insight.

Yes, that 'mentally unstable' comment sticks in the mind, because we don't know if Gojyo means all the time or just now. If he means all the time, then that paints a *very* different picture of Hakkai than the one we've seen up til then.

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

He's certainly the least stable of the four-- I think the Kami-sama arc shows that. Goku at least has to have his limiter off before he goes all stabbity.

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

I don't think even Hakkai realizes how important that is until he's not there any more.
I think that's absolutely right-- I don't think he would've let Gojyo go otherwise. I think he knows s important to Gojyo, so he lets him go, but I don't think he realizes how devastating the consequences will be to all of them.