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

[scribblemoose]

I totally agree. And another reason Gojyo takes it - because he'd rather Sanzo hit him than the kid he was trying to protect.

Sanzo's very interesting here too, because on the one hand he's geniuinely angry at Gojyo, but he's also mad at himself. He hates to be reminded how much the others mean to him.

And in the end it's Sanzo that takes their interaction back to something like their usual snarky banter.

But mostly, Gojyo, yes, completely, and the layers. Oh my, the layers.

I reread the Saiyuki manga so often it's ridiculous, but I find something new every single time; a metaphor here, a subtext there, or a little expression on someone's face that makes me think of things in a new light. I've never found another series that I can the same for. And yet at the same time it can be enjoyed as outright fun.

*happy fangirl sigh*

[wildelamassu.livejournal.com]

Yet another reason why I often shy away from the way they're written as a pairing (a dominant Gojyo seducing the Ice Queen)--there's so much "authority" tension there to be acknowledged and overcome on Sanzo's part. In a really odd way, Sanzo is the father of their little family, and I think Gojyo maps a bit of -both- his parents onto said figure.

I reiterate that Minekura is a goddess.

[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.

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

I think it's also why Gojyo takes off, in the end, rather than directly confronting Sanzo.

God, Minekura rocks.

[aramuin.livejournal.com]

I agree completely with the family analogy but I'd take it a step further. As a group, there's definate overtones of family between all four of them - Hakkai as the traditional 'mother' who nutures and supports the others, Sanzo as the traditional 'father' or 'dispenser of tough love', Gojyo as the eldest brother - still not totally sure who he is but slowly finding out and Goku as the kid who still believes the world can be broken down into black and white terms.

The way Gojyo and Sanzo interact has always fascinated me - mainly because I think that they're actually very alike in terms of personality. The main difference is that Sanzo had his teacher's support to help keep him strong when he was growing up whereas Gojyo was constantly under attack.

That might be why they strike so many sparks off each other though - Gojyo resenting/admiring Sanzo for being that ruthless and that strong and Sanzo resenting the reminder that 'but for the grace of God, there go I'.

[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.

[cosmorific.livejournal.com]

Everyone else here has made some excellent points, but I would just like to say:

*cuddles Gojyo*