As a series that works with stereotypes, it isn’t surprising
that Germany comes off as relatively
stiff and cold. However, what’s important to realize is that the stereotype is
used for a specific purpose; it’s essential to Germany’s characterization in proving
that he’s anything but stiff and
cold. Nonetheless he’s still perceived that way because of his stereotype.

In other words, Germany is anything but this stereotype.
Instead, what you’ll see is that he has trouble expressing his sentimental side
as opposed to lacking it entirely. It’s not that he doesn’t want to smile and
be expressive either. He simply isn’t able to.

He’s seen as angry, when all he truly wants is to be able to
be himself with others, void of being fearful, anxious, and hesitant in doing
so. You’ll see that he’s actually quite shy and uncertain with regards to how
he navigates around social situations.

That said, this is a pivotal inner conflict that he’s
consistently experienced. I’ll get into why a little bit later. First, it’s
important to demonstrate how pervasive and repetitive this theme has been.

In Comic Diary 4, he’s revealed to possess an
intimidating aura.

As
such, even Italy misinterprets Germany’s genuine intention to get drinks
together as him being angry.

A more explicit mention of this frequent misinterpretation of
his mannerisms is found in this character note.

He’s troubled because his voice comes across as harsh and he’s seen as angry. The
only beings he feels openly comfortable in expressing his affection for are his
dogs.

But, what about his troubles with smiling?

For one thing, he’s once shown to be reading a manual on “how to
smile naturally.”

In the 2010 Christmas event, he states that he “can’t smile
the way Italy can.”

Likewise, in an exaggerated comic gag from the Strange Laws
mini-series, Germany is kicked out of an area where it is legally required for
people to be smiling all the time.

In the few times where we do see Germany smiling [widely],
he’s drunk. If anything, this only reiterates how he’s repressing and
containing a whole other side of his personality. It’s in these rare moments
where we see the masked frontier of inhibitions that he’s constructed fall apart,
thus revealing the realer aspects of his true person.

Further, we know for a fact that Germany experiences chronic
loneliness in his character song “Einsamkeit.” The literal translation of this
is loneliness.

This song gives us the best insight into how Germany feels
about constantly coming across as harsh and angry to others. It’s not only
loneliness that he feels in being isolated from others – there’s also a
considerable internal estrangement from himself. He feels lost in his own skin
given that he doesn’t know how to express this happier, more expressive, and
thereby less restricted aspect of his personality.

Though I look like I’m lecturing,
I’m actually just conversing
It’s not really…
At times my face may look grim,
But I’m actually just cold
Though I don’t mind it…

What’s interesting here is that he recognizes that others
tend to misinterpret him. This only ripens the possibility of losing a sense of
one’s self. The social mask he puts on is not who he truly is.

Einsamkeit
Einsamkeit
Einsamkeit
I want to be found.

This could have a plethora of meanings.
I’ll go over the main two. One, it simply means that he wants people to see him
for who he actually is, and that he’s helpless in being able to change these
perceptions.

Two, it could act as a double-meaning
to represent him being unable to recall the lost memories of his childhood [as
Holy Rome]. Simply put, he feels lonely because he’s missing a part of himself.

I’m always said to be scowling,
But my smiling face hasn’t been erased
You may think I’m frightening,
But it’s only because I’m straining to laugh

Now, in a previous post (link here), I
talked about the psychological concept of catharsis. Basically, when a memory
causes a person too much anxiety or trauma, they repress the memory as well as
the emotions associated with it. The result is that the person can no longer
consciously access the memory, and sometimes, depending on how strongly they’ve
repressed the memory, they don’t experience the emotions associated with it at
full capacity. You only experience them partially.

Perhaps this is why Germany is
“straining to laugh.”

The role of the psychologist is to bring that traumatic
memory back into the patient’s conscious mind. Catharsis is the emotional relief
that comes upon recalling and subsequently resolving the internal unconscious
conflict tied to the traumatic memory.

Let’s tie this back to the strips.

Germany’s stated before that he doesn’t have much experience
with relationships, hence the reason why he’s constantly referring to manuals
all the time. Similarly, because he was born into war, the hostility and trust
he grew accustomed to also caused him to be relationally-stunted.

It’s for this reason that he has trouble interacting with others and
expressing emotions other than anger or frustration; these are more primal. Happiness
and compassion is something that’s taught. In psychology, there’s a general
agreement that how one’s raised impacts how they are as an adult.

This doesn’t mean to say that his personality is fixed
though. All it really means is that he’s still affected and possibly traumatized
by being thrust into war from birth.

On the other hand, let’s take another route in approaching
this. If Germany is Holy Rome, then he would have likely repressed the
traumatic memories of the war that caused his dissolution. However, for that to
happen, he would have also had to have repressed his entire life as Holy
Rome to get rid of this trauma.

As such, this would involve repressing all the happy emotions
that Holy Rome experienced with Chibitalia.

If that’s the case, when Germany feels happiness, his mind
unconsciously subdues it to avoid triggering any accounts of his past as Holy
Rome. It’s because his brain unconsciously minimizes the anxiety generated from
these traumatic memories that Germany is completely unaware as to why he’s
unable to smile. All he knows is that he’s unable to.

Simply put, when Germany experiences happiness, his brain
represses it to prevent him from accessing childhood memories associated with
the same emotions.

In sum…

Germany may have trouble smiling because…

1) He’s relationally-impaired
and inexperienced due to having been originally reared in a world of hostility
and aggression. He can express happiness, but it very rarely has to do with
people. I.e. His dogs, machinery during the Industrial Revolution.

He hasn’t quite learned to become
comfortable in showcasing this other side of himself to others. Maybe this is
because of the anxiety generated from only being seen as stiff and cold and him
not knowing how to compensate for this by expressing how he truly feels.

2)  He’s repressed all childhood memories from his
past as Holy Rome, which just so happens to include the happier ones. If he
smiles and consciously –not drunkenly, which doesn’t involve full awareness–
expresses happiness, he risks recalling his traumatic dissolution. To safeguard
against this, his brain suppresses feelings of joy and happiness. As such, he
isn’t aware of the reason why he has trouble smiling.

He just knows that he can’t smile.