In light of
Canada day, I think it’s about time that I dedicated a full character analysis
to him. What I aim to do is disprove any claims that Himaruya has made Canada
into a flat, two-dimensional character. It’s quite the contrary.

Canada’s
well-known for his invisibility and the overused jokes that accompany this
characterization. However, to say that this is all that defines Canada is to
overlook the amazing depth that this invisibility has on his personality.

While it’s
easy to look at Canada as the nation that’s ignored during meetings, what this
post will explore is the ways in which Canada’s character is far more fleshed
out than what is popularly conceived in fanon.

Childhood:  

From birth,
Canada was objectified by European colonizers for his abundance of resources [x].

After
England fights France to assume control over Canada, Canada mistakenly assumes
that England is the first nation to actually look at him as a person and not
merely as an asset.

In reality, England was staring at Canada’s hair, which he
had inherited due to French influence.

When told
that England will become his family, Canada is ecstatic. He had grown
accustomed to being valued for his resources rather than as a living being. Already,
we begin to see how Canada’s worth is not attributed to his person—who he
is.

The
importance of this scene will be critical to understanding why Canada suffers
from such poor self-esteem in his adulthood.

Identity Crisis and Devaluation:  

The main
complex that Canada suffers from is that he lacked a solid identity and
conception of himself. Being surrounded by greater, more politically and
economically relevant powers when he was younger can mainly be attributed to
this.

Canada’s
self-esteem was contrived in relation to those around him. He felt inferior,
and these feelings later became entrenched in how he views himself.

Ex: Canada
grew up alongside America, who excelled and aged at a much faster rate [x].

Ex: England
devoted a lot of his attention toward America, leading Canada to feel neglected
and excluded [x].

Living in
America’s shadow consequently caused Canada to believe that he wasn’t worthy
of the latter’s attention.

Ex: He once believed that America was disinterested in him [x].

Ex: He used England as a mediator to speak on his behalf to America. Notice
how America is perplexed by Canada’s behaviour here. Canada thinks poorly of himself and attributes this same train of
thought to how he perceives others to think of him [x].

Although, it also has to do with the fact that America doesn’t believe that Canada has an accurate conception of the real world, and, therefore, isn’t ready to gain his independence [x].

What’s even
more unhealthy is that Canada uses America as the means of assessing his worth.

Ex: He
believes that he’s simply a plainer version of America given their similar looks [x].

Ex: He
doesn’t believe that he’s handsome [x].

Ex: When England
falls ill after the American Revolution, Canada cries and claims that even
though he’s not as strong as America and doesn’t possess a lot of money, he’ll
try his best to heal the former [x].

The irony
of this is that it’s alluded that Canada may possess his own form of
superstrength. In the same arc, America tries to force himself into Canada’s
home after being denied access to visit the then sick England. Canada is able to shut the door on him [x].

Of particular interest to me is how in Canada’s fantasy, England’s cheering him on, likely symbolizing how badly we wants the latter to pay more attention to him.

Forming an Identity:

Constantly being
overshadowed by America and England and internally comparing himself to America
created a lot of tension and frustration in Canada.

It’s only
during his independence arc where we begin to see him release these emotions.
Canada wants to form his own autonomous identity. To him, America
contravenes and gets in the way of this from happening.

Ex: Canada
reprimands America for being selfish and self-absorbed on several occasions [x].

Even after
gaining his independence, Canada lacked a solid self-concept and was still
mistaken for America by other nations.

Ex: Cuba mistakes him as America [x].

What’s
always been a seamless turning point for me is how it was America who helped Canada
form his multi-cultural identity.

The
culmination of these arcs, albeit seemingly to be nonessential and unimportant,
is when Seychelles recalls Canada as a member of the G8 [x].

Years of
being forgotten and neglected caught up to Canada. Trivial as the situation may
be on the surface, to be remembered is to be important enough in the eyes of
another person. It’s a foreign and gripping moment that causes him to cry.

Likewise,
because this is so foreign to him, Canada doesn’t know what to do with himself.
In other words, he overcompensates by excessively reinserting his identity,
which remains fragile and still in a developing state.

This fragility
is most seen when America appears and laughs at Canada’s ridiculous clothing [x].

“There are times, every now and then, when I want to stand out from the shadow or let my hair down too!” 

Another
parallel between the two is then introduced: Canada doesn’t want to remain in the
shadows and vies to be well-known in the world just like America; meanwhile,
America is jealous of Canada for his ability to get along with everyone.

In sum,
Canada’s invisibility lends his character most of its strength. It is through his
journey to establish himself that it becomes clear that Canada is not as
passive as one may think. For his entire life, he’s fought to
be remembered. It would follow, then, that his invisibility perhaps had a
double meaning to it; it was a physical reflection of how hollow, empty and
lacking he felt on the inside, a personal identity that needed to be filled and discovered.