The more I analyze the series, the more I realize just how
deep and profound it is. When I first got into the fandom, I would have never
dreamed of finding any significance in Kumajiro, a bear of all things. However,
a psychologist would have a field day with Canada and this childhood friend.

Yes, I admit: Kumajiro is a bear on top of all else. He’s
real. Taken symbolically, however, he’s also possibly a representation of
Canada’s repressed childhood, a childhood in which he actively strives to
forget.

Most psychologists agree on the fact that your childhood has
a major impact on your personality. Genetics play a role too, but the
environment (i.e how you were raised) severely impacts how you relate to
others. For example, if you were raised in a hostile and neglectful
environment, it’s harder for you to place trust in others, let alone form
healthy relationships.

Freud believed that right from birth, we’re ridden with
anxiety = you’re in a new environment with strange sounds and bright lights as
opposed to the warmth and security your mother’s womb previously provided you
with.

To cope with and minimize this anxiety, we employ defense
mechanisms. Thus, if your childhood was so scarring that it cripples your
ability to function normally, you employ the defense mechanism of repression.
That is, you push away these traumatic memories into the back of your mind
(your unconscious) so that you’re unable to remember them.

Another concept frequently used in psychology is that of your
shadow. Your shadow represents your inferiorities and insecurities. Basically,
it’s the unwanted truth you avoid acknowledging in light of preventing yourself
from being or feeling vulnerable.

What I’ll be arguing is that Kumajiro is Canada’s shadow.
Notice how the running gag between the two of them is that Kumajiro forgets who
Canada is. That itself, could be a representation of Canada’s own psyche and the
accompanying fears of being forgotten.

Likewise, Kumajiro has been with Canada ever since he was
born. Now, consider the fact that Canada also forgets Kumajiro’s name. This can
easily be interpreted as Canada wanting to forget (repress) the childhood in
which he was forgotten. (Pretty meta, huh?)

Freud also believed that the experience of childhood has a huge impact on your personality; it helps form who you are later in adulthood. Regardless if you repress these childhood memories, they’ll still unconsciously influence your behaviour, how you perceive yourself, as well as how you relate to others.

Let’s tie this back to the strips.

As a result of being neglected in childhood, in other words
living in America’s footsteps, Canada developed a low sense of self-worth.

Fun fact: The suffix Jiro in Japanese is typically used for
the second-born son, which, if put into the context of Hetalia, could equate to
Canada being second-best to America.

A coinciding cause for Canada’s feelings of worthlessness stems
from how he was initially objectified by England and France. They took interest
in him because of his resources, and as such, first viewed him as a colony…

Here, England assumes full control over Canada. Canada expresses
joy when he perceives that England is looking at him as a person, as opposed to
the land he personifies. What’s heartbreaking is that England is actually just
analyzing the hair Canada had inherited from France. Point is, Canada doesn’t
value himself because he wasn’t valued during his childhood.

This inability to value himself hasn’t left Canada in
adulthood either.

For, example, he doesn’t think he’s good looking.

So, how does Kumajiro fit into this? Why do I think that he
emblemizes Canada’s childhood insecurities?

Because your shadow is the core of your psyche, holding your
deepest desires and insecurities, it’s also the most truthful part of yourself.

Can you think of any moments where Kumajiro speaks the unconscious
truth of what Canada is feeling but never expresses?

Because I sure can.

1) In the same strip where Canada claims that he’s
not good looking, Kumajiro notes that Canada’s “too self-deprecating.”

2) Here, Canada is left in the background as
England and America work through the difficulties in their relationship.

Things may get a bit disturbing now. Basically, Kumajiro uses
dolls to illustrate how “well-behaved baby bear” Canada is not given enough
attention, as “big bear” England is paying too much attention to “rowdy baby
bear” America.

The scene then ends with Kumajiro concluding
that “well-behaved baby bear” should be loved more.

Obviously, this role-play is metaphorical of England,
Canada, and America’s relationship to one another.

Kumajiro also openly
encourages Canada to be more assertive, something that he wants to do but is
nonetheless unable to. Again, this all falls back on repressed conflicts
guiding our behaviours without a deliberate conscious realization.

3) Kumajiro tells Canada that it’s all right to
speak up for himself in asking England to have lunch with him.

In sum…

Kumajiro is a representation of Canada’s childhood
inferiorities. He forgets Canada because Canada still perceives himself as not
important enough to be remembered. On the same note, Canada forgets Kumajiro in
an attempt to repress memories related to the childhood neglect he experienced.

Perhaps Canada doesn’t know who he is himself.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Canada…[?]”

But…what exactly does that mean if you lack a solid self-concept?

Do you think the nations get anything done at meetings?

It depends. You do have Germany attempting to structure
world/ EU meetings, despite most of them resulting in bickering.

On the other hand, these meetings have also been held in
pubs before.

If anything, this informal, comfortable atmosphere
demonstrates how the nations work together and see each other as friends more
than adversaries.

America is far from dumb. I’ve
explained this many times before. But, if more examples are needed, I’m happy
to give them.

Despite being naïve and seemingly
simple-minded at times, the reality is that America is selective in his choice
to read the atmosphere. He’s also extremely intelligent.

Russia passive-aggressively gives
America a ticket to Siberia for his birthday.

America later blows his nose with it.

America holds a vote regarding his proposal for a world defense plan. When he brings up the option of those disagreeing with him, he crushes bundled spoons as a form of intimidation.

America was one of the busiest, most productive nations during the Second Industrial Revolution.

He has an interest in archaeology and writes in his country’s newspapers.

Hey! Just out of curiosity, what was the context where Russia came to the Allies’ meeting covered in blood? Was he asked to kill a bunch of people?

Ah! It’s the complete
opposite! He was asked to stop a tank with his own body.

That’s his blood you’re seeing.

The manga also notes that Russia’s
bosses are notorious for their unreasonable demands.

“I’m bored. Let’s torture you.”

There seems to be a lot of confusion and sometimes purposeful
misleading regarding what France means when he calls himself a “Big Brother.”

On one hand, you have people who have only watched the dub,
haven’t read a page of the manga, and worst of all, incorrectly declare that
France is related to all the nations who either call him big brother, or who he
claims to be the big brother of. There’s also people who know this is false,
but still use the misunderstanding as a way to immaturely elevate their own
ship and degrade shippers of the opposite kind.

To that, I say this: the dub is never canon. I totally get why
there’s a lot of misconceptions regarding the family tree, though. For example,
in the dub, Switzerland is referred to as France’s relative, meanwhile, in the
strip material, Switzerland is listed as France’s neighbor.

Again, don’t ever use the dub as a source. It’s like the
Wikipedia equivalent of canon material; it gives you a general idea, but in no
way is it totally correct. While I understand how limited the anime medium can
be in portraying all canon information, it’s still your responsibility to do
your research.

That said, if you’ve read the manga, you would know that France
doesn’t have any siblings. That’s right. He’s not a big brother at all, but
rather, he’s listed as a big brother type. Likewise, he’s also referred to
himself as “the Big Brother of the world.”

In other words, because France is self-conscious of his age, he
opts to be a big brother mentor figure as opposed to identifying as an elder.
Although, admittedly, he has occasionally adopted a parental role. This is
especially the case with America, whom France expresses disdain at England for
raising so poorly.

Regardless, the following few strips demonstrate how France will
claim to be the big brother of literally anything.

Here, he deems himself to be the big brother of the reader. No,
I’m not kidding.

When he meets Lisa, Jeanne d’Arc’s reincarnate, he introduces
himself as “Big Brother France.”

The rest is pretty straightforward. Aside from the explicit
character description, there’s no possible way he would be related to them all
without it creating the need for other nations to be related to each other.

England:

Italy:

Germany:

Seychelles:

In sum, “Big Brother France” is not actually a big brother.

He’s a big brother figure.

How bad did France and England’s fights get?

Pretty bad considering they had a quarrel preserve specifically constructed for them.

“If you put your ear to a seashell, you can hear the ocean.”

America: *presses his ear to England’s chest*

England: What the hell are you doing?

America: Shh! I’m trying to hear the person who broke
your heart and made you so bitter.

England: Keep talking then.

The answer to the title is yes, yes indeed. While the nations
aren’t overtly terrified at the sight of America, they’re still nonetheless
wary of him. From their perspective, what’s worrisome about America is his
youth and impulsivity. Now add the fact that he’s one of the leading powers in
the world, and you’re in for some destructive outcomes.

What you’ll see is that America is often equated to a child
given how he had been isolated from the world after gaining his independence. He’s
unpredictable, naïve and bossy. In other terms, he’s inexperienced, and this
leads to a growing sense of wariness and caution among the other nations.

It’s like handing over the reigns of the world to a toddler.
They may have good intentions, but only end up creating an even bigger mess than
before.

This fear of America, then, is often the result of how ridiculous
and childish some of his ideas are. England even states that America has a “flawed
sense of reality.”

Again, given America’s dominant position on the world’s stage,
this isn’t something you want to see in a leader.

Here, America’s ideas are perceived as “nightmarish.” To be
fair, his world defense plan was to construct a ranger squadron, whatever that
means.

Either way, notice how he’s also referred to as a “brat” and “child.”

This child-like imagery comes up in how America interacts with
the other nations too. In that same meeting regarding his squadron defense plan,
America asks for a vote to be taken on it. What’s important here is that when
he offers the possibility of other nations disagreeing with him, he snaps a
bundle of spoons.

To me, that seems like an obvious intimidation tactic of someone
who is incapable of hearing alternative opinions. That said, I want to point
out how well child development patterns fit in with America’s characterization.

Children are inherently egocentric until about 6-8 years
old, as they lack the capacity to think outside of themselves. They only focus
on their own personal world and bubbles of fantasies before eventually
realizing that there’s a much larger world out there. Please note that this
egocentrism is not intentional; they just haven’t matured yet.

Still, this panel clearly illustrates that America believes himself
to be the only “player” [in the game of life].

America’s egocentrism for the most part is unintentional.
His isolation has made it hard for him to think from the perspective of others,
as he had previously grown accustomed to only looking after himself. That’s
where the “not being able to read the atmosphere” running gag likely comes
from.

However, as seen with the spoon incident, America is more
than capable of reading the atmosphere when he wants to if it means getting
what he wants…

…and that’s often other nations agreeing with him. Pay
attention to how uncomfortable South Korea gets here when claiming that he
agrees with America. Even more important is how in the panel above, South Korea
had no qualms in disagreeing with Japan.

No doubt, America is
bossy. Said bossiness and desire to get his way all the time is what’s
intimidating to the other nations.

Another display of this child-like bossiness would be when German-occupied
France and England are having an argument (big surprise), only for America to
step in and declare that he’ll decide on whose opinion is right.

There’s a bit of a discrepancy in the translation, but this
version has France say, “America, you scary boy!”

Meanwhile, my print version says, “What a frightening child,
you are!”

Regardless, both convey the same message. America does in
fact scare the other nations, sometimes.

One last example would be Netherlands warning Isolationist
Japan of America’s impending arrival. Once more, you see America’s youth being touched on.
Likewise, this youth is formulated as a reason of warning and caution.

With all that in mind, and for transparency’s sake, I’ll end
on this note: While America does often make the other nations feel uneasy, he’s
also frightened very easily himself.

Whether it’s ghosts, occasionally Russia, or sleeping alone, America is
possibly and ironically one of the biggest fraidy-cats in the series.