characterization in hetalia – Page 8 – Ellawritesficssometimes

People often find it perplexing that America can’t see ghosts
or magical creatures, and assert that this is done for seemingly no reason. It’s
quite the contrary. There’s an underlying rule in the manga that’s been used
and consistently drawn on:

That is, whether it’s ghosts, aliens, or magical creatures,
the nation’s ability to see/ believe in them depends on if their citizens
strongly believe in them. In other words, superstitions of the supernatural and
unknown need to be part of the nation’s popular belief system if the respective
personification is also able to believe in them.

I say believe mostly
because as you’ll see soon, sometimes a nation will see an unknown being, and
yet not recognize or acknowledge its existence. For the most part,
however, the nation simply won’t be able to see the being.

The reason listed that explains why America can’t see and
believe in ghosts is because 23% of his people either believe in their
existence or have had an encounter with them. Again, this ability is predicated
around citizen belief.

I can’t attest for the exact figures of this statistic. Point is, this is what Hima cited, and it is thus included into the reasoning
behind America’s skepticism of the supernatural. Of course, this rule doesn’t
mean that these beings don’t exist. It just affects whether the nation will be
able to see them.

Notably, this approximate statistic has since changed. [I’ll
get back to this in a moment.]

Likewise, because Americans strongly believe in the existence
of UFOs, America can see and interact with Tony.

Meanwhile, although England can see Tony, since his people
don’t believe in extra-terrestrial life as strongly, he’s skeptical of the
alien and doesn’t truly believe in it. [x]

Quickly, it’s important to go over some supernatural ground
rules specifically pertaining to America.

On Halloween, the one day of the year where Americans
temporarily, albeit strongly, believe in the existence of the supernatural,
America’s able to see ghosts and other unknown creatures.

England is noted to be able to make anyone who visits his
country see ghosts/spirits; America is the only exception to
this rule. [x]

When accused of seeing illusions by America, England claims that
America can’t see the unicorn because he’s too impure.

Funny, considering that England gives America a
unicorn to celebrate his bicentennial despite knowing full well that the latter can’t see it….yet.

What I’m about to present indicates a considerable shift
in America’s “ghost and monster culture”, whereby it’s strongly hinted that he’ll
soon be able to see ghosts, spirits, and any other magical creatures rather than
just aliens.

Please note that ghost and monster culture are terms that
Hima’s coined in describing a nation’s folklore and superstitional culture.

It’s not like this shift is impossible either. We’ve already
seen with Japan how he’s able to forget and subsequently re-remember the existence of
youkai spirits as a result of his own people forgetting about and later
believing in them again.

For example, in the Meiji era, Japan lost his ability to see
them with respect to his people forgetting about their existence. On the other
hand, because England’s monster culture remained prevalent, he was able to see the spirits (i.e the Tengu and Kappa).

However, later in WW2, when Japan and Italy are taking a
bath in a hot spring, we learn that Japan’s regained his ability to see his
nation’s magical creatures.

The same thing happens with America.

While he initially can’t see and doesn’t believe in ghosts,
he’s still terrified of them.

The fact that he doesn’t believe in them becomes woefully
obvious when a ghost literally taps America on the shoulder and introduces
himself. America doesn’t notice the ghost and instead seems to attribute the poke
on the shoulder to the false feeling of being touched or watched given that he’s
watching a horror movie while this all happens.

It’s only until World Stars where we begin to see a possible
shift in America’s ghost culture.

America visits England in Chapter 290. What I want to place
particular emphasis on is that America admits to his increasing interest in
fantasy movies. If we follow the rule from above, this would mean that his citizens
have taken up an interest in the genre/ supernatural belief, and this interest
is thus reflected in America’s own interests. Movies genres are a reflection of popular culture, after all.

This scene in particular substantiates this claim.

The two take a tour of a haunted citadel. America mistakes ghosts
for current staff members. [They had worked there when they were alive.]

He takes a picture of the ghosts, only to realize that they
don’t show up in the photo. More importantly is the fact that America was actually able
to see the ghosts.

Even if America wasn’t able to make the connection and
realize what they were, it would seem that his newfound interest in fantasy means
that his ghost and monster culture are shifting.

If that’s the case, then we could very well see an America
that’s able to see supernatural creatures in future strips.

I think
it’s become obvious by now that almost every single nation embodies a good balance
between likeable and dislikeable traits. As such, it’s important to lay out
some essential characteristics if we’re to understand who England is as a
person, his motivations, his faults, and his highpoints.

While
England can be invariably cruel and pessimistic – especially towards America–
this stems from a latent insecurity that he keeps within himself. He pre-emptively
spites others to protect himself from the rejection he’s historically
experienced. In modern strips, his temper has calmed considerably, and this
spitefulness has transformed more into sarcastic banter and blunt teasing.

Nonetheless,
what this post will account for is why England’s loneliness caused him to have
such a volatile temperament, not to mention poor relationships with others.

The
following character notes are of utmost importance in preventing England’s
personality from being misinterpreted. [x]

He’s quite bad
at expressing himself. He himself knows that people often misunderstand him, he
uses this fact for self-depreciating jokes.

He could easily
be the most pitiful one in this webcomic.

His temper was
quite stormy during the decades after America’s independence.

Put
another way: England’s historical isolation caused him to develop a poor sense
of self-worth. To compensate for this, he worked hard to improve his nation and
external image of himself. Meanwhile, the insecurity remained even as he
emerged as a world superpower. Because he was so used to being teased and
berated, England treated others in a similar manner, only for this to work to
his own detriment.

Arrogance
and boastfulness quickly got the best of him. He fell hard and even deeper into
isolation after the American Revolution. His violent temper towards America is
a manifestation of his strong fear of rejection. What you’ll see is that
England is deeply considerate of others and wants to befriend them, but
unfortunately closes up and defensively makes scathing remarks to protect his
fragile self-image.

With all
that said, let’s tie this back to the strips and go through some examples.

We know
that having America as a ward helped ease England’s temper. He even admits
to this.

What’s
important to point out here is that this was during a time when America was
England’s primary ally.

England escaped the alienating
atmosphere of Europe by visiting America. America’s unconditional love was England’s security blanket.

This
security blanket was lost after the Revolution, thus explaining why England’s
temper explodes in the following years. He was all alone again.

England wants to be friends with America, but has trouble overcoming his loneliness. His crippling fear of rejection is often the cause.

In fact,
England can be quite shy at times. If anything, it proves how skeptical he is
to open himself up to others, let alone make the effort to get them to see him
for who he really is.

He embarrassedly
offers to be America’s friend when he realizes that the latter doesn’t have
any, only to defensively fall back on anger when America rejects him.

It’s a cruel
cycle of desiring to be close to another person, opening himself up, and either
1) rudely spiting them, inciting rejection or 2) politely engaging them as a ‘gentleman’,
only for this to incite rejection as well.

His anger
is a shell – it’s a tough habit to break, even though he woefully recognizes
how problematic it is in impacting how others perceive him.

The fact
that he doesn’t expect positive reactions from others is chiefly illustrated with how embarrassed he gets when he does receive praise.

Nonetheless,
England keeps trying to mend things with America to the extent that these efforts are excessively nosy.

He’s
skeptical that Lithuania will be treated well in America’s house, and takes it
upon himself to visit them. Curiosity is a form of caring, however skewed and
counterproductive as it may be.

Point is,
England’s covertly reaching out to America here, likely because he knows
firsthand what it’s like to be directly rejected by the latter. It’s the next
best thing he can do.

As
touched on above, it’s not just America that England’s isolated from. He’s not
referred to as the Black Sheep of Europe for nothing, after all.

During
the Splendid Isolation Period, and having experienced many political rejections
as a result of tensions with Russia, he desperately tries to convince himself
that being alone isn’t all that bad.

Eventually,
he’s able to successfully form an alliance with Japan. Of particular emphasis is
the strip’s title:

“The anglo-Japanese alliance between two lonely people.”

I really don’t think it can get more explicit than that.

Further,
this alienation among the other nations is a repetitive theme in the series.
England’s often left out of excursions and activities.

One
example that best demonstrates this is when Italy, Germany, and Japan take it
upon themselves to interview other nations about their Christmas traditions.
The whole strip entails England hiding in the background, fidgeting nervously
as he waits to be interviewed, only to be forgotten about.

Interestingly,
it’s Japan who remembers to interview England at the last minute. The two share
an implicit, but undeniably deep understanding of each other.

Another
way that England compensates for his loneliness is by turning to the
supernatural – his fairie friends. America thinks he’s crazy, but what he doesn’t
realize is that England likely summons these friends to mitigate his
loneliness, and therefore prevent himself from going mad.

The
imagery of a child-like imagination is later used to describe England’s love of
and desire to live in a world entirely made up of fantasy. He lives in his mind
because it’s safe. Similarly, he talks to his [real] fairie friends because he knows
that they’re safe too; they won’t ever reject him.

I’ve
brought this up before, but I think this is a good note to end on. During the
Anglo-Japanese alliance arc, which focuses on the subject of loneliness, why is
it that England is given the Kappa’s Miracle Cure?

It’s a
medicine said to cure any illness…

…but what
illness is there to cure if you’re an immortal being that will automatically
recover from illness anyway?

It seems
to me that the cure was intended for something less tangible, yet just as hard
to cure:

Heartsickness
and accompanying feelings of loneliness.

In a previous post, I went over how the nations have
considerable gaps in their memories for a variety of reasons. [link here]. That
said, I also find it important to reiterate that the nations are not always
able to repress or forget traumatic memories, and often carry these
experiences with them – it becomes part of who they are, their personality.

Yes, their memories are full of holes, but these experiences
can just as easily be retained. It’s not that they repress everything, but
rather that they don’t remember everything.

1) Sometimes there are triggers – such as an object
or person – that allow the nations to remember an experience more vividly.
Prior to that, they simply have a general emotive idea of the experience, good
or bad.

2) Sometimes the nations carry the memories with
them, either consciously – it actively affects how they relate and interact
with others – or unconsciously – it latently affects how they relate and
interact with others outside of their own awareness.

3) Sometimes, no matter how hard a nation tries to
repress uncomfortable, unpleasant, or anxiety-ridden memories, they’re unfortunately
unable to.

4) Sometimes the nations retain the memories, but
purposefully refuse to either mention or acknowledge them.

Given their dark, chaotic, and bloody pasts, it would make
sense for the nations to protect their sanity by not remembering everything.
Nonetheless, what this post will argue and focus on is how these experiences
influence the nations both at an unconscious and conscious level.

Without further ado, let’s tie this back to the strips.

America:

America is a case of a nation who desires to forget his
past, but is unsuccessful in doing so. In particular, the experience he wants
to forget is his Revolution.

Likewise, while America retained vivid emotive and affective
memories from the Revolution, it’s only when he begins cleaning out old belongings
in his storage closet that he recalls the finer details of the unpleasant experience.

Simply put, even though America’s experience of the Revolution
has deeply affected him emotionally in how he perceives his sense of self, the
fact that the belongings flesh out these memories is essential in demonstrating
the limitations of his memory.

It’s just like what Finland’s claimed before; aside from physical strength and a strengthened immune
system, the nations aren’t all that much different from humans.

Italy:

During a meeting, Italy’s boss takes an interest in Italy’s
immortality, and later remarks that it can be disadvantageous.

“You sure have been
through a lot, huh?”

Italy even agrees that his life has been tough.

Even more
interesting is that Italy claims that he gets tired of seeing the same people
all the time, only to reverse this statement and say that seeing the same
people can be refreshing in a way.

How I see this is that while Italy may see the same people,
he experiences them differently each time. Perhaps this is why
Italy refers to this as refreshing – could it be that while he sees the same
people, they evoke different memories and emotional reactions in him?

What’s also important here is the initial reluctance in
Italy to disclose more “private” accounts of his life. Notice how uncomfortable
he looks. Not every memory is good, so of course he’s not going to be keen on
recalling them.

The scene ends with Italy offering to disclose these secrets
should his boss treat him to lunch. This could very easily be interpreted as
him deflecting the subject.

France:

Having lost huge aspects of his culture following his own Revolution
–given that many old furniture pieces and decorations were either discarded, sold or burned – France still retains strong feelings of grief over this
in the present.

Put another way, France’s past still lives with him in how
he presently experiences himself.

Lithuania:

Lithuania too is an example of a nation who’s still
traumatized by their past. It impacts every aspect of his daily interactions.

As he and the other two Baltics recall their arduous paths
to independence, Lithuania further recalls a memory of Russia squeezing his
shoulders.

Notice how Lithuania repeats this behavior, albeit unknowingly,
as he squeezes Estonia’s and Latvia’s shoulders upon remembering this troubling
experience.

Just to prove how consistent this memory rule has been, I’d
like to point out that Lithuania has suffered from triggered-induced flashbacks
as early as the first original chapters of the web comic.

When privy to the fact that Russia intended to invade Poland
in WW2, Lithuania repeatedly recalls traumatic experiences where his own
country was taken over and conquered.

Russia:

Lastly, Russia is a quintessential example of a nation who’s
affected by their past. What’s complicated about him is that he seems to
remember a lot about his past, despite their being holes in it, but fails to attribute
this to how he presently experiences himself.

In other words, while retaining many traumatic memories,
Russia doesn’t connect them to how distorted and unhealthy his conception of an ideal relationship is [either platonic or
romantic.]

For instance, take the Bloody Sunday strip. There, Russia
sheds tears over the revolt, considering how hard he had previously worked to
improve his nation.

The strip ends by largely hinting at him being tasked with
supressing the revolt through the use of violence.

“We don’t want children who can’t play nice, right?”

Now, let’s skip forward a bit to WW2.

As he and England discuss America’s boldness, you can
immediately start to pick up on how Russia’s past inadvertently affects how he perceives
the world and the people in it. Yes, he might have repressed the nuanced
details of his past, but he’s internalized a considerable amount of it without
his realizing.

He appears to take what happened during the Bloody Sunday revolt,
and applies the same rhetoric to America. Not only is his view of relationships
distorted, but so are his solutions to problems.

I specifically want you to pay attention to the child
imagery that emerges again with regards to how Russia equates rebellion with
immaturity.

“Aren’t the provocative [rebellious] ones more fun to snap
in half?”

Translation: Dissent is childish, and therefore it must be crushed [snapped].

In sum, while the nations do have considerable gaps in their
memories, they are still very much influenced by their past.

Misconception: He’s
emotionless.

Reality: He’s
expressive through non-expressiveness.

Ex: A smile for
him isn’t expressed as obviously as it is for some of the other characters.
Still, that doesn’t negate the fact that he has feelings. I mean really now.

Misconception: He’s
humourless.

Reality: He has
an implicitly “evil” and “mischievous” side. In other words, he’s often
playful, albeit subtly.

Ex: He’s the one
to come up with France’s punishment after the 2007 April Fools’ Event. This entails
getting France to praise everything about England’s culture for a whole day.

Ex: When at war
with each other, he was glad to have a legitimate reason to punch Denmark.

Ex: He goes along
with the Nordics’ plan to host a secret birthday party for Iceland.

Again, the
humour is subtle as he wordlessly teases Iceland and makes light out of the
latter’s confusion over them meeting outside.

Misconception: He’s
intimidating inside and out.

Reality: His
external appearance is intimidating, but he’s tender and sweet on the inside.

Ex: During the
stereotypical café arc, Sweden’s customer is initially terrified of him.
Nonetheless, Sweden gives away the meal for free.

Ex: He acts as a
parent to Sealand.

Ex: Ladonia
refers to him [and the other Nordics] as an Uncle.

Ex: He’s good at sewing + uses this skill to adjust smaller clothes for Finland.

Misconception:
SuFin is canon.

Reality: Sweden
has confirmed feelings for Finland, but Finland doesn’t reciprocate.

In a lost 2007 blog post, Hima confirmed that Sweden has
homosexual feelings for Finland and only acts this way towards Finland. [That’s
literally what the translation says].

Ex: Finland has
repeatedly denied being Sweden’s “wife.”

Nonetheless, the two do share a close relationship, enough for Finland to refer to Sweden as “Swe.”

Ex: The two spend
their New Years’ Eve together in 2009.

Ex: This one-sidedness
is seen as early as when they were first colonizing America. Finland spots
America in the wild, and Sweden proposes the option of them having kids.

Bonus facts:

It’s left unclear as to whether Sweden can see magical
creatures.

He and Denmark used to hate each other, but have recently
calmed down in their temperaments. Of course, this is to be expected from their present welfare
and collectively-oriented nations.

Regardless, the two still tease each other in
the present time.

[Denmark and Finland are imitating Sweden here.]

All in all, a somewhat mysterious, yet thoroughly entertaining character.

Before I start, it’s important to lay out some ground rules.

Thanks to Finland we know that the nations aren’t that
different from humans with regards to their physical strength and anatomy (with
the exceptions of Russia and America who are exceptionally strong).

The point in this is that the “not-so-different from a human
rule” pertains to their basic physiological structure. On the other hand, there
are immortal perks of nationhood, such as being impervious to experiencing the fatality of illnesses. They still can
fall ill, though. This happens when they’re….

1) Suffering from political instability.

2) They’re experiencing an economic recession.

3) There’s a rampant illness in their population (i.e Romano’s
Chorea).

With that said, we know that the nations are stronger than
normal humans regardless. They don’t age as fast, and as such, their memories
don’t deteriorate at nearly the same rate.

What this post will explore are the different examples where
nations have been shown to have gaps in their memories.

The thesis I’m putting forward includes a variety of
reasons to account for this:

One, older nations such as Japan and China have even larger gaps
in their memories as a result of their physical bodies aging. They’re therefore
unable to recall memories as fast as younger nations [This in part goes with my
third argument].

Two, the influence of their citizens pertaining to whether
or not the nations can see and therefore remember the existence of magical creatures.

Three, the nations simply aren’t able to remember
everything; it would be impossible.

And four, some
nations actively repress bad memories to minimize the anxiety and trauma they
previously experienced.

Without further ado, let’s go over some of these examples.

Age:

As stated above, the nations’ chronological age, while
influenced by their economic and political affluence, also seems to be affected
in part by how long they’ve lived (I.e. Both Japan and China refer to
themselves as old men.)

If Japan is shown to have higher blood pressure levels and hip pains as a
result of his old age, then it wouldn’t be too farfetched to assume that his
memory wouldn’t be as up to par as it would be in comparison to a nation younger
than him. Put another way, his age would cause him to have greater slips in his
memory.

It’s the body that’s old, despite not looking like it.

Ex: He’s unable
to remember who Lithuania is, and almost mistakes the latter to be Livonia.

Ex: While looking
through an album of him and Pochi throughout different periods, Japan
mistakenly recalls the chronology of them.

Likewise, China’s also referred to as an old man.

Ex: He admits to
being forgetful.

The Ability to See Magical Creatures:

We’ve also seen the impact on how a population’s belief in
magical creatures respectively influences whether or not the nation will be
able to see them.

Ex: During the
Meiji Era, England could see the kappa and youkai spirits, meanwhile Japan couldn’t
as a result of his people no longer believing in them as strongly.

However, just as a nation can forget about magical
creatures, they can also re-remember them if popular culture strongly believes
in them again – presumably it would have to go past folklore superstitions.

While enjoying Japan’s hot springs, the two talk about
folklore.

Notice how Italy spots a strange creature beginning to approach them.
Although it’s not shown, the discussion of the topic could possibly mean that
Japan [and not just Italy] is also able to see the creature.

There’s also an exact replica of this hot spring scene
dating back to when they first met during WW2. I don’t think Hima did this for
no reason:

Repression of Traumatic/Guilt-Ridden Memories:

As Russia darkly puts it, perhaps it’s a good thing that the
nations don’t remember everything.

When Lithuania and Germany allegedly meet for the first time
during WW2, Lithuania expresses relief over Germany not remembering him. It’s
noted that Lithuania once beat-up one of Germany’s family members. This is
possibly a reference to when Prussia became a lackey to Poland under the
Lithuanian and Polish Commonwealth.

This is highly indicative of Germany existing well before
his ‘birth’ in 1871 given that Lithuania is fearful of being remembered and/or triggering
Germany’s memory. If anything, Lithuania’s fear of this points further in the
direction of Germany suffering from amnesia.

Why else is there a childhood version of Germany/Holy Rome pushing to be acknowledged in older strips? I’ve theorized before that this is
simply a part of his unconscious mind trying to get him to remember about his
forgotten childhood.

Or why is it that he’s seen to confusedly hold up Chibitalia in another strip?

“It’s me.” Jogging his memory much?

Similarly, Italy also dreams of a childhood version of
himself pushing to be acknowledged by him, only for Italy to refuse in doing so. Like
Germany, it seems that Italy has actively striven to forget his childhood.

Lastly, the most obvious hint of repressed childhood
memories is found in Buon San Valentino, where Germany appears to recall fuzzy
images of Chibitalia.

They Can Only Remember So Much:

Prussia is the one to confirm this rule, considering that he’s
taken to recording every experience as a method in circumventing the inability
to recall them. It’s simply a matter of jogging his memory.

In sum, while the nation’s memories are limited, there are
different factors and contexts that account for this phenomenon. Age, trauma,
civilian belief, and limited physiological brain capacity seem to be the most
common reasons in accounting for this.

Misconception: He’s
lazy and unmotivated

Reality: He’s extremely
strict, neat, and places great importance in his appearance. Nonetheless, on
occasion, he has been shown to grow bored easily when faced with the prospect of
work.

Ex: He trained America and his military during the American
Revolution.

Ex: He keeps his clothes spick and span.

Ex: He gets bored and sneezes when he’s given a book on how
to socialize with people.

Misconception: He’s
full of himself, so he doesn’t need anyone.

Reality: He’s
painfully lonely.

Ex: He never
married.

As such, he’s brought to tears when he sees Austria and
Hungary as a couple on Christmas.

He unconvincingly rationalizes to himself that he’s happy to
be alone.

This is repeated in his character song Mein Gott!, where he claims
that “Being alone is too much fun.”

Ex:
He misses Frederick II, and hasn’t found someone to fulfill this strong [but nonetheless implicit] desire for companionship.

It’s even said that he grows
depressed at the mere mention of Fritz. Ironic considering that he has a picture
of him on his nightstand.

Notice how Prussia also calls
on Fritz during Valentine’s Day, and once again attempts to convince himself
that he’s happy to be single.

Misconception: He’s overly-confident.

Reality:
Prussia’s narcissistic, but this stems from being extremely insecure about
himself.

He’s always trying to gain
power for self-reassuring purposes. This reassurance acts to discount his
insecurities over being weak. His use of the word awesome, then, is more
defensive and reparative than it is an exercise of confidence.

Ex: He associates fancy
clothes with strength + brags to bolster and reinforce confidence within himself.

Before his country grew in
strength, notice how he falsely tries to convince himself that his clothes are
still cool, despite them being worn down. The important difference is that he
doesn’t make use of the word awesome. This a time where his confidence and
morale is low. Awesome for him is equated with strength.

Bonus Facts:

He’s noted to feel like an enclave as opposed to an actual
nation.

He’s an incredible older brother:

Ex:
He reads Fairy Tales to a dying Holy Rome, and is revealed to be heartbroken
after the Napoleonic Wars.

Ex: He immediately
steps in to protect young Germany when he’s born.

Ex: He’s very supportive
and encouraging of Germany, despite teasing him a lot.

To be honest, given all this, I find it redundant for
Prussia to refer to himself as awesome.

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.

Misconception: China
hates Japan

Reality: While he
does hold against a grudge against Japan for betraying him in WW2, he’s deeply
affected by it.

We all know the scene. Japan stabs China – literally and
figuratively – in the back. You’d think this would generate hatred on
China’s part…

…but this couldn’t be anymore true.

China raised Japan. He was there with him through everything.
He protected Japan from other nations, like Mongolia, only to receive nothing
for it.

In other words, China’s heart was broken. A telling scene in
which this is confirmed is when China drinks away his sorrows and breaks down
into tears as he recounts what Japan has become.

Unfortunately, we are not provided with much insight on how
Japan and China fare in modern times, as we don’t get many moments where they
exclusively interact with each other.

Misconception: China
is weak

Reality: He
possesses immense strength, but because of his age he lacks stamina.

Ex: This strip
illustrates America’s perception of China’s innate strength and/or capacity for
it.

Despite this, however, because he’s lived for so long, China’s
physical body has aged and weakened. This is an exception to the rule of a nation’s
political and economic situation affecting their physical strength.

The physiology is more applicable to how they lead their
daily lives.

Ex: He’s referred to as a grandpa in modern times, and tires easily.

Ex: In another modern
strip, he’s affected by his population’s growing obesity rate and subsequently
gains weight despite his efforts to circumvent this.

This can be taken as another demonstrative impact of his
physiology age given that older people also have trouble shedding weight.

It’s still important to note that he’s nonetheless referred
to as a powerhouse [for obvious political and economic reasons.]

Accurate Conception:
China is likely an Ancient.

He’s lived for approximately 4000 years. Given that Quintillus, a Roman emperor, was once
seen to be holding a baby China, I would say that this pretty much confirms his
status as an Ancient.

This is aside from the fact that Quintillus can time travel
– the timelines correspond without the need for him to do so. Point is, this is a more concrete example of how old China is.

Misconception: China’s
rude and stand-offish.

While he can be petty and complain like a disgruntled old
man in comparison to some of the younger nations, China is probably one of the most
wholesome characters in the series.

Ex: He acts as a
mentor to Taiwan, Macau, and Hong Kong. The latter two live with him.

Ex: When Hong
Kong wants to leave China’s house, China begs for him to stay and promises to
stop cleaning Hong Kong’s room so often.

Bonus Facts:

He doesn’t like to lose.

He believes in fortune + luck and is able to see ‘monsters.’
Monster culture is just another way of Hima naming a nation’s ability to see magical
creatures.

Ex: He compiles an index of monsters. While it does contain
regular creatures, it also bears real monsters.

Not to mention that the other nations expressed fear towards
China in “Hetalia of the Dead” as they believe that he’s fully capable of summoning
dark spirits.

Amazing character, right?

First off, let’s be clear that Russia’s relationship with
General Winter is not a healthy one. It’s among one of the darkest elements in the manga.

That said, General Winter is both a protector/guardian
of Russia and an enemy.

1) On one hand, he’s saved Russia from invading
armies.

The only setback of this is that his protection doesn’t work
on countries who are used to the cold. It’s for this reason that Russia doesn’t
have high expectations for General Winter, despite calling on him in times of
desperation.

It’s also important to note that at the time this strip took
place, both Russia and his sisters were powerless. He had no one to rely on but
General Winter, and even then, notice how passively devastated he is when he
realizes that he has no choice but to surrender.

“Do whatever you want.”

Those are the words of a child who has been repeatedly let down,
someone that hasn’t had their needs met and is used to surviving under abusive circumstances
– i.e. He was also under the repressive control of the Tatars here.

This brings me to my next point.

2) On the other hand, General Winter also attacks
Russia.

Consider this. You’re constantly being jostled around by
tyrannical controlling leaders, and the one person who protects you also abuses
you. In other words, you have an inconsistent parent who switches back and
forth between a nurturing figure and a physically forceful tyrant with no
regard for your well-being.

How do you think that would affect a person, let alone a
nation who has survived long enough to endure several lifetimes of this?

It’s because General Winter has protected Russia before that
Russia relies on him. What’s problematic about this is what Russia’s taken from
this relationship. It affects everything he does; how he expresses his
emotions, who he trusts, who he regards as his friends, what he expects from
others, how he interacts with them, and what he falsely deems to be a suitable and
healthy relationship.

On top of this, we know for sure that Russia has been traumatized by
his relationship with General Winter.

Ex: When Parallel
France attacks Russia during the 2010 Christmas Event, Russia calls on General
Winter for help. When General Winter is defeated, Russia breaks down into tears
and remarks how “similar” this incident is to the past.

What’s more, notice how screwed up Russia’s relational
perceptions are.

He calls General
Winter a friend.

However, we know that in one of his character notes, he
refers to anyone he meets as a friend. It would follow, then, that Russia doesn’t know what a friend is. Simply put, he doesn’t know how to differentiate between the
good or the bad because he’s normalized this inconsistency. He expects that
others might be abusive, while at the same time provide for him – that’s what
he sees as a friend.

As such, Russia repeats and mimics this inconsistent ‘affection’ in
how he interacts with the other nations.

Ex: He sends political pressure with hearts.

How I see this is that it acts as a metaphor in representing
how Russia has equated love with force; they go hand in hand for him
because that’s what he’s accustomed to experiencing.

Likewise, since he has endured whole winters on his own
without any shelter, this also demonstrates the inconsistencies under which he was nurtured
and cared for during his childhood. Again, his sisters couldn’t always be there for
him.

A happy New Years’ was not freezing to death.

This could also be why his heart falls out.

On top of it literally being frozen during the Winter,
Russia has yet to learn what true love is. The care he received – cold
temperatures – was a double-edged sword in that it simultaneously assaulted and
insulted him. The warped love he knows is both forced on him and forced out of
him as he attempts [and fails] to make friends.

All he needs now is for someone to thaw through his frigid
past and to help him experience a healthy and consistent relationship.

This could be a bit of a stretch, but I still think what I’m
about to interpret engages the material in an interesting way. You can take it
with however many grains of salt that you wish. Remember that there can always
be both a figurative and literal element of what characters and objects symbolize – it’s not mutually exclusive.

Before I get into what America’s pets represent, it’s
important to explain why America can see aliens, but not ghosts. This often
confuses a lot of people, but if you refer to the strips, an implicit but
nonetheless consistent logic is used.

England can see ghosts and fantastical creatures because
approximately 70% of his people believe in them. At least, this is the figure
provided in the strips, I can’t attest to how accurate that is. What’s most
important is that this is used in the reasoning behind why Hima characterizes
England to possess these abilities.

Since 23% of Americans believe in ghosts, America is unable
to see them. Although, admittedly, this does seem to change as the strips
become more recent along the timeline. [I’ll get into this in another post].

Similarly, because Americans do not believe in the fantastical
with the small exception of Halloween, this is the only time where America is
able to see magical creatures and ghosts.

Now, given that UFO’s are only “typically seen” in the US,
it would follow that Americans possess stronger beliefs in aliens than they do with
the supernatural. This would explain why America is friends with Tony,
meanwhile England – whose people don’t possess such a high belief in aliens –
is skeptical of Tony.

So…what do America’s pets potentially represent?

It’s not an uncommon trope for authors to make surrounding
objects, people, or pets represent aspects of a character’s mind.

America’s Pet Whale:

In that case, while America did go whale-hunting in Japan
for commercial purposes, the whale he later befriends and adopts could also stand
for his gluttony.

This meaning doesn’t only limit itself to America’s gorging
appetite either.

It can also stand for America’s expansion and befriending of
other nations at the expense of leaving England behind and turning his back on
him.

Ex: When England hears that America is attempting
to befriend a whale, he shyly offers to become his friend.

You can only guess what happens next.

Tony:

If pets, or rather, familiars, represent the inner framework
of a character’s mind, then Tony, as a being of space, could also be equated to
America’s own headspace.

In other words, Tony seems to embody America’s old grudge
towards England.

Notice how when Tony and England first meet, Tony calls
England a “F***ing limey.”

Meanwhile, America stands there uselessly and is
unable to read the situation…

…or rather, what if he is purposefully repressing and
keeping his emotions in check, only for Tony to be the one to express them?

Alternatively, Tony could be reading America’s emotions
without the latter realizing this. It’s not entirely impossible given that
aliens in popular culture often have telepathy or some other kind of
mind-reading power. In that regard, maybe Tony has read America’s mind/memories, and is reacting with hostility towards England because of this…

Consider the whole response now: England asks Tony about his home planet.

“Not going back! F***ing Limey!” could likewise be
interpreted as America’s vehement opposition to the mere thought of being under
England’s rule again. It almost seems as if Tony’s acting as America’s
unconscious mouthpiece…asides from the death threat.

We see this again when England visits America and complains
that there’s a ghost [it’s actually France] in his house.

Notice the difference in reactions between America and Tony.
America laughs it off, while Tony appears to taunt and belittle England for
being easily frightened as if he were a small child.

On the other hand, Tony has been seen to end his sentences with “bubu” so this could just be a misspelling.

More on America’s Emotions:

I’ve also noticed that America’s pets reciprocate his
affection for other nations.

Ex: They are
exceptionally fond of Lithuania.

Ex: When
Lithuania falls back under Russia’s control during the Great Depression,
America seems both worried and sad to see him go.

In sum, while America’s pets are real, there does seem to be
some evidence substantiating the possibility of them also representing aspects
of his inner psyche.