Part 2 あめりか50州全部描いたよ The Fifty States Of America Drawn

Note: This theory will make use of Freudian theory. While I recognize that Freud’s ideas do not bear much contemporary relevance, that shouldn’t take away from the fact that many of his concepts (e.g., erogenous zones, childhood memory repression, catharsis) are nonetheless employed by Hima in the series. The purpose of this post is to give some insight into the psychologies of the characters.

Terminology I’ll go over: Psychosexual stages, causality, regression, fixation.

Yes, that’s right. Freud’s ideas are very much prevalent in the series. A big area of his work was analyzing the impact of childhood on personality development. Freud believed in causality, meaning that who you are as an adult can be directly traced back to your childhood.

How you’re parented and brought up is the most crucial factor. I don’t need to go into this in too much detail, but basically, we go through five stages of development titled: Oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital.

For this specific post, we only need to focus on the early stages of development, which focus on sensual (sensory) pleasure and stimulation, often for the purposes of soothing and experiencing relief.

Each stage has corresponding needs. If these needs are not met (under-gratification) or if they are too easily met (over-gratification), then the person develops a fixation.

A fixation essentially means that the person is stuck at that level of development, which causes them to develop a problematic and unhealthy personality type.

However, it’s only when that individual is met with confrontation or a stressful situation that they regress back to the stage in which they developed this fixation. The stress causes them to revert back to the age where their needs weren’t met, and as such, they engage in childish behaviours.

For example, if you get into an argument with someone and they start behaving selfishly, like a toddler, then you have every right to poke fun at them for having Daddy or Mommy issues. Or, there are those who bite their nails and pick at their lips, something akin to the soothing acquired from sucking one’s thumb as a child.

Where America Fits Into This:  

America’s tricky in that he’s fixated at two stages of development. I’ll go over each of them separately.

Oral Fixation: 

The oral stages revolves around gratification through the mouth and lips. Tension and stress in an infant is reduced as they feed from their mother. It soothes them.

Over-gratification, as in the infant is fed too much or too easily, results in an oral-incorporative personality. In this case, it would apply not to how America was parented, as England wasn’t present in his life for long periods of his childhood, but rather the time that he spent in isolation.

In isolation, America only looked after himself. That’s why when he emerged from this isolation he came across as selfish and egocentric to the other nations. He had gotten so used to satisfying his own needs that he had trouble putting others first. [Please note that this is not the case in modern strips.]

Now, consider how much responsibility America had when he became a major manufacturing power in the years leading up to WW1.

Then, consider how he evolved to the status of a superpower following WW2. That’s a lot of responsibility for one nation to take, and as such, you would think that it would have caused America a lot of stress.

Well, it did.

Ex: He’s visibly distressed and disappointed in himself when the Stock Market crashes in 1939. He assumes all the blame given that it was his economy that had propped up the global market at the time.

While he doesn’t always show it, a lot of America’s habits help reduce this tension and stress. Not only that, but it helps him cope with the loneliness and lingering effects of isolation that he still feels when interacting with other nations.

Oral-incorporative personalities reduce tension through oral activities (duh). This would include things like smoking, drinking a lot, chewing gum, eating excessively, and being overly talkative. Hmmmm.

Doesn’t America overeat?

Isn’t America an overly-talkative person that just so happens to get on a lot of the other nations’ nerves?

Notwithstanding that America is completely aware of the fact that he’s not well-received in the international community?

This brings me to my next point. An oral-incorporative personality-type also possesses a high degree of gullibility. Following Freud’s allegory, they swallow everything they’re told.

With America, this gullibility of not being able to read the atmosphere is an act. 

It’s nothing more than a running gag and shouldn’t be taken seriously, especially if you look closely at his interactions with the other nations.

It’s a stress-reducing mechanism that allows him to avoid confronting reality, given how stressful his position as a superpower must have been. Point is, he’s more than capable of reading the atmosphere as seen in the example above. He simply chooses not to.

Similarly, America also embodies aspects of an oral-sadistic personality type. Under-gratification, as in the infant is not fed enough, results in this personality type. It means that they were weaned off early from their mother.

These people tend to be verbally abusive, or, in less serious cases they use “biting” sarcasm. Note again the use of an allegorical reference to infancy.

That said, we know that the nations often get frustrated with America for making reckless mistakes. More importantly, these mistakes are attributed to his youth and inexperience.

In that case, America being weaned off from England too early and not learning the proper ropes of how to conduct himself in accordance to tradition would be what is most relevant here…

Not many people know this, but America can be verbally abrasive (it’s not quite abusive) and sarcastic. The whole arc covering his and Canada’s childhoods are full of heated arguments between the two of them.

Ex: America gets frustrated with Canada when the latter refuses to let him see England following the Revolution.

The argument ends when Canada slams the front door on America.

Ex: America explodes at Canada upon hearing that the latter intends to gain his independence by being on good terms with England.

It’s the softness of the approach that doesn’t sit well with America. Canada is still fairly sheltered at this point, and hadn’t experienced/ travelled the world like America had. Put another way, Canada comes across as too idealistic to him.

“Is your head a field of flowers?!” 

Ex: Russia gives America a ticket to Siberia for his birthday. America blows his nose with it.

Anal Fixation:

[Yes, laugh. I didn’t come up with these terms.]

This stage of development centers around potty training. As toddlers gain control, autonomy, over their bodily functions, the authority that their parents assert over them regarding how they regulate these functions is met with hostility. They want to enjoy their newly-acquired independence and go whenever they want. The parents are the only barrier to that. Essentially, this stage is a battle of wills between the stubbornness of the toddler and their parents.

Sound familiar? Does the American Revolution ring a bell?

As America became increasingly sufficient, he realized that England’s authority was too imposing; it restricted his growth and freedom as a nation. He therefore pushed back and fought for his independence, his autonomy.

America fits best with an anal-retentive personality type. Similar to how a toddler will sometimes refuse to relieve themselves, these individuals tend to withhold their emotions and hoard their belongings. This also ties in nicely with how America pretends not to read the atmosphere.

Ex: America’s been shown on a few occasions to hold his tongue and not say what he really thinks.

Ex: He has a problem with over-manufacturing [hoarding].

Ex: While this doesn’t apply in the present, when he first came out of isolation, America would only do favors if it served to his own benefit.

Notice how similar that is to the behavior of a toddler. They lack the intellectual capacity to think of anyone but themselves.

Lastly, in terms of stress, you’ll also notice that America is often equated with child-like imagery.

This is especially the case when his ideas are challenged. The stress of it causes him to revert back to childish behaviour.

Ex: When proposing a world defense plan, he crushes bundled spoons to intimidate other nations into agreeing with him.

England berates him for this childishness too.

In sum, America’s childish behaviour is often an unconscious reaction to stress than it is arising from selfishness. Not only that, but a lot of his ‘obnoxious’ habits (e.g., eating excessively) can be attributed to him relieving his stress through them.

Daily Hetalia Fact #47

Prussia has issues with eating food with faces…at least he does when he’s hungover.

i got no sleep this was a mistake

Finland

Name: Tino Vainamainen House: Hufflepuff Age: 15 Year: 5th Blood Status: Muggle-born Patronus: Weasel Hobbies: Quidditch and collecting chocolate frog cards Anything Extra: Tino is a sweet boy who is true to everything that is Hufflepuff. He’s kind hearted and would do anything for his friends. He avoids confrontation but is not afraid to stand up for himself and for others if he needs to. If you have a favor he’s always happy to help. He was shocked and excited to find that he was made a Prefect thought he was an easy choice. Tino plays beater for Huffepuff

In an earlier post, I talked about the lesser known sides of Spain. This post will focus on the more obvious, yet ironically ignored, positive aspects of his character. Spain has never been a plain character. The problem is that his personality is often watered down, either as a result of the anime or people choosing to selectively represent certain aspects of his personality.

That said, let’s go over some examples.

He’s not a cheerful ditz all the time: 

Ex: He didn’t take chibi Romano’s constant complaining without any resistance. On several occasions, Spain’s shown to be calling him an idiot.

Ex: He’s an emotional or “violent” drunk. It depends on which translation you have, but it pretty much conveys the same thing.

My translation is a bit different from the one above:

“As long as you keep him away from booze, and don’t get on his bad side, you should be fine.”

Ex: Prior to the strip, teenage Romano had a huge obsession with fantasizing about/ role-playing the medieval chivalric romance novels that he read. In comes Prussia, recklessly spouting out keywords that seem to trigger Romano’s obsession again, much to the latter’s dismay. Mother hen Spain quickly swoops in to give a deadly warning.

Ex: He melancholically looks back on his and France’s rough childhoods.

Ex: When the topic of discussions falls to what each nation is known for, Spain laments over being known for cows and tomatoes.

He’s more than capable of reading the atmosphere: 

Ex: His reaction to America after the Stock Market crashes in 1939.

Ex: He’s heartbroken when Veneziano chooses Austria over him during the Austrian War of Succession. The scene alludes to the fact that Spain was deeply saddened in the years following his divorce from Austria. Likewise, the way Spain revs up his cheery attitude in light of being rejected seems to be more of a defense mechanism, a guarded mask of emotions, than it is of his true personality.

I say this because Romano finds Spain weeping in the next panel.

Ex: He solemnly hints to Chibitalia of what’s to become of him right before he and his brother are both conquered.

His optimism is not out of sheer stupidity: 

It’s more like it’s a desperate sort of optimism. The way that Spain convinces himself to push forward with a smile is eventually internalized until he himself doesn’t even realize that what he’s doing is unrealistic and naive. As mentioned above, it’s also a coping mechanism.

Nonetheless, there are moments where he shows a deep awareness of his economic/ political situation.

Ex:There’s a clear recognition that he’s lost his international standing due to poverty.

Ex: Once again, his [desperate] optimism shines through in how he copes with his weakened economy. He sings songs, and acts happy…

…but he’s more than aware of how deep and serious his money problems are. He’s literally clinging to Germany, albeit for exaggerated humorous effect.

He may have a laid-back personality…

…but once he gets worked up about something, his passion replaces his typical lazing around.

Ex: He fought to have olive oil continually be marketed as a staple product of the EU.

Again, with Spain, it seems that the happiness he forces onto himself allows him to get too carried away in what he does (e.g., over-manufacturing and then causing a property bubble).

That’s why he comes off as naïve and a bit air-headed. You could even argue that it’s a slight dissociation from reality to help minimize any anxiety that he feels.

His constant smiling is also a play on the fact that the sun never set in the Spanish Empire.

He’s selfless:

Ex: Despite all the complaining and constant belittling that he had to endure with Romano, Spain still saves him from Turkey.

Ex: Spain spent all his money on improving Romano’s wardrobe. [Please note that Romano was too young to realize this]. Meanwhile, his own clothes were in tatters.

Ex: When Romano immigrates to America, Spain is the first person he calls. Their relationship is noted to be much deeper than the one Romano shares with Veneziano.

Immediately, Spain’s mother hen mode gets switched on as he asks Romano how he’s been and if he’s been eating well.

He also lets Romano know how proud he is of him working and taking responsibility for himself for once.

That said, it wouldn’t make sense for a character predicated on a stereotype of passion to be flat and static. He’s anything but.

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.

on a scale of 1 to aph sweden during christmas time, how worried are you about your significant other’s well-being

transparent hungary strutting her stuff all over your blog

Hetalia World ☆ Stars - Chapter 285 Original Translation: y4nderenka // spaghettifelice // donamoeba Scanlation: cosyanet // jammerlea Please link back to our Tumblr when using translated images on other sites.