I wrote it myself, originally contained in the answer to the question "Why did Shinji choke Asuka?"
https://www.zhihu.com/question/22210528/answer/386918030
This question is very critical. What does EVA want to express? The theater version sincerely pinched Asuka's neck twice for Shinji,
The first time I was in Misato's house (or in his imagination) because Asuka denied that this world exists for him.
On the second LCL beach, there are many meanings, one of which points to the original inherent "fear" or "rejection" between people. Returning from the chaos to the self-consciousness of having the heart wall/ATfield, Shinji and Asuka should be regarded as the original state at the beginning of the birth of mankind. But as the other answers have said, what is really important here is not to choke Asuka, but to let go of the hand in the end, and people cross this layer of fear.
Let’s talk about a long and long personal analysis of why this is related to the theme of EVA.
When I watched the TV version two years ago, I wondered why the "Human Completion Project" that had been so mysterious for so long ended up with just a few people's streams of consciousness. The main argument on the Internet is that there is no funding, and the later theatrical version really explained to you everything that happened outside of the personal stream of consciousness. But my question is, why did Anno Hideaki choose to leave this part of the stream of consciousness rather than others when he has no funds ? After watching the movie, I realized that it was not because I wanted to "fiddle with the past".
Shinji is everyone, and he is "chosen" just like everyone. I think of Haruki Murakami’s wonderful metaphor in "The End of the World and Cold Wonderland": "When I was young, I always felt that I was protected by a mysterious force. No matter what disasters happen in this world, I always get it. Asylum... "I believe almost everyone has thoughts like this. In your own life, you are the chosen one. Regardless of the protagonist’s aura or not, everything we stare at, feel, and experience is through the medium of "I", and everything falls on "I". .
In the first episode of TV, when Shinji was ordered to drive the first aircraft for the first time, he felt angry, puzzled, and inconceivable. Why did he come to see his father with great difficulty, he was obviously just a person who had nothing to do with all of this, so he had to take it all suddenly? Why he? At this time, in his ego, the world should have existed around him ; he was cowardly, he was just a child, and he just didn't want to bear it, so he shouldn't have to bear it. He wanted to escape.
In the last episode of the TV version, a series of follow-up questions were raised around "escape":
"What's wrong with avoiding?" "If you feel annoying, you can avoid it." "If it's painful, it doesn't matter to escape." "But I'm fed up with it, I don't want to escape anymore." "That's because you know it will be worse after avoiding Pain" "Because, if you escape, no one will care about me!"
Escaping is our instinctive behavior, whether it is called humanity or cowardice, it has no problem in a "world that exists around me" ; instead of escaping, it is because of others, because this world teaches us not to be cowardly , Should be responsible, because others will see us through such glasses, because we care about how others see ourselves . In the end we made the "right" choice self-righteously, just like Shinji's forehead rushed to "take it" when he saw the scarred Ayanami.
That's right.
By doing this, you will be recognized by others.
Father will be satisfied if he does this.
By doing this, Li will not feel that I am cowardly.
At this time, the belief in "the world that exists around me" is shaken, but there are other ways to fill in the lost importance of "me" in the world . Pay attention to others, because in this way you can get the attention of others; to obey the rules, because then others will not look at yourself with strange eyes; to cherish partners, because in this way they will be cherished; to save the world, because of such a protagonist There is often a protagonist aura. Desire to be loved, desire to be redeemed, because in this way one's own existence can be recognized, emphasized, and temporarily placed at the center of the world in one's delusion. Experience tells us that as long as we do what we do, the world will be gentler to us and more compliant with our hearts. In terms of motivation, we hope that the world exists "for me", but just like Shinji dare not to meet his father and Asuka dare not to meet his mother, we are afraid of rejection and betrayal in the world we dream of.
So Shinji said in the theater version:
"I thought it was a world without worries and betrayal." "I think there is something I hate, so I think it would be better to escape. However, it is not a good thing for me to escape, I am not there. , And no one is the same."
The essence of "the world exists for me" is "following my heart", but obviously there are more cases of "not following my heart" in reality. The more I grow up, the more I understand this, so the less I dare to delusion. Therefore, the adults put a part of the "I" on the "truth". This truth can be social rules, simple right and wrong, interests, religious beliefs, or fanatic philosophical logic. The world belongs to the truth, so as long as "I" follows the truth, "I" will not be abandoned by the world .
People are always entangled between the "world that exists for me" and the "right world". Shinji's struggle is everyone's struggle . This is the first level, related to the world .
The first time Shinji pinched Asuka, it was at Misato’s house. Asuka said:
"In fact, you can (save) anyone (to rescue)! You are afraid of Miri and the number one qualified person (Ayanami), you are afraid of your father, you are afraid of your mother, you just escaped to me. Because of this It’s the easiest, and won’t be hurt in any way.” “Actually, you have never liked others at all! There is no one in your heart except yourself! You have never even liked yourself!”
In other words, Shinji just wants to confirm his existence through others' love and recognition of him, and confirm that the "world that exists for him" will not collapse. Asuka pierced this point, which irritated Shinji, who had always placed herself in the victim's position. He kept repeating "Help me", "Whoever it is, help me" "Don't abandon me" "Don't kill me", but Asuka is just a cold sentence
"Refuse."
Her refusal completely shattered Shinji's delusion. The peer in front of him told him two things thoroughly: He is not a unique existence, the world has no obligation to have mercy on him, and his existence has nothing to do with her even if it has no value-the world does not exist for him. ; what he says is just like selfish request, he played the victim image is only to satisfy his restless heart - he has been living in settled area of self-deception . Shinji's world and the self-consciousness (self-esteem) that maintains Shinji's existence are facing collapse, and he squeezes Asuka's neck tightly.
What is "me"?
The real "I" is based on instinct, on the basis of "dirty" desires, cowardice, greed, and self-satisfaction. The real "I" only wants to get, only want to get, and just want everything to go as it pleases. The real "I" wants the world to only I exist for myself; but the "I" shown to others seems to be brave, just, responsible and responsible, consider others, and even want to save the world. What "self-deception" is talking about is to treat the latter, who is driven by the inner self, but shaped by the external world, as the original self . It seems that he is really noble.
The adults were very skillful in doing this, but Shinji, who was still a boy, was full of struggle . On the one hand, he indulges his cowardice and desires, on the other hand, he looks down on such a self, and strives to create a self-image of "a partner, courage, ability, and worthy of love". At the beginning of the theater version of AIR, he kept repeating "Asuka, save me; Asuka, save me..." because Asuka is the only hypocritical person who directly pierced him. Asuka's recognition is more to him than anyone else. More importantly, because in this way he can continue to maintain the "me" out of this package.
In front of Asuka's hospital bed, Shinji, who had not been "redempted", succumbed to the real "me" for an instant: masturbating on the naked body of the girl. In fact, the behavior of masturbation is very clear: don't pay anything for others, don't need to consider any other people's vision, and only quickly and directly satisfy your own desires. The so-called "Asuka, save me" is just "use Asuka to save me". After masturbating, Shinji looked at the liquid in his hand and said in frustration, "I am really nasty," but he was trying to maintain the noble image that was fabricated from deception.
In Asuka's view, such a Shinji is extremely hypocritical, and her eyes are full of contempt. The phrase "really sad" came from the bottom of my heart. Because Asuka herself is a character without hypocrisy: she longs for the love of her mother, longs for driving EVA, longs for her value to be recognized, all desires are unconcealed; she loves blessing, so it doesn't matter if she has sex with blessing. For Asuka, there is no "me" that needs to be shown to others , so she looks down on Shinji who deceives herself and dare not face her.
This is the second level, which is related to the self.
Back to the original question, why can the huge "Human Completion Project" be answered by Shinji's stream of consciousness alone? Is it too hypocritical to use the inner struggle of a young man to determine the destiny of the entire mankind? What is the difference between Seele's plan and NERV's plan? What is human completion? What is the wall of the heart? What is the sea of LCL?
Answer from back to front. The direct explanation is that the sea of LCL is a collection of consciousness that has lost its physical form . It symbolizes that all life has returned to a complete and unified state. For the theological basis of it, please refer to relevant analysis articles. The wall of the heart is the boundary of self-consciousness . Because of its existence, there is distance, injury, and betrayal between people, and people will feel lonely. Seele's human completion plan is to break the wall of the heart by sacrificing people's materiality and return to a unified and chaotic state like the sea of LCL . Similar ideas appear repeatedly in the Japanese comics. As far as I have seen, Hokage (Reading in the Infinite Moon: People give up consciousness and live in dreams), Lelouch (Human beings become a spiritual community and no more lies), Refining (all beings return to a concentrated state, forming a huge life body to get close to the truth) are somewhat similar.
If the consciousness of the boundary is lost, the “self” will be lost, and the “world that exists around me” will not exist. The sea of LCL does not belong to any one person, nor does it belong to the entire human civilization. It belongs only to gods. If there is a god Words as a witness. If such a plan is meaningful, the meaning only exists before the plan is realized , because the desire to have such a desire must depend on dissatisfaction with the status quo of human society and the imagination of higher forms of human civilization, and both dissatisfaction and imagination are required. There is a boundary of "self-awareness" to bear; the sea of LCL will not be imagined. If there is no higher consciousness to perceive its existence, all the meaning of it will be zero at the moment it is formed. TV26 episode:
"This is the world without anything? The world without people?" "The world of freedom." "Free?" "It is a free world without being bound by anything. It is precisely because of this that there is nothing here. "As long as I don't think about it, there won't be." "Yes, as long as you don't think about it." "Then what should I do? I don't know." "I'm a little uneasy. I don't know what I am. Too. A world where nothing is clear is freedom."
In this sense, what SEELE wants to do is actually no different from human collective suicide. This is the third layer, which is related to consciousness.
So what does Shinji's father/NERV/Anno want to do? A common saying is to open up the inner occlusion of teenagers and explore the possibility of opening the "wall of the heart" to realize the complementarity of human beings without giving up the material form, that is, believing that people can understand each other. However, just focusing on "mutual understanding" is obviously too superficial.
The TV version of 26 episodes, the key paragraph before the end of the stream of consciousness and completion:
"You know your own shape only through the shape of others." "Only through the boundaries between yourself and others can you outline your own appearance." "Without others, you can't see yourself." "Doesn't it have to be there? Only when others exist, can one exist? A person will always be a person no matter where he goes, isn’t he? The world is all my own!" "It is because I recognize the difference with others, so that the concept of self can be grasped. "The first other person is the mother, and the mother is a different person from you." "Yes, I am me, but other people are indeed shaping the appearance of my soul!" "Yes, Shinji Ikura." "You finally have to." Understood! Stupid Shinji!"
Then there are two paragraphs of Shinji's decision in the movie "True Heart For You":
"If you expect, the heart wall will separate everyone again. The fear of others will reappear." "It's okay. Thank you." "ATField will hurt you and others again. Is it okay?" "It doesn't matter. . But, what are you in my heart?" "It's hope. It's the possibility of mutual understanding. It's like." "But it's all pretending to be seen by others, it's all my wishful thinking, just like praying. , It is impossible to continue forever. One day I will be betrayed and abandoned by others... But, but I want to see you again! Because I understand that feeling is true." "I still don't understand. Where is the happiness, but I will continue to think about why I was born here, and I will continue to think about it afterwards. But I seem to finally understand, this is actually a matter of course. In order to make me live as me ."
It seems that the TV version and the theater version are talking about different things, but if you combine the above three levels of analysis, you will find that they actually answer the same question in series. The reason why a person is a person is first of all because of self-consciousness, and self-consciousness must have a certain limit (the wall of the heart) to be established. This restriction distinguishes the difference between "he" and "me". "I" use "he" to grasp the concept of self, outline one's own appearance, and shape one's own form.
And because the "I" cannot control or grasp the different "him", there will be yearning, the impulse to understand, the need to love and be loved, and the fear of not being able to understand and fear of being betrayed. The concept of "him" in turn impacts "I", because all this only happens in the world that "I" recognizes. It should belong to me alone, but because of the gap between "He" and "I". The uncertainty brought about causes "I" to suffer and struggle in "My World".
What "I" shows to "him" is not the real "I". In order to get "him"'s love, understanding, and approval, "I" hides selfish motives and creates an "I" that I think can please him In order to eliminate the uncertainty caused by estrangement, "I" gave up the cognitive method of "the world exists for me" and chose a world based on objective truth (so that we can negotiate with "him"). In the end, "I" was lost, and the contradiction between "he" and "me" became a contradiction between "the me shown to him" and "the real me", between the objective world and the subjective world. . "I" became a self-contradictory and struggling person, and "my world" was facing collapse.
In order to reconcile, SEELE chose to lift the self-restriction, but at the same time the concept of "I" no longer exists.
In the TV version, the "I" in a series of streams of consciousness is actually reconciled with oneself, accepting the true side of oneself, and at the same time acknowledging the influence of others on oneself——recognizing that "I am me, but others are indeed shaping "The appearance of my soul" is actually a contradictory process in itself. Although I am still confused, I will not struggle.
At the end of the theater version, "I" chose to once again return to the state of a person with a wall of heart, because no matter what, the consciousness of "I" when thinking and constructing itself determines the existence of "I". That feeling is true", "I live as me", "This is a matter of course in itself".
It may seem absurd to use the inner struggle of a young man to determine the fate of a world, but the world actually exists because of this young man. Just as our respective worlds exist because of our respective consciousness and perception. Wei said,
"Humans can only survive on this planet, but EVA can survive indefinitely, together with the hearts of the people who live in it . Even five billion years later, after the earth, moon, and sun have disappeared, EVA will also exist. , Even a person will continue to live, no matter how lonely, as long as you live, then the proof of human existence will last forever. "
Mankind's completion plan is actually a reconciliation between man and himself and the world he perceives.
In the end, Shinji did not choke Asuka, "I" no longer struggled with the fear of "him", and the world's reconciliation was finally reached.
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