Week 2 - blog post #3

                At first glance, it may seem that most of the characters in the film Spirited Away have little in common with characters from other mythologies we have read in class. However, looking closely, one can see that there are in fact many similarities. In the Indian myth of Indra and the Parade of Ants, past Indras that had been very greedy paid for their bad karma by being reincarnated as lowly insects. In Spirited Away, Chihiro’s parents gorge themselves on food meant for the spirits, and as a punishment are turned into pigs by Yubaba. While watching the film, the phrase “greedy as a pig” came to mind as an explanation for why Chihiro’s parents were transformed. In both Spirited Away and  Indra and the Parade of Ants, excessive greed is punished by being either transformed or reincarnated into “lesser” creatures.  

                Another character from Spirited Away that I found very interesting was No-Face. It seems that he is almost like a mirror, reflecting the personalities of whoever is around him. After entering the bathhouse and helping Chihiro procure the bath tokens used in the incident with the polluted River Spirit, No-Face learns that gold is very important to the other spirits of the bathhouse. He lures the greedy frog-spirit, Aogaeru, with gold and subsequently eats him, acquiring his greedy personality, his voice, and frog-like appearance. No-Face continues to gorge himself on both food and a few more bathhouse employees before being confronted by Chihiro with the medicine from the River Spirit. After regurgitating all that he had eaten (including Aogaeru), No-Face returns to his former self and becomes friendly with Chihiro once again. When Chihro and No-Face pay a visit to Yubaba’s sister, Zeniba, No-Face mirrors some of Zeniba’s qualities and finds he is able to spin thread very well. I believe that No-Face is somewhat similar to the Minotaur/Asterion from Borges’ The House of Asterion. Classically, the Minotaur is depicted as a terrible monster (somewhat similar to No-Face when he is terrorizing the bathhouse and its employees). However, in Borges’ telling of the myth, the Minotaur is depicted as Asterion, a simple creature who is simply misunderstood by society. Just as Asterion is depicted as being misunderstood, so is No-Face. The employees of the bathhouse don’t understand that it is their greed for gold that drives No-Face to become a terrible monster. It is not clear whether Chihiro understands this, but nevertheless, she still treats No-Face with the respect and kindness that restore him to his former self.