Chich and the language of flowers

I really like Chich, the little flower spirit. She's so cute! :serpico: I saw on the forum that you had identified her flower as a shepherd's purse. I think it's cool that authors will often use a certain type of flower for a reason. According to the language of flowers, which is a way of communicating using flowers, the shepherd's purse means "I offer you my all." That's certainly what Chich did for Guts. Anyway, I just thought it was kinda neat. Here's a link to a site about the language of flowers if it interests you.

http://www.joellessacredgrove.com/language.html#s

I hope Chich made it and the other flower spirits were able to help her. After Guts brings her flower to the meadow to be with all the others and the wind takes it away, there was that comment referring back to when Chich was wondering if the other flowers would find her. I was was torn as to whether to take that as a hint that the other flowers do find her and she will be ok or whether it was emphasizing how sad it was that Chich didn't live long enough to meet the other flowers. I like to hope it was the former, though!.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
JMP said:
According to the language of flowers, which is a way of communicating using flowers, the shepherd's purse means "I offer you my all." That's certainly what Chich did for Guts. Anyway, I just thought it was kinda neat.

That's pretty cool! Hard to say whether it's more than a coincidence, but it fits the overall narrative nicely.

JMP said:
I hope Chich made it and the other flower spirits were able to help her. After Guts brings her flower to the meadow to be with all the others and the wind takes it away, there was that comment referring back to when Chich was wondering if the other flowers would find her. I was was torn as to whether to take that as a hint that the other flowers do find her and she will be ok or whether it was emphasizing how sad it was that Chich didn't live long enough to meet the other flowers. I like to hope it was the former, though!.

I think that from the way the story is set up, it implies Chich did not survive the events. She used too much of her power to save Guts, which did not bode well already. And then there was that last gesture to save Guts from the coming arrow, and after that the flower was trampled. This is why Guts did not plant the flower in the field, instead letting it be taken by the wind. The words Guts remembers only serve to make things more bitter. :judo:
 

puella

Berserk forever
Oh, it's a really interesting find. I think Miura took the flower language into account.
I also wanted very much to believe Chich survived in whatever form. But sadly, she's dead. Life is harsh. :rickert: She just had this desperate desire to be with her comrades, and it foresaw what would happen to Guts soon afterward.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
That's incredible, man. Thanks for sharing! It certainly doesn't seem like just a coincidence, to me. Particularly because Miura went out of his way to define the type of flower it was.
 
I'm glad you all found it interesting! :serpico: Sadly, I think you're right about Chich dying. :judo: That last scene definitely had a very melancholy feel to it and the other things Aazealh mentioned seal the deal. SO sad!!!!

puella said:
She just had this desperate desire to be with her comrades, and it foresaw what would happen to Guts soon afterward.
Good point!

I was poking around looking at info on shepherd's purse and found out it's more than just a pretty flower. It's also known as a medicinal herb. Another name for it was "poor man's pharmacy". It was used for lots of different ailments, among them being treatment of wounds. Here's an excerpt from the article about it: "Shepherd’s purse is best known for its effectiveness as a hemostatic – it can stop bleeding or oozing from wounds when applied locally, or internal hemorrhaging if used systemically." So no wonder Chich's leaves were so helpful to Guts. Apart from the magic Chich uses her plant is also healing. Miura might have had multiple reasons for choosing shepherd's purse to be the flower in this story. Here's the sites I found the info on :

http://vitalitymagazine.com/article/spotlight-on-shepherds-purse/

http://www.herballegacy.com/Ray_History.html
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
JMP said:
I was poking around looking at info on shepherd's purse and found out it's more than just a pretty flower. It's also known as a medicinal herb. Another name for it was "poor man's pharmacy". It was used for lots of different ailments, among them being treatment of wounds. Here's an excerpt from the article about it: "Shepherd’s purse is best known for its effectiveness as a hemostatic – it can stop bleeding or oozing from wounds when applied locally, or internal hemorrhaging if used systemically." So no wonder Chich's leaves were so helpful to Guts. Apart from the magic Chich uses her plant is also healing. Miura might have had multiple reasons for choosing shepherd's purse to be the flower in this story.

Indeed, that definitely can't be a coincidence. Great find again! Why am I not surprised Miura would research things to this extent.
 
Aazealh said:
Why am I not surprised Miura would research things to this extent.

It is pretty cool for sure! His care with detail and research into his subjects are just a few of the things that make Berserk such a great series! :guts:
 
Top Bottom