Rather than forcing my wife to listen to me think out loud about Berserk, I thought I'd bring up some of my thoughts with other readers regarding the objects and what not in Berserk that Mirua creates..
Namely, one of the things that I've been most impressed with Miura about is that, as a storyteller (vs. a visual artist, which he is also obviously very skilled at) he is able to create such "loaded" objects. What I mean is that he creates a fantasy world where objects carry a lot of meaning. When people think of the One Ring in the Lord of the Rings, this is a similar example. People being used as batteries by the machines in the Matrix is another great example, as it creates a powerful metaphor for a particular view on capitalism and the "machine" of society. Mostly, I'm looking at things created by Miura that can be read both literally and figuratively.
The Behelit is the most obvious "symbolic" object in Berserk-- the desire for power incarnate and the cost the individual must pay to acquire it. But there are all sorts of other fascinating things too--
For example, we normally say that "people have their demons" after trying times, but Guts actually has to fight his demons in a physically manifested sort of way. And they literally feed on his fear and anger, the way a metaphorica/emotional demon would too.
The brand is also obviously a really central object. It's a lot like saying he's "Marked for death"-- but in truth, Guts and Casca are literally marked for death. I also thought it fascinating that the demon child nursed from the brand. I've been trying to get a handle on that one for a long time. Whatever the case, I found that image wonderfully disturbing.
Another example I had was Griffith actually becoming a demon in order to attain power, and sort of losing his soul in the process. Rather than it simply being metaphorical, as in a traditional story (like, say, in the "Godfather"), in Berserk it's wrapped into physical acts or objects.
I was recently rereading some older issues, and the other one that came to mind was the magic objects everyone has. I had never really found the whole sequence very interesting until I really clued in to the fact that Miura is basically making commentary on the emotional state of his characters through the magic objects they receive. Thus Farnese gets objects of silver, to protect, to act defensively rather than to attack. And I found it very interesting that Serpico has gotten the wind element to guide him. As if he wanted to be free but couldn't be, or that he is slowly recognizing that Farnese is moving away from him and that he is sort of being "let free" from her by default. Yet oddly enough, he's really in touch with the wind element. This was also really interesting to me, and I haven't been able to really figure out what I think about it yet.
Another example would be that Griffith is now literally (in phyical form) sort of the child of Guts and Caska (if I understood correctly that the demon child was the physical vessel for Griffith's return). Thus the sort of metaphorical truth that Griffith's strength really came from them, and that they were the two that were most important to be sacrifices is made into a literal sort of truth-- that his new self is bascially born from them, that in some way the helped to create the Griffith that we now know.
I'm sure there's room for lots of other readings, or perhaps some of them seem far fetched, but I've just found this very interseting as a reader and would love to get some other people's insights both into the objects I've already mentioned and other possibilities.
Namely, one of the things that I've been most impressed with Miura about is that, as a storyteller (vs. a visual artist, which he is also obviously very skilled at) he is able to create such "loaded" objects. What I mean is that he creates a fantasy world where objects carry a lot of meaning. When people think of the One Ring in the Lord of the Rings, this is a similar example. People being used as batteries by the machines in the Matrix is another great example, as it creates a powerful metaphor for a particular view on capitalism and the "machine" of society. Mostly, I'm looking at things created by Miura that can be read both literally and figuratively.
The Behelit is the most obvious "symbolic" object in Berserk-- the desire for power incarnate and the cost the individual must pay to acquire it. But there are all sorts of other fascinating things too--
For example, we normally say that "people have their demons" after trying times, but Guts actually has to fight his demons in a physically manifested sort of way. And they literally feed on his fear and anger, the way a metaphorica/emotional demon would too.
The brand is also obviously a really central object. It's a lot like saying he's "Marked for death"-- but in truth, Guts and Casca are literally marked for death. I also thought it fascinating that the demon child nursed from the brand. I've been trying to get a handle on that one for a long time. Whatever the case, I found that image wonderfully disturbing.
Another example I had was Griffith actually becoming a demon in order to attain power, and sort of losing his soul in the process. Rather than it simply being metaphorical, as in a traditional story (like, say, in the "Godfather"), in Berserk it's wrapped into physical acts or objects.
I was recently rereading some older issues, and the other one that came to mind was the magic objects everyone has. I had never really found the whole sequence very interesting until I really clued in to the fact that Miura is basically making commentary on the emotional state of his characters through the magic objects they receive. Thus Farnese gets objects of silver, to protect, to act defensively rather than to attack. And I found it very interesting that Serpico has gotten the wind element to guide him. As if he wanted to be free but couldn't be, or that he is slowly recognizing that Farnese is moving away from him and that he is sort of being "let free" from her by default. Yet oddly enough, he's really in touch with the wind element. This was also really interesting to me, and I haven't been able to really figure out what I think about it yet.
Another example would be that Griffith is now literally (in phyical form) sort of the child of Guts and Caska (if I understood correctly that the demon child was the physical vessel for Griffith's return). Thus the sort of metaphorical truth that Griffith's strength really came from them, and that they were the two that were most important to be sacrifices is made into a literal sort of truth-- that his new self is bascially born from them, that in some way the helped to create the Griffith that we now know.
I'm sure there's room for lots of other readings, or perhaps some of them seem far fetched, but I've just found this very interseting as a reader and would love to get some other people's insights both into the objects I've already mentioned and other possibilities.