Nausicäa

By: Vincent Ho

**Biography:**

Nausicäa is the main character of the Hayao Miyazaki's manga “Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind.” She is the princess and heir apparent to the throne of the small kingdom of the Valley of the Wind. While her age is unspecified, she appears to be between seventeen and twenty-one years old. Characteristic of many of Miyazaki’s works, Nausicäa holds a very strong female role that provides many opportunities to analyze her dynamic personality. (Miyazaki, 2004)

“Nausicäa and the Valley of the Wind” takes place far in a post-apocalyptic future. Heavy industry and war have polluted the world to the point where a toxic and a seemingly sentient jungle has emerged. Where the jungle exists, human civilization cannot. Humans have been able to rebuild however, and have formed two major forces. On one side is the Torumekian Empire and her vassal states, which includes the Valley of the Wind. On the other are the Dorok Principalities, a loose coalition of city-states held together by a common faith. At the beginning of the story, the two countries are at war. (Miyazaki, 2004)

The Valley of the Wind is located next to the toxic jungle, and because of this the villagers learn to accept death at an early age. Nausicäa and her father are the only two surviving members of the royal family. Nausicäa’s mother died after succumbing to the jungle’s poison as did the other eleven siblings that Nausicäa never knew. Nausicäa’s father is a very strong and kind ruler to his people. His only regret is that he was unable to leave a male successor to the throne, which weighs heavily on Nausicäa’s mind. However, he is proud of her accomplishments and believes that she will grow to be a great leader. (Miyazaki, 2004)

Nausicäa can easily be described as headstrong and adventurous with a solid sense of what’s right and wrong. She is incredibly charismatic and empathetic to everybody around her, and because of this, does as much as she can to save them. However, she is willing to kill if she has no other option. When she begins shedding blood she enters a furious trance that revels in the bloodshed, but she is very scared of this aspect of her. She is also very talented at using her mehve, a single-person glider, and later finds that she has some power in telepathy. (Miyazaki, 2004)

**Psychoanalytic approach:**

If Sigmund Freud were to read “Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind,” he’d have a heyday psychoanalyzing Nausicäa’s personality. As Freud developed the psychosexual stages of development, he would happily go through the steps and pick out where she was fixated and how her fixations were affecting her personality. Furthermore, Nausicäa shows many signs of the conflicting id, ego and superego constructs as well as some of the coping mechanisms that are used to keep the three under control.

According to Freud’s psychosexual stages of development, there are five stages that people go through during their childhood: the oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital periods. Each stage has certain goals that, when met, will let the individual lead a normal and fulfilling life. If the goals are not met, then the person will be considered “fixated” and will show signs of the fixation throughout his or her lifetime. (Friedman & Schustack, 2009, pg.70-72) For Nausicäa, we will consider only the phallic, latency and genital stages because there isn’t enough information to determine if Nausicäa fixated in the oral or anal stage.

The phallic stage is probably the most interesting of the psychosexual stages of development. This stage is characterized by an infant’s obsession over the penis, which Freud believed occurred at around three to six year of age. For males, Freud believed that boys identified with their mothers and resented their fathers. However, they suffered from castration anxiety and soon stopped desiring their mothers and began to identify with their fathers and thus acquire the expected gender roles. This cycle was dubbed the Oedipus Complex by Freud. Girls, on the other hand, are believed to transfer affection from their mothers to their fathers because they feel it’s their mothers’ fault that they don’t have a penis. To counter this, Freud believed that girls would derive satisfaction from having a baby, thus feeling complete (Friedman & Schustack, 2009, pg.70-72). When considering phallic stage, it is quite easy to say that Nausicäa is fixated in it. As Nausicäa’s mother was already dead, she was unable to get over her penis envy. Due to this, she picked up the sword and gun, which Freud would argue resemble phallic objects. By using these objects as a replacement for a penis, Nausicäa is able to identify with her father and pick up his masculine traits. This makes her a very effective leader with a strong sense of morals and duty to her people (Miyazaki, 2004).

Freud didn’t believe that it was possible to be fixated on the latency stage. This stage is characterized by a redirection of an individuals’ sexual urges to the development their academic and social influences. (Friedman & Schustack, 2009, pg.70-72)Nausicäa shows this stage through the revelation of her secret lab in her homes’ basement. Nausicäa frequently visits the toxic jungle by using protective gear and retrieves specimens that she grows later. She finds that the plants in the jungle are not actually poisonous, but that the poison is actually generated by the materials in the soil. Furthermore, she maintains many relationships with the local villagers and has very strong ties with Lord Yupa, a wanderer (Miyazaki, 2004).

The genital stage is the last step of the psychosexual stages of development. This stage is only attainable if previous fixations had not sapped away all of the sexual energy necessary to reach it. Characteristics of this final stage include the creation of normal sexual relations and child-rearing (Friedman & Schustack, 2009, pg.70-72). Nausicäa does not appear to have reached this final stage of development. Granted, she probably has other things to worry about, such as the war, but even then she never showed legitimate interest in any of the male characters that she ran into. It may be possible to say that she is in the process of achieving this stage. Nausicäa serves as a very powerful mother figure in the series and even adopts an ancient being as her own child. However, she appears to later reject this life as she chooses to live a life in the jungles at the end of the series (Miyazaki, 2004).

The psychoanalytic approach also posits that there are three layers to the human mind: the id, ego and superego. The id is considered the pleasure principle. The id strives to satiate its desire and is believed to the bases of most instincts and impulses. The ego operates on the reality principle. The ego operates on how to get what the id wants to it, such as babies crying to get comfort from their mothers. The superego is the final layer of the three. The superego acts on societal and moral rules and decides when to display an action, often suppressing the incessant prodding of the id (Friedman & Schusctack, 2009, pg.67). Throughout the story, we see various instances where Nausicäa displays the balance between these three forces. Nausicäa does whatever she can to keep those around her alive, even her enemies. However, there are moments when her anger and id are able to override her normal demeanor and send her into a killing rage. During one moment where her home was being intruded by the Torumekian army, her superego ceded to the urges of her id. In the scene that followed, Nausicäa slaughtered multiple soldiers and was only stopped when her friend, Lord Yupa, intervened (Miyazaki, 2004).

The contrast between Nausicäa’s murderous side and loving demeanor can also be considered a product of psychoanalytic psychology. Psychoanalytic psychology also includes various defense mechanisms people use salve anxiety. Nausicäa’s peace-loving and life-saving actions may be the result of a reaction formation against her darker, killing nature. Reaction formation is a defense mechanism where an individual feels threatened by one aspect of his or her personality and in response overtly acts opposite. For example, a staunch anti-drug activist may actually be hitting the bong every night behind closed doors (Friedman & Schustack, 2009, pg.77-87). In addition to reaction formation, Nausicäa may be using another technique known as sublimation. Sublimation is the process in the dangerous urge is transformed into a productive, beneficial aspect for society, (Friedman & Schustack, 2009, pg.77-87). Nausicäa’s loving and peace-touting actions may be considered a double defense mechanism for both reaction formation and sublimation.

**Humanistic perspective:**

The humanistic perspective also sheds light onto the personality of Nausicäa. The humanistic approach heavily emphasizes on the importance of the individual and how every aspect, scientifically measurable or not, should be included when studying someone. Multiple movements picked up on this new thought, such as Carl Rogers’ new clinical method that emphasized unconditional positive regard and Martin Seligman’s recent positive psychology trend. This movement, dubbed the “third force” as prominent psychologist acknowledged behaviorism and psychoanalysis as its predecessors, has greatly changed the face of psychology to what it is today (Friedman & Schustack, 2009).

One window that the humanistic approach gives to Nausicäa’s personality is Martin Buber’s I-Thou dialogue. The humanistic perspective heavily emphasizes that our existence not only comes from ourselves, but from recognizing others as humans as well. Buber’s I-Thou dialogue describes this through differentiation of an I-Thou dialogue and an I-it monologue. The I-Thou dialogue acknowledges the other as a human being, while the I-it monologue sees the other as things and tools that do not measure up to the speaker (Friedman & Schustack, 2009, pg. 297). This dichotomy is shown in “Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind” multiple times. Various military leaders in the novels are shown to use the I-it monologue multiple times. Nausicäa ran into a group of prisoners of war, her general didn’t see the POWS as people, but simply as “Doroks.” Nausicäa on the other hand refused to let borders stop her from calling them human, using the I-Thou dialogue with them and eventually convincing her general to release them. Nausicäa’s compassion was boundless; she refused to let borders or even species barriers from using her I-Thou dialogue (Miyazaki, 2004).

One of the most famous things to come out of humanist psychology was Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The hierarchy contains five teirs: physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness and love needs, esteem needs and finally self-actualization motives. Barring rare cases, a person must fulfill the needs of the lower tiers before they can proceed to the next one (Friedman & Schustack, 2009, pg. 307). Of these tiers, Nausicäa seems to perpetually be on the self-actualized tier, even when lower tiers aren’t satisfied. Maslow believed that self-actualized people were autonomous, resilient to social pressures, love freedom and have a high need for privacy (Friedman & Schustack, 2009, pg. 307). Nausicäa’s strong sense of morals would often lead her to disobey suggestions or orders that would run counter to her innermost ideals. In addition, the design of her favored mode of transport pushes her to enjoy solitude. Her glider, called a mehve, is a one man aircraft. This would often only leave Nausicäa and her pet, Tato, together as they flew (Miyazaki, 2004). Maslow also believed that people who struggle through incredibly difficult challenges, such as Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr., may also find themselves becoming self-actualized (Friedman & Schustack, 2009 pg. 307). The culmination of Nausicäa’s quest was freeing humanity from its ancient shackles from the past. This trial led Nausicäa through rigorous hardships and forced her to endure memories, trials and truths that would have broken many others (Miyaxaki, 2004).

One of the most important aspects of being a humanist is the belief that humans have free will. One prominent humanist, Erich Fromm, believed that it was possible to gain free will after one transcended biological and physical pressures (Friedman & Schustack, 2009, pg. 298-299). Nausicäa’s climactic decision may be one of the most effective representations of Fromm’s idea. *SPOILERS* Nausicäa discovered that the toxic jungle was actually a man-made device used to cleanse the earth of the poisons human industry and war had released into it. However, the environment that would result from the jungle would leave the atmosphere toxic for humans at that time. To stop this, they restructured the human body to survive in the new environment. After the enough pollutants are cleared, a program would activate that would revert the humans back to their original form, as the restructured human body would not be able to survive in the original environment. Nausicäa had spoken with the program and refused to let the follies and actions of humanity’s past dictate humanity’s future. She destroyed the program so that humanity would be able to learn and rebuild itself through its own course rather than the through the plans of people long gone. With that, she broke through the biological constraints, which were the alterations to the human body that wouldn’t let current humans breathe the original air, and broke the social constraints by refusing to be tied down by the plans of an era long past (Miyazaki, 2009). *END SPOILERS*

**Discussion** “Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind” has been one of the most well loved mangas to be published in the world. Its incredible story and character depth led it to be Miyazaki’s first anime film to be developed by Studio Ghibli. The movie itself was a great success and garnered much critical acclaim, which led to Miyazaki and Ghibli releasing other memorable classics such as “Spirited Away,” “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Princess Mononoke.”

Going back to Miyazaki’s roots though, his rise to fame can be attributed to Nausicäa. Nausicäa’s personality depth and design are well suited for practitioners of the psychoanalytic and humanist schools to investigate. Even without being able to analyze the oral and anal steps of psychosexual development, Nausicäa’s development is written well enough to leave many other aspects of psychoanalysis to use. Her actions and beliefs would further lead people to believe that she is self-actualized, and further investigation through the use of the humanist perspective reveals exactly how true that belief is.

In both its movie and manga, “Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind” has become a true classic. It is riddled with the hopes and dreams of its characters, as well as their toil and tears, but deeper inside are the themes and truths that make people really think about society and how much the earth means to us. More than just a story, “Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind” is an epic tale that will be passed on for generations.


 * References**

Miyazaki, Hayao (2004). “Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind, Volume 1.” San Francisco, CA. VIZ Media.

Miyazaki, Hayao (2004). “Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind, Volume 2.” San Francisco, CA. VIZ Media.

Miyazaki, Hayao (2004). “Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind, Volume 3.” San Francisco, CA. VIZ Media.

Miyazaki, Hayao (2004). “Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind, Volume 4.” San Francisco, CA. VIZ Media.

Miyazaki, Hayao (2004). “Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind, Volume 5.” San Francisco, CA. VIZ Media.

Miyazaki, Hayao (2004). “Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind, Volume 6.” San Francisco, CA. VIZ Media.

Miyazaki, Hayao (2004). “Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind, Volume 7.” San Francisco, CA. VIZ Media.

S. Friedman, Howard & W. Schustack, Miriam. (2009). Personality: Classical Theories and Modern Research (4th Ed.). Jefferson City, MO. Pearson Higher Education.