Developing Identity with the Avatar: Lessons of Duty and Moral Ambiguity
Growing up to decide who you are and what you represent is a difficult mission. Questions like, “Where do I see myself?” and “What do I wish to accomplish?” are often at the forefront of such internal discussions. But, being cognizant of the way you wish to conduct yourself will make each success more fulfilling.
What does this have to do with a cartoon?
Avatar: The Last Airbender is set in a world where many beings are capable of bending and manipulating one of the four elements: earth, water, fire, and air. One hundred years before the start of the show, the fire nation waged war on the rest of the world and began to exterminate rival nations. Only one being in the Avatar universe, the Avatar, is blessed with the ability to bend all four elements. They are the bridge between the physical and spirit world, tasked with maintaining order in both. The Avatar spirit and collected knowledge of all the previous Avatars is passed onto a newborn bender upon the current Avatar’s death. ATLA follows Avatar Aang, an air nomad who is the last of his kind and awakens from an extended coma. He finds his people destroyed and the world engulfed by the autocratic fire nation. Aang and his new friends must work together to help him master the elements and defeat the fire lord.
It is Aang’s duty as the Avatar to restore peace, but he often struggles to reconcile the dilemma that exists between his duty and his values. The difference between getting something done and getting something done correctly is a recurring theme throughout the series as the characters and their backgrounds are explored. The air nomad society Aang was born into believes that all life is sacred, they are vegetarians and take pride in their stewardship of every living thing residing in the air nation. However, to fulfill his duty as the Avatar, Aang must end the life of Fire Lord Ozai. That’s heavy stuff for a 12 year old. Much of Team Avatar (the band of people who have joined around Aang) have to overcome their own moral struggles as they develop. The difference between outcome and procedure is beautifully illustrated as the storylines of two essential supporting characters are resolved in the final season.
“The Puppet Master” and “The Southern Raiders”
Katara, a waterbender and Aang’s closest friend, is the nucleus of these episodes. She overcomes her fury at the loss of her mother to find peace within her bending and with herself. Team Avatar acquaints themselves with a waterbending master, Hama, who is secretly living in the fire nation. Hama promises to teach Katara the waterbending technique that she developed to escape from Fire Nation prison. In the prison, a place devoid of water even in the atmosphere, Hama learned to bend the water in living things. She would exert her will over the blood in human bodies and enslave them. Hama starts her lesson by pulling water from surrounding plants to show Katara the extent of what is possible. In doing so, the beautiful meadow of fire lilies is left barren and dead. She moves on to display her bloodbending technique to Katara, hoping to pass on the desecration of waterbending she calls an art form and use it to her advantage in battle against the fire nation army. Katara rejects the technique for its grotesque darkness, but is forced to use it against Hama when Hama attacks her. Katara feels broken and corrupted by Hama’s terrible invention. This episode is the only time in the series when Team Avatar turns on their ally. And for good reason, if you lose yourself and compromise your morals in war, then you no longer represent what you fight for. Dispelling the destruction of the fire nation by enslaving its people with blood bending is not the moral victory Katara and Team Avatar hope for. To take advantage of such an evil tool would make Katara just as terrible as the Fire Nation leadership they have vowed to destroy.
Katara’s relationship with the dark side of waterbending is further explored and she finally resolves her mission to avenge the death of her mother in book 3 episode 16, “The Southern Raiders”. Like in “The Puppet Master”, Katara has to expel her personal darkness, the hate she feels for those responsible for the raids on her home and death of her mother, so that she does not live corrupted by revenge. “The Southern Raiders” is a vignette in the series. Team Avatar comes across information about the fire nation officers who orchestrated the raid on their home, the Southern Water Tribe. Katara, inflamed, leaves her friends at the first opportunity to track down and enact revenge on the retired officers who hurt her. In her rage, she forgets her moral principles and uses bloodbending to intimidate the elderly officer and nearly murders him. But, in a moment of clarity, Katara thinks of her friends and what they are standing for in their fight against the fire nation. They fight the fire nation because it has for too long exploited the weaker nations. To end the life of a defenseless elderly man would be antithetical to Team Avatar’s mission and their pursuit of restoring peace and goodness to the four nations.
Katara’s growth and her approach to personal challenges throughout the series embody a key message to viewers of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Your duty, whether it be personal or to others, ought to reflect your moral standards. When the means would compromise the sanctity of the end you seek, the end no longer justifies the means.
In many ways, the Firebending Masters is a fantastic juxtaposition to Katara’s experiences. This episode features an adventure with Zuko, the exiled crown prince of the Fire Nation who has sided with the Avatar, and Avatar Aang. However, the relevant message to this analysis is rooted in a realization Zuko has at the end of the episode. Zuko and Aang seek out an ancient and secretive race of firebending masters to help Aang master firebending and because Zuko’s bending has grown weak. It turns out that the storied masters they seek are two dragons, the original firebenders. The dragons’ lesson to Aang and Zuko is about the nature of firebending. The fire the dragons spew flares with an unimaginable composition of beautiful colors. They communicate that while fire is destructive and dangerous, it is also energy and light. Like water, it is a double-edged sword with the ability to both create life and take it. This is a profound moment of understanding for Zuko. He realizes that for too long his firebending had been fueled by anger and negative feelings, such that once he reconciled his internal conflict, he lost the motivation to create fire.
With the realization that fire does not have to be fueled by rage, Zuko’s bending becomes an exercise of balancing and directing energy. His fire no longer represents the violent ideology he once held, and his relationship with the element that had tormented him for all his life became a positive one. Zuko found peace in rejecting the beliefs he no longer identified with.
Tying it all Together: What the Writers Want you to Know (I Think)
Katara and Zuko inversely explored their relationship with their respective elements to reach their balance within duty and morals. Katara rejects a new style that would force her to concede her moral standards. Zuko adopts a new approach to firebending and steps away from the savage bending ideology he grew up with. There is beauty to be found within the devastation of fire, and there is darkness to be avoided within the swirling depths of water. In each case, the message is that compromising your identity to achieve a goal is never worth it. There is nothing that must be completed at all costs, especially when those costs require you to compromise the integrity of your goal.
It is understandable to feel dubious about this, especially when the line drawn between good and evil will never be as clear as it is in the cartoon world of Avatar. For this reason, I encourage everyone to watch the show. You will find that the themes I briefly discussed here are recurring at every magnitude within the show, from within the main conflict to the backstories of the most obscure characters, the choice to ford or stay true to your own identity is deeply explored. Slowly you will begin to recognize opportunities to make this choice within your own life. Have you forgotten yourself in the pursuit of anything? Perhaps in an effort to create the life you want for your family have you sacrificed the opportunity to spend the valuable time you have with them? Consider who you are, what it is you wish to do, and what you represent. I believe that mastering these elements (pun intended) will ultimately make your journey as satisfying as the accomplishment.