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Eren and Cinder: Slaves of Freedom
Many people hate Eren and Cinder to the point that they consider them bad characters and it's one thing to dislike a character and another to be badly written and to be fair, Eren and Cinder aren't bad characters. You might dislike them, very much actually, but one thing doesn't take away the other, they're both well written and I'm writing this because I don't want people to think they're bad characters just because they don't like them.
They both share a strong desire for freedom and in this post I'm going to explore their desire for freedom, why they became obsessed with being free as well as other things they share:
Eren and Cinder suffered since they were children due to situations that were beyond their control. Eren witnessed the destruction of his home and the death of his mother Carla as well as being turned into a titan by his father Grisha and later on he would suffer a series of betrayals and find out that everything bad that happened to him was the product of a war that he did not even know existed and Cinder was mistreated on the farm where she was sheltered until Madame adopted her but this mistreatment went from bad to worse, then Rhodes gives her hope of being free as a huntress but she could not bear the abuse and she kills her abusers and then fights Rhodes and kills him.
Both situations are quite different but the effect it caused on both is practically the same: they hate themselves for their impotence and want to be free because they want to have control of their lives, give meaning to all pain they went through and believe that power and violence is the only thing that can give them what they want. Eren and Cinder are victims of a system bigger than them that failed them and they choose to destroy it but at the cost of being left alone in a toxic and self-destructive cycle.
Basically, this is how they want to be seen by others (powerful and untouchable)
because this is what they really are (pathetic and unsure of themselves)
and they know it better than anyone and they hate themselves for it. They're irrational, immature, angry, cowardly in many ways, yet also a frightened children deep down.
Their desire to be free through violence, to have power, and to have a narrative they're in control of has caused them to enter a self-destructive spiral and ironically they become slaves to their desire for freedom to the point that they lose sight of what that they really want (to be loved) and cut off the few positive relationships they have left, taking them away from what they really want.
Cinder only gets close to others for her own benefit and while she projects onto Emerald and Mercury and feels some affection for them, in the end she chooses to abuse and manipulate them and despite Eren genuinely loving his friends but in turn abusing them, he hits them and forces them to do things they don't want to do, Cinder and Eren both share a main flaw when it comes to their relationships and that is that they're afraid of loving other people, afraid of showing vulnerability, they don't trust others because they don't want to be hurt again. Their relationships are selfish love because they are based on how they feel without taking into account the feelings of others. This is so to the point that they also affect people with whom they have no close relationship because they steal agency because they have been deprived of it.
If you notice, Eren and Cinder seek to have a narrative like the trope of the chosen one: one person is a failure and having a series of horrible things happen to them only to realize that they were special for being the chosen one all along but to Eren and Cinder's disgrace they're not chosen but are a deconstruction of this trope.
Eren experienced a series of misfortunes and betrayals, he receives a power that shortens his life expectancy to 13 years and on top of that the whole world wants to destroy his home because of a war that he didn't know existed but wants to believe that he is the chosen one who was destined to activate the Rumbling and that there was no other solution to save his island. On the other hand, Cinder was abused her entire life and felt betrayed by the father figure who inspired her until Salem arrives and grants her the ability to be a Maiden (which is quite a dangerous position since many seek her power either through the power itself, the relics, or both) being left in an abusive situation with her and Cinder chooses to believe that she was meant to be the one chosen to have the Maiden's Powers.
They seek to be special because they hate themselves and they want power because they want control of their lives. They would rather be monsters that everyone fears
than admit that they're just traumatized and wounded children.
After all, what kind of person wanted to become a monster anyway?
A person pathetically unable to feel good as a human being.
We see that this deconstructed trope, far from being something good and rewarding, is actually dehumanizing. Eren knows that his mother's death was circumstantial but chooses to believe that he caused it and planned it only to feel like he was in control and Cinder chooses to believe that her role as Maiden is her destiny and that she destroyed the kingdom she hated to feel that it was by her own choice when actually everything was planned and decided by Salem.
Eren and Cinder are fascinating because of how contradictory they are, they want to be free but at the same time they want to adjust to a narrative where everything is decided for them. They both think that way because they believe that freedom consists of doing what they want without consequences, but what they don't know about freedom is this:
Here Ezio is explaining the meaning of "everything is permitted" from the assassins creed which is basically the meaning of having freedom. Freedom consists of making choices and taking responsibility for the consequences of those choices, but Eren and Cinder don't make their own decisions and when they do they don't want to take responsibility for them. They want the feeling of power and control that comes with choice, but they don't want the responsibility for it.
Eren knows about the world situation regarding Paradis and he wanted to protect his friends and home but deep down he just wanted revenge against the world and the system that hurt him. He didn't want the world to be destroyed but he wanted to be the one to make that choice.
Cinder knows about the situation of the world of Remnant with the classism and discrimination that she and many others suffered and decided to perpetuate the cycle because she wanted revenge against a system that failed her. She doesn't care about the state of the world but she wanted to be important and Cinder, like Eren, is going to make a choice about the world but in turn she has the opportunity to make a different choice than Eren.
In a sense, Eren represents what could happen to Cinder if she doesn't realize her way of thinking that she has to be the chosen one to prove her worth as a person and not acknowledge her pain and the pain she caused others will get her nowhere. She needs to realize that she doesn't need to prove her worth but to acknowledge that she is already valuable and special just by existing, which Eren failed to do. Eren was called to realize it by his friends but he failed because he prioritize his self-loathing and anger against the world while Cinder will be called (possibly by Emerald and Mercury) to realize this and she will listen.
While Eren condemns himself by wanting to continue with his flaw (being afraid to love others, wanting to feel better about himself by hurting others and being special because his childish delusions of grandeur and his inability to let go of his childish feelings of entitlement) and not being able to grow, Cinder will grow as a person and overcome these same flaws. Both are very related to the final destiny of the world, except that Eren ultimately chooses to destroy his while Cinder ultimately will chooses to save it. Eren's choice was selfish and Cinder's will be selfless. Eren chooses to die because he cannot deal with the responsibility of his choice while Cinder will choose to die to save the world and will hold on to her final choice even knowing the consequences of taking it.
Eren died as a slave to his need to seek freedom and to feel better about himself in a chosen narrative but Cinder will die truly free for the first time in her life by recognizing what she really wants (to be loved, make her own choices and hold on to them with all the responsibility that entails).
Eren and Cinder: Slaves of Freedom
Many people hate Eren and Cinder to the point that they consider them bad characters and it's one thing to dislike a character and another to be badly written and to be fair, Eren and Cinder aren't bad characters. You might dislike them, very much actually, but one thing doesn't take away the other, they're both well written and I'm writing this because I don't want people to think they're bad characters just because they don't like them.
They both share a strong desire for freedom and in this post I'm going to explore their desire for freedom, why they became obsessed with being free as well as other things they share:
Eren and Cinder suffered since they were children due to situations that were beyond their control. Eren witnessed the destruction of his home and the death of his mother Carla as well as being turned into a titan by his father Grisha and later on he would suffer a series of betrayals and find out that everything bad that happened to him was the product of a war that he did not even know existed and Cinder was mistreated on the farm where she was sheltered until Madame adopted her but this mistreatment went from bad to worse, then Rhodes gives her hope of being free as a huntress but she could not bear the abuse and she kills her abusers and then fights Rhodes and kills him.
Both situations are quite different but the effect it caused on both is practically the same: they hate themselves for their impotence and want to be free because they want to have control of their lives, give meaning to all pain they went through and believe that power and violence is the only thing that can give them what they want. Eren and Cinder are victims of a system bigger than them that failed them and they choose to destroy it but at the cost of being left alone in a toxic and self-destructive cycle.
Basically, this is how they want to be seen by others (powerful and untouchable)
because this is what they really are (pathetic and unsure of themselves)
and they know it better than anyone and they hate themselves for it. They're irrational, immature, angry, cowardly in many ways, yet also a frightened children deep down.
Their desire to be free through violence, to have power, and to have a narrative they're in control of has caused them to enter a self-destructive spiral and ironically they become slaves to their desire for freedom to the point that they lose sight of what that they really want (to be loved) and cut off the few positive relationships they have left, taking them away from what they really want.
Cinder only gets close to others for her own benefit and while she projects onto Emerald and Mercury and feels some affection for them, in the end she chooses to abuse and manipulate them and despite Eren genuinely loving his friends but in turn abusing them, he hits them and forces them to do things they don't want to do, Cinder and Eren both share a main flaw when it comes to their relationships and that is that they're afraid of loving other people, afraid of showing vulnerability, they don't trust others because they don't want to be hurt again. Their relationships are selfish love because they are based on how they feel without taking into account the feelings of others. This is so to the point that they also affect people with whom they have no close relationship because they steal agency because they have been deprived of it.
If you notice, Eren and Cinder seek to have a narrative like the trope of the chosen one: one person is a failure and having a series of horrible things happen to them only to realize that they were special for being the chosen one all along but to Eren and Cinder's disgrace they're not chosen but are a deconstruction of this trope.
Eren experienced a series of misfortunes and betrayals, he receives a power that shortens his life expectancy to 13 years and on top of that the whole world wants to destroy his home because of a war that he didn't know existed but wants to believe that he is the chosen one who was destined to activate the Rumbling and that there was no other solution to save his island. On the other hand, Cinder was abused her entire life and felt betrayed by the father figure who inspired her until Salem arrives and grants her the ability to be a Maiden (which is quite a dangerous position since many seek her power either through the power itself, the relics, or both) being left in an abusive situation with her and Cinder chooses to believe that she was meant to be the one chosen to have the Maiden's Powers.
They seek to be special because they hate themselves and they want power because they want control of their lives. They would rather be monsters that everyone fears
than admit that they're just traumatized and wounded children.
After all, what kind of person wanted to become a monster anyway?
A person pathetically unable to feel good as a human being.
We see that this deconstructed trope, far from being something good and rewarding, is actually dehumanizing. Eren knows that his mother's death was circumstantial but chooses to believe that he caused it and planned it only to feel like he was in control and Cinder chooses to believe that her role as Maiden is her destiny and that she destroyed the kingdom she hated to feel that it was by her own choice when actually everything was planned and decided by Salem.
Eren and Cinder are fascinating because of how contradictory they are, they want to be free but at the same time they want to adjust to a narrative where everything is decided for them. They both think that way because they believe that freedom consists of doing what they want without consequences, but what they don't know about freedom is this:
Here Ezio is explaining the meaning of "everything is permitted" from the assassins creed which is basically the meaning of having freedom. Freedom consists of making choices and taking responsibility for the consequences of those choices, but Eren and Cinder don't make their own decisions and when they do they don't want to take responsibility for them. They want the feeling of power and control that comes with choice, but they don't want the responsibility for it.
Eren knows about the world situation regarding Paradis and he wanted to protect his friends and home but deep down he just wanted revenge against the world and the system that hurt him. He didn't want the world to be destroyed but he wanted to be the one to make that choice.
Cinder knows about the situation of the world of Remnant with the classism and discrimination that she and many others suffered and decided to perpetuate the cycle because she wanted revenge against a system that failed her. She doesn't care about the state of the world but she wanted to be important and Cinder, like Eren, is going to make a choice about the world but in turn she has the opportunity to make a different choice than Eren.
In a sense, Eren represents what could happen to Cinder if she doesn't realize her way of thinking that she has to be the chosen one to prove her worth as a person and not acknowledge her pain and the pain she caused others will get her nowhere. She needs to realize that she doesn't need to prove her worth but to acknowledge that she is already valuable and special just by existing, which Eren failed to do. Eren was called to realize it by his friends but he failed because he prioritize his self-loathing and anger against the world while Cinder will be called (possibly by Emerald and Mercury) to realize this and she will listen.
While Eren condemns himself by wanting to continue with his flaw (being afraid to love others, wanting to feel better about himself by hurting others and being special because his childish delusions of grandeur and his inability to let go of his childish feelings of entitlement) and not being able to grow, Cinder will grow as a person and overcome these same flaws. Both are very related to the final destiny of the world, except that Eren ultimately chooses to destroy his while Cinder ultimately will chooses to save it. Eren's choice was selfish and Cinder's will be selfless. Eren chooses to die because he cannot deal with the responsibility of his choice while Cinder will choose to die to save the world and will hold on to her final choice even knowing the consequences of taking it.
Eren died as a slave to his need to seek freedom and to feel better about himself in a chosen narrative but Cinder will die truly free for the first time in her life by recognizing what she really wants (to be loved, make her own choices and hold on to them with all the responsibility that entails).