Curate, connect, and discover
Recently I’ve been going back through BSD to do some analysis and I was thinking about Atsushi as the tiger, and what the tiger symbolizes.
I think the tiger is a good allegory for Atsushi’s views on himself as a person. And hear me out:
At the start of the story, Atsushi fears the tiger, but he also seems to hold some spite towards it due to it being the cause of him getting kicked out of the orphanage.
But then we learn that Atsushi is the tiger, and Atsushi himself feels terrible about it. There is suddenly no separation between himself and the tiger in his mind. They are one and the same, and he is just as responsible for everything as the tiger is. He hates the tiger, he doesn’t trust it, and he doesn’t understand it.
And he is the tiger.
It’s kinda common knowledge that Atsushi hates himself, nor does he trust himself, and that is reflected in the fact that the tiger is shown to be an uncontrollable, bloodthirsty creature. It does nothing good for anyone; just as Atsushi thinks he himself does nothing good or useful for anyone.
I’d also like to mention the fact that during chapter/episode one (1), when Atsushi is revealed as the tiger, Dazai is the one to stop it with his ability, and I think that’s an excellent little nod to how it is through Dazai (and by extension the rest of the ADA) that Atsushi is able to begin to trust himself more, and have more value in himself as a person.
Of course later on, Atsushi does make peace with the tiger, and it’s such a powerful moment because it’s not just Atsushi reconciling with the tiger, it’s Atsushi reconciling with himself as well. And I think it shows his growth as a character just fantastically.
I’m open to hearing the thoughts of others as well of course :]