Spoof: Trinity Blood analysis 2
May. 22nd, 2007 10:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
narcasseNot long ago I posited that Trinity Blood was in fact a story about one girl’s quest for sexual liberation but today I’d like to pose another possibility.
That the wider story of Trinity Blood is in fact about another young woman’s search for acceptance in a society that damns her for the simple fact of her innocence. That young woman of course is Dietrich.
Dietrich is the daughter of a land-owner; we’re told or rather we’re told that she’s his son because young Dietrich refuses to conform to ascribed gendered trappings. She likes to code and enjoys vivisection after all but this is deemed unacceptable and thus her family rejects her as a monster rather than accepting that their young daughter might in fact flower into a brilliant scientist. Her father even goes so far as to attempt to murder her to hide the family disgrace. So what is a girl to do? Of course young Dietrich fights back with all her knowledge and acquired learning and thus manages to do away with her murderous father and family, who evidently attempted to complete what he could not. Having become a murderess as such a tender age she, like any sensible young girl, seeks help from the villagers who vilify her and even attempt to accomplish what her family could not. Once again she defends herself and with each victory in the struggle for survival find that it grows harder to make anybody understand, because as a demure little girl everything around her tells her that she should be a victim; something which Dietrich reject vehemently.
Having done away with the villagers she then meets Isaak and Cain. Complete outsiders, they seem to appreciate young Dietrich’s honest intellect and in fact don’t force her into stereotyped gender roles much to her relief. She’s so overwhelmed by their acceptance that she immediately chooses to go with them rather than remain amongst individuals who haven’t even attempted to understand her. Alas, this joy is short-lived as she rapidly learns that Cain chooses the other extreme and doesn’t see her as a person at all but rather as a set of skills. Thus despairing she turns to Isaak who as the older male patriarch must surely accept her, at least on some level, as a person. Unfortunately, while he can accept her skills and knowledge, Isaak, possibly due to years of a similarly demeaning relationship with Cain, views Dietrich though his own oddly gendered filter. He dresses her as a boy and treats her as a young man. Of course if he had treated her as an individual that would have been different but Isaak, just like her father, impresses his own gender prejudice on Dietrich and tells her that she must be a boy because of his perception.
Unfortunately for Dietrich she really is an optimistic girl and chooses to stay with Isaak and Cain in the hopes that one day she might at least be able to bring Isaak around. She’s also rather attracted to Isaak which doesn’t help matters hence the scene early on the manga where Dietrich deliberately pricks her finger on a rose thorn which is absolutely loaded with symbolism. Regretfully, instead of then taking up the offer of the reclining Dietrich who lies defenceless on the couch, Isaak instead continues to smoke by the window, deliberately not bothering to look at her. This really is a sad case of miscommunication as Isaak is very evidently homosexual; something which Dietrich, with her limited experience of social interactions, doesn’t actually realise.
To jump backwards story-wise a little, Dietrich’s brush with Gyula may have unintentional set quite a high precedent with Dietrich observing Gyula’s mourning and utterly dedication to his late wife and coming to the conclusion that that’s how a man should behave. While Gyula does act nobly, the unfortunate Dietrich has yet to learn that not all men can be relied on for the same dedication. Take Esther for example. Dietrich meets Esther and is initially quite thrilled by this daring young man who risks his life fighting for a cause. Esther is dashing, handsome and throws all caution to the winds in pursuit of his goals and in such close proximity to Gyula, Dietrich can’t help but be impressed. Unfortunately, Esther is still figuring out a way to accomplish his own aims and while admittedly attracted to Dietrich just isn’t prepared to give up his own chosen direction for her. This is of course illustrated rather nicely by Esther packing up and heading off to Rome. Sure, he wouldn’t mind a tumble in the hay with Dietrich but at the end of the day Esther looks out for himself. The fact that Isaak’s authority actually in part causes the schism between Dietrich and Esther may in fact have also gone some way to convince Dietrich that perhaps Isaak had her best interest at heart.
A little later as the plot develops; it can be presumed that Dietrich probably meets Süleyman who again comes with a whole set of problems that Dietrich, in her limited understanding, just can’t quite comprehend. The first issue with Süleyman being that he probably reminds Dietrich of Gyula with his dedication to his cause and calm determination, and his slight ruthlessness in that endeavour probably also reminds her of Isaak. Thus already she stumbles into problems of association with two men she admires and respects. Once again though, Dietrich fails to pick up on assorted clues that indicate that Süleyman is actually homosexual much like Radu. In fact she manages to make something of a fool of herself with Radu who really isn’t interest in her BDSM fantasies since he’s actually Süleyman’s partner. Thus not understanding the reasons why, Dietrich reacts rather badly to Radu’s rejection only to find that Isaak has finally taken matters into his own hands once the mission is over and makes it clear, beyond a shadow of a doubt that he just isn’t interested, hence the scene in Act 34 of the manga.
Dietrich’s problem them is that without any sort of handy advice or source of reference she’s really adrift and can only learn from her mistakes. And each mistake only convinces her further that what she really ought to do is retreat from any human interaction since each occasion has ended horribly for her. The men she would have trusted in are either dead or reject her outright and she has no close female friends to rely on for advice. Thus poor Dietrich is just an average girl caught up in the drama of a more than average world. Even later on when she takes what she believes to be well-meaning advice from Caterina she’s too late to realise that Isaak’s younger brother is playing hideous games with her and that Caterina is a complete bastard who only cares about ruining his elder brother’s schemes.
Thus, despite surface appearances, it is actually Dietrich who is the tragic heroine of the piece. She’s akin to literary greats such as de Sade’s Justine who suffers unaccountably due to the haphazard nature of chance. And just as Justine suffers even to the last, Dietrich too doesn’t find any deliverance from her misfortune; leaving Trinity Blood as quite the bleak tale of how misfortunate happens for the most arbitrary of reasons.
That the wider story of Trinity Blood is in fact about another young woman’s search for acceptance in a society that damns her for the simple fact of her innocence. That young woman of course is Dietrich.
Dietrich is the daughter of a land-owner; we’re told or rather we’re told that she’s his son because young Dietrich refuses to conform to ascribed gendered trappings. She likes to code and enjoys vivisection after all but this is deemed unacceptable and thus her family rejects her as a monster rather than accepting that their young daughter might in fact flower into a brilliant scientist. Her father even goes so far as to attempt to murder her to hide the family disgrace. So what is a girl to do? Of course young Dietrich fights back with all her knowledge and acquired learning and thus manages to do away with her murderous father and family, who evidently attempted to complete what he could not. Having become a murderess as such a tender age she, like any sensible young girl, seeks help from the villagers who vilify her and even attempt to accomplish what her family could not. Once again she defends herself and with each victory in the struggle for survival find that it grows harder to make anybody understand, because as a demure little girl everything around her tells her that she should be a victim; something which Dietrich reject vehemently.
Having done away with the villagers she then meets Isaak and Cain. Complete outsiders, they seem to appreciate young Dietrich’s honest intellect and in fact don’t force her into stereotyped gender roles much to her relief. She’s so overwhelmed by their acceptance that she immediately chooses to go with them rather than remain amongst individuals who haven’t even attempted to understand her. Alas, this joy is short-lived as she rapidly learns that Cain chooses the other extreme and doesn’t see her as a person at all but rather as a set of skills. Thus despairing she turns to Isaak who as the older male patriarch must surely accept her, at least on some level, as a person. Unfortunately, while he can accept her skills and knowledge, Isaak, possibly due to years of a similarly demeaning relationship with Cain, views Dietrich though his own oddly gendered filter. He dresses her as a boy and treats her as a young man. Of course if he had treated her as an individual that would have been different but Isaak, just like her father, impresses his own gender prejudice on Dietrich and tells her that she must be a boy because of his perception.
Unfortunately for Dietrich she really is an optimistic girl and chooses to stay with Isaak and Cain in the hopes that one day she might at least be able to bring Isaak around. She’s also rather attracted to Isaak which doesn’t help matters hence the scene early on the manga where Dietrich deliberately pricks her finger on a rose thorn which is absolutely loaded with symbolism. Regretfully, instead of then taking up the offer of the reclining Dietrich who lies defenceless on the couch, Isaak instead continues to smoke by the window, deliberately not bothering to look at her. This really is a sad case of miscommunication as Isaak is very evidently homosexual; something which Dietrich, with her limited experience of social interactions, doesn’t actually realise.
To jump backwards story-wise a little, Dietrich’s brush with Gyula may have unintentional set quite a high precedent with Dietrich observing Gyula’s mourning and utterly dedication to his late wife and coming to the conclusion that that’s how a man should behave. While Gyula does act nobly, the unfortunate Dietrich has yet to learn that not all men can be relied on for the same dedication. Take Esther for example. Dietrich meets Esther and is initially quite thrilled by this daring young man who risks his life fighting for a cause. Esther is dashing, handsome and throws all caution to the winds in pursuit of his goals and in such close proximity to Gyula, Dietrich can’t help but be impressed. Unfortunately, Esther is still figuring out a way to accomplish his own aims and while admittedly attracted to Dietrich just isn’t prepared to give up his own chosen direction for her. This is of course illustrated rather nicely by Esther packing up and heading off to Rome. Sure, he wouldn’t mind a tumble in the hay with Dietrich but at the end of the day Esther looks out for himself. The fact that Isaak’s authority actually in part causes the schism between Dietrich and Esther may in fact have also gone some way to convince Dietrich that perhaps Isaak had her best interest at heart.
A little later as the plot develops; it can be presumed that Dietrich probably meets Süleyman who again comes with a whole set of problems that Dietrich, in her limited understanding, just can’t quite comprehend. The first issue with Süleyman being that he probably reminds Dietrich of Gyula with his dedication to his cause and calm determination, and his slight ruthlessness in that endeavour probably also reminds her of Isaak. Thus already she stumbles into problems of association with two men she admires and respects. Once again though, Dietrich fails to pick up on assorted clues that indicate that Süleyman is actually homosexual much like Radu. In fact she manages to make something of a fool of herself with Radu who really isn’t interest in her BDSM fantasies since he’s actually Süleyman’s partner. Thus not understanding the reasons why, Dietrich reacts rather badly to Radu’s rejection only to find that Isaak has finally taken matters into his own hands once the mission is over and makes it clear, beyond a shadow of a doubt that he just isn’t interested, hence the scene in Act 34 of the manga.
Dietrich’s problem them is that without any sort of handy advice or source of reference she’s really adrift and can only learn from her mistakes. And each mistake only convinces her further that what she really ought to do is retreat from any human interaction since each occasion has ended horribly for her. The men she would have trusted in are either dead or reject her outright and she has no close female friends to rely on for advice. Thus poor Dietrich is just an average girl caught up in the drama of a more than average world. Even later on when she takes what she believes to be well-meaning advice from Caterina she’s too late to realise that Isaak’s younger brother is playing hideous games with her and that Caterina is a complete bastard who only cares about ruining his elder brother’s schemes.
Thus, despite surface appearances, it is actually Dietrich who is the tragic heroine of the piece. She’s akin to literary greats such as de Sade’s Justine who suffers unaccountably due to the haphazard nature of chance. And just as Justine suffers even to the last, Dietrich too doesn’t find any deliverance from her misfortune; leaving Trinity Blood as quite the bleak tale of how misfortunate happens for the most arbitrary of reasons.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-23 10:50 am (UTC)rellanot going along well with Helga (imagining Melchior would harbor another secret crush over the petite brunette, but maybe that's just me)While Radu is an entertaining torture toy, does Diet-chan ever considered Ion for replacement? He's quite easy to provoke, and quite self-righteous (somehow, the soulmate attachment thing uncannily tends to make him and Esther look quite similar)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-23 06:12 pm (UTC)You might be right too, if little Dietrich saw Helga wandering about looking like that and wanted to copy I can’t imagine that Isaak would be too pleased with the idea.
She can’t torture Ion like she did Radu though, since Ion is also a girl and Dietrich’s still not entirely sure how she relates to other women.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-24 02:52 pm (UTC)hypocriticalsexist!IsaakJudging from the way she whips and bullies Radu around - I'd say she's more to likely pick her trait from Cain (mommy figures? in which mom decide anything in the family and when it's not going too well, she'd threatened and bullies any offender likeinact34. Mere men
like Isaak or Radugot a role of mere servant (those kneeling down moments probably clued him in if any), so smartie Dietrich-chan try to imitateMommyCain's behaviour (and hated Isaak because he really wanted a friend in misery, not another daughter to spoiled) but ended up getting her butt kicked not-so-daintily because she's screwed up and maybe Cain didn't like how the daughter not doing it like a pro (BTW, what Gender exactly is cain and abel here? and please give me clue of Isaak's younger brother - because all this genderswitch confuses me so XD)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-25 08:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-23 02:12 pm (UTC)Poor little Dietrich, though.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-23 07:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-23 07:51 pm (UTC)And how did they get separated at birth?Odd. Now that I think about it, my three-year-old cousin is named Alessa, but with a 'y'. Look out!(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-23 09:10 pm (UTC)The reality Silent Hill was located in just couldn’t contain that much combined win and awesome so the time-space continuum sent Dietrich somewhere else. He’ll get back there eventually to rest for a bit before he takes on a new world. Since Eris adores the pair of them, of course.(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-23 09:15 pm (UTC)Ah! It's the Grocery-Takeover scenario again! D: My ex-bosslady said something similar when she was going to a different store than the old store manager. :3
Aww, how sweet. <3