#my brain: [teenage thorfinn character analysis]

[ocdhuacheng]

I love season 1 Vinland saga because everyone who ever comes in contact with thorfinn is just immediately like what’s this kid’s fucking problem

[itoendme]

i saw oppenheimer on monday and now that ive sat with it and let it simmer in my brain for a while it is time for parallels.

the way threats of war alter one’s judgment and the moral dilemma of the supposed ‘necessity’ of violence are two themes explored in oppenheimer that i also find are very compelling themes in vinland saga. oppenheimer in oppenheimer and thorfinn in vinland saga are far from the same, but there is one important similarity between them apart from the fact that they’re both fictionalized adaptations of historical people, and that is the guilt. although thorfinn physically kills people in vs where oppenheimer builds the means for murder rather than using it himself, they are both tormented by the blood on their hands and are plagued by visions of the horror that they contributed to. even when other characters try to alleviate that guilt (‘you aren’t the one that DROPPED the bomb’ and ‘thorfinn doesn’t kill people ANYMORE’) it doesn’t change anything. their actions are irreversible, and so is the guilt that comes with them.

the difference between these two characters is that oppenheimer genuinely believed (at first) that building the atomic bomb was the right thing to do. even though it would cause devestation in hiroshima and nagasaki, it would end wwii, and he believed it could even end ALL war, whereas teenage thorfinn simply didn’t care that what he was doing was wrong. the motivations of these characters are quite different, as are their storylines as a whole, but the themes regarding war and guilt are quite similar. violence can only breed more violence.

im not trying to make an in depth analysis on this right now, just looking at similarities and thinking about what makes a peice of media compelling to me.