#shaking the bars of my cage like an angry chimpanzee

[fleetinggill]

People keep reblogging this saying “it’s just because she was nearsighted and the transformation fixed her vision”. Yes, that’s true, but that and OP’s point are NOT mutually exclusive. Ryōko Kui puts a lot of thought and care and symbolism into the manga. This is no exception.

Something can have a tangible explanation while also being symbolic.

Think back. When is our first indication that something’s wrong with Falin after the resurrection? It’s when she sits up in bed and her eyes are WIDE open. This was pre-transformation.

“It is possible to survive this, but not unaltered.” —Emily St. John Mendel, Station Eleven

Falin could not have survived this unaltered, but she didn’t even survive in the first place. She died and was brought back by gruesome means. While yes, there is a physical reason for her opening her eyes, it goes hand in hand with this “but not unaltered” symbolism. The transformation is both physical AND mental; we can’t forget that. Her mind is warped right now. She can hardly think for herself. You’ll even notice that her pupils are different in the moment where Falin has a moment of clarity to speak to Laios (shown below).

I repeat: Something can have a tangible explanation while also being symbolic.

the juxtaposition of falin’s eyes being drawn as “closed” when she was her own separate individual and her eyes being open when she’s being subsumed by the curse placed on the soul and flesh of the dragon and out of control of her actions