Blog Post 6

Hands down, one of the best stories I heard growing up that stuck with me is Avatar: The Last Airbender. At first glance, it’s just a simple “chosen one saves the world” story, but upon closer examination, it’s far bigger than that. White a full deep dive of this masterpiece may be outside the scope of a blog post, I’ll focus on 2 major characters; Aang and Zuko

Aang

Upon being freed from an iceberg after 100 years, his first question is not “who are you” or “where am I” but rather “Will you go penguin sliding with me?” Aang is the protagonist of the show. We learn early on that he is destined to save the world, but he is introduced as a silly 12-year-old boy who is only concerned about having fun. This raised the major dilemma for his character: will he grow up in time and bear his responsibility to save the world?

Unlike most people who would be excited about being the Avatar, Aang was not; he didn’t want the responsibility demanded of him. As a result, he ran away from home, a decision that costed his entire race their lives. When his past is brought in season 1, he has the same response, he runs away.

Eventually, he comes to accept the fact that he is the Avatar and takes his responsibility more seriously. He travels and learns the 4 elements in order to defeat the fire lord. At the tail of the final season, Aang is ready to face the Fire Lord but is faced with an ethical dilemma: should he kill the Fire Lord? Aang is gentle by nature and doesn't want to harm anyone, but allowing the Fire Lord to live puts the world in danger, but killing the Fire Lord would mean abandoning his own philosophy. This 12-year-old boy has to make the most adult discussion anyone can make.

Overall, Aang’s story is about growing up and bearing responsibility. The pacing of it all was done so smoothly and naturally.

Zuko

Zuko is first presented as an antagonist against Aang. During his introduction, Zuko appears to be a simple character: a bad guy who wants to capture the Avatar. However, when we learn his motivation why he wants to capture the avatar, you can’t help but feel pity for him. He desperately strives to capture Aang because he was banished by his own father and capturing the avatar(who was long thought to be dead) is the only way to regain his honor. He has no malicious intent, he’s just a boy desperate for his father's approval.

As a child, he strived for his fathers' attention, but he only acknowledged his prodigy sister. He was a gentle boy with a good heart but was punished for it; as evident from his father burning his face for talking back. He’s not evil, he was raised without love.

In Season 2, Zuko begins to question his identity. His entire exile, he obsessed over capturing the Avatar as to return home to loving arms. He begins to doubt that will ever happen and decided to make a new life for himself with his uncle. However, when given the opportunity to capture the avatar and return home, he took it. At last, he can return home. He is welcomed by his nation and regarded as a hero, but he felt empty. Yes, he returned home, but there was no love in that home. Eventually, he left and joined the Avatar to defeat his father

Overall, Zuko’s story is a nuanced story of a boy who never knew a father's love and pursued an image of what that was. He committed many acts of evil all to be accepted by his father. After realizing his father never cared for him and realizing just how evil he is, for the first time, Zuko did what was right.

If I could write a story

I’ve actually wanted to write a book for some time now. Inspired by a dream, the story is based on a young teenage musician who bears an unspeakable responsibility. In short, his drum sticks given to him by his uncle are actually ancient and powerful artifacts; ones that use the power of music to perform great things. An organization wants to weaponize it, and as the keeper of the drum sticks, it’s his responsibility to protect it. The story is still in its development stage and still requires much work.