The Power and Protection of Roles

"No structure at all."

In the Yugi Yamada manga Open the Door to Your Heart, two brothers fall in love. Don't worry--unlike in some manga, they are not related by blood. The older "brother" was adopted by the parents when his parents were killed in a car accident. 

He is reluctant to form a relationship with his younger "brother." The reason is not moral disgust or religious uncertainty. Rather, he is reluctant to abandon the role of older-brother in favor of the massive confusion and lack of reckoning found within an intimate relationship. 

It is an insight into psychology that Western literature sometimes seems to miss, obsessed as it is with the idea that any reluctance to enter into intimacy is the result of repression. Thank goodness for semi-Edwardian introverted societies who can state, "Oh, no, there's more reasons than that"!

Roles are powerful. Roles are often desired due to their inherent security. A major failing of modern analysts is the pretense that fine feelings lie at the back of Twitter name-calling ("My role versus your role!"). Fear and flailing about can create cliques as easily as personal insight.

I'm not one to argue that X culture is so much better than Y culture. The ability for Japanese literature to recognize the power of roles in shoring up people's sense of self probably has some negative pay-off somewhere. But it is a pleasure to see it honestly addressed. 

I discuss more about how and why people may cling to roles in my review of Caste Heaven.