I'm Rafael, psychologist. And today we are going to talk about THE WORST GIRL EVER LIVED. Today's reflection is on the QUEEN OF WALLS - HISTORY REISS.
There are spoilers until the THIRD SEASON of SHINGEKI NO KYOJIN. Come on! NEGLIGENCE.
We can define the concept of HISTORY this way. She NEVER felt truly LOVED, she was always LEFT AWAY, she never managed, in fact, to DEVELOP THEIR OWN WILLS, their own EMOTIONS. She was, in fact, a VICTIM of her own conditions.
HISTORY is a ROYAL FAMILY HEIR, she is very IMPORTANT in the series, only she was not recognized by ROD REISS — her FATHER. Always away from everyone, HISTORIA has always looked for REFERENCES, references to be NOTATED. STORY picked up a book to read because she SAW HER MOM READING and she wanted to be like her MOM.
FRIEDA HEISS, her HALF-SISTER, in one of the conversations with HISTORIA says: “You like this character. Isn't it, HISTORY? Her name is CHRIST.
CHRISTA thinks of others because she is KIND. You should TRY TO BE like CHRISTA”. From there, the GIRL who didn't receive AFFECTION, starts to INCORPORATE THE CHARACTERISTICS of that girl in the BOOK for herself.
She wanted to be LOVED and RECOGNIZED just like her HALF SISTER and to follow what she said MAYBE I COULD bring that to her. Almost everyone has a certain NEED to feel HELPFUL. It is something almost INHERENT to all of us humans.
HISTORIA then becomes CHRISTA. Today's CHARACTER didn't have a PATH. The only thing she really had was to BE LIKE THE GIRL IN THE BOOK—someone who puts others ABOVE HER HERSELF.
HISTORY practically DID NOT LIVE WITH ANY PARENTS and many CHILDREN who go through this NEGLIGENCE, this lack of CARE, this lack of PRESENCE, sometimes feel like someone WITHOUT VALUE. With HISTORY, this STRENGTHENED even more her DESIRE to be HELPFUL in something, regardless of what it really is. HISTORY was in search of its own IDENTITY.
IDENTITY VS CONFUSION is the 5th STAGE OF THE EGO in the THEORY OF PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT by psychologist ERIK ERIKSON. This stage occurs in ADOLESCENCE during the period of 12 to 18 years. During this “IDENTITY VS CONFUSION” phase, the conflict is centered on the DEVELOPMENT of a PERSONAL IDENTITY.
Successfully completing this step leads to a STRONG SENSE OF SELF that can last a lifetime. When NOT COMPLETED, it can cause DIFFICULTY for the teenager in BUILDING THE IDENTITY while remaining in the state of CONFUSION. He may have CONTRADICTORY REPRESENTATIONS about HIMSELF and his ROLES.
HISTORY grew up not knowing, in fact, who she is. THE INHERENT DESIRE that was hers to HELP people, MIXES with the PERSONALITY she DEVELOPED to PROTECT PEOPLE and that ends up becoming a NEED for her and a CONFUSION too. For some people the NEED TO PLEASE is so STRONG that sometimes they SACRIFICE even their own IDENTITIES, their NEEDS and their own WISHES, all with the PURPOSE of being ACCEPTED.
Generally, CHILDREN who needed to SEEK THE LOVE and AFFECTION OF THEIR PARENTS, in case their parents were EMOTIONALLY UNAVAILABLE, end up having this NEED TO PLEASE OTHERS in any way, an example of this is when HISTORY sought THE ATTENTION OF THEIR MOTHER and the Her MOTHER DENIED that and the day she has the FIRST CONTACT WITH THE MOTHER, and it is a CRUEL contact because her MOTHER PUSHES her, STORY is HAPPY with the simple fact that her MOTHER has had SOME KIND OF CONTACT with her, even this contact being NEGATIVE. CODEPENDENCE is the focus on FEELINGS, PROBLEMS, NEEDS, but NEEDS OF OTHERS. MINIMIZING or even IGNORING their own.
CODEPENDENTS see other people as MORE IMPORTANT than themselves and PRIORITIZE CARE for them in order to feel NEEDED, LOVED, or worthy. HISTORY keeps a MASK just to PLEASE OTHER PEOPLE because then she will be ACCEPTED, she will feel USEFUL. When she HELP THE REINER she apologizes to him because the piece of clothing she tore from herself was DIRTY.
Even HELPING him, she was APOLOGY, it didn't make sense. This MASK did a DAMAGE to her, a DAMAGE that only YMIR made her realize was happening. And then she enters the EXPLORATION TROOP, precisely with this OBJECTIVE.
This STRONG NEED TO HELP others creates in her a DESIRE to have an EPIC DEATH, saving someone. And it's in the EXPLORATION TROOP that HISTORIA meets one of the MOST IMPORTANT people in her LIFE —YMIR. The two at first were quite DISTINCT, the two seem THE OPPOSITE OF EACH OTHER, but that's only if we look from the outside, IF WE LOOK FROM THE DISTANCE .
The closer we get to the two, the more we realize how similar they are. "But if there is no DESIRE TO COME BACK ALIVE, are you a HERO? " That's what the lyrics of the theme song of HISTORIA say.
STORY carries a man through the snow, DON'T GIVE UP ON HIM and YMIR tells her that she was doing that NOT EXACTLY TO SAVE THAT MAN, but in case she died in that process, she would be REMEMBERED as someone who SACRIFICED herself and with that she would PROVIDE HIS VALUE. And when YMIR says that to HISTORY, it totally BREAKS her apart because THAT'S JUST what she was doing. Not just at this time.
STORY at other times like when she helps SASHA — so how does she help SASHA? Steals a loaf of bread for her. IT HAD TO BE.
When she helps JEAN, REINER and ARMIN too she is always there to be HELPFUL in some way. She makes everyone else FEEL GOOD. EVERYONE LIKES HER in the series.
It's very hard to NOT LIKE someone like that. It's just that sometimes the people who LIKE us the most are the HARDEST ones, the ones who say things we DON'T WANT TO HEAR. That's exactly what YMIR is for HISTORY.
She LIKES STORY even more than the others, so she doesn't want her to be someone who will GIVE UP HER OWN DESIRES TO HELP OTHERS. She wants to see her MORE CONSCIOUS of who she TRULY is. We realize that both sides of her mix: the GENUINE will to HELP with the WILL to HELP to be RECOGNIZED.
Technically she doesn't have the same strength as MIKASA or REINER, but she TRIES somehow. In NO WAY is it wrong to HELP OTHERS, obviously not, but there is a BIG DIFFERENCE between CHOOSING to be a thing and HAVING TO BE that thing. When we feel that we NEED TO BE LEGAL, we are MOTIVATED by the FEAR OF THE CONSEQUENCES of not complying with this mandate and that is precisely what YMIR tries to pass on to HISTORY.
SOME STUDIES indicate that HELPING BEHAVIOR has the potential, at times, to become an ADDICTION. WHY THAT? When WE HELP OTHERS, our BRAIN basically releases THREE SUBSTANCES, often called the TRIPLE HAPPINESS: SEROTONIN —produces intense SENSATIONS of WELLBEING.
DOPAMINE— intensifies MOTIVATION. And OXYTOCIN that increases the feeling of CONNECTION WITH OTHERS. The result “FEELING GOOD” consequently makes us want to REPEAT THAT FEELING.
It's just that when our NEED TO HELP becomes so INSATIABLE that our SENSE OF PURPOSE is directly connected to OTHERS, it may be that IT'S NO LONGER THE OTHER PEOPLE WE'RE HELPING, IT 'S OURSELVES. It's when ALTRUISM GETS OUT OF CONTROL to the point of HARMFUL OURSELVES. Psychologist DANIEL BAR-TAL defines ALTRUISM as a VOLUNTARY and INTENTIONAL BEHAVIOR, performed for its own purpose for the BENEFIT OF A PERSON, as a result of MORAL CONVICTION OF JUSTICE and without expectations of EXTERNAL REWARDS.
DENNIS KREBS argues that GENUINE ALTRUISM involves the ability of humans to behave in a way that INCREASES THE NET WELL-BEING OF OTHERS at some NET COST to themselves. And that's what YMIR tries to pass on to HISTORY incessantly. “BE YOURSELF, SAY WHAT YOU WANT TO SAY”.
And after YMIR'S REVELATION, HISTORY takes on ITS OWN NAME. It's like she's taken a WEIGHT off her. HANGE is the first person to say “Nice to meet you HISTORIA REISs” that is, at that time HISTORIA felt for the FIRST TIME being called by HER OWN NAME, by her REAL NAME and that MARKS her.
It CHANGES her, but the fact that YMIR LEAVES changes it EVEN MORE. YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YMIR is a little COMPLICATED — to say it right, to be KIND. YMIR'S FEELINGS are CLEAR—she LIKES the STORY, she's SURE about HIS FEELINGS ABOUT HER—but HISTORIA's feelings about her are kind of INCONCLUSIVE and ISAYAMA did it in a way that makes A LOT of SENSE, after all, HISTORY doesn't received AFFECTS, maybe she wouldn't even know what that really was.
So sometimes it seems that their relationship is that of SISTERS, it seems that YMIR is the OLDER SISTER in STORY, that is, the sister who UNDERSTANDS the younger one and tries to make her BETTER, but HISTORIA also seems to feel a GREAT AFFECTION for her. It's kind of IMPLIED that there's a FEELING there, a DEEPER FEELING — I like those stories of DIFFICULT LOVE, which has no CONCLUSION, which is in the air. I love it, crazy!
In the scene where her FATHER asks her to TURN INTO TITAN, HISTORY believes that and starts to think, in fact, about doing it, but those WORDS OF YMIR stayed in her HEAD, the words that told her to BE HER HER, do WHAT SHE WANTS. Professor of Psychiatry TOBIAS TEICHERT, led a study where it was shown that the human brain only needs 50 to 100 milliseconds to FOCUS ITS ATTENTION on RELEVANT information and block out all DISTRACTIONS. How does that fit in there?
This is IMPORTANT information for those who like to always PLEASE OTHERS, since it can be an AUTOMATIC REACTION to just say yes TO ALL REQUESTS REQUESTED to them, as was happening at that moment. HISTORY, stops, REFLECTS and makes a DECISION ON YOUR OWN. HISTORIA realized that, once again, she was doing something FOR OTHER PEOPLE and not FOR HER, she was NEGLECTING her own EMOTIONS again.
Then after remembering THOSE WORDS, she REJECTS her FATHER's choice and, in that moment, STORY finally breaks free of her MASK. Now she is no longer that REACTIVE girl from before, now she is not that more PASSIVE girl from before who just took ORDER from others and LIVED FOR OTHERS. At that time she says that she HATES HUMANITY, not in the LITERAL sense, but as, almost ANY HUMAN, there were things she DIDN'T LIKE and before she DIDN'T ADMIT IT.
If you have a WEAK SENSE OF YOURSELF, you may FIGHT TO MAKE DECISIONS whether they are BIG or SMALL. To better understand who you are, it is ESSENTIAL to start making CHOICES that reflect YOU and not the people around you. That's why EREN's IMPORTANCE also for her, he REINFORCES her SINCERITY.
“You, HISTORY, formerly LOOKED FAKE, you DON'T SMILE” and she says it was BORING TO DO THAT and now the OLD CHRISTA was gone. Those WORDS OF EREN, somehow, took a weight off her and she CONFESSES to EREN that yes, it crossed her mind to TRANSFORM and with that end up KILLING him, that is, she didn't have that GOOD GIRL MASK anymore, she was saying WHAT I FELT what I THOUGHT. She says “I AM THE WORST GIRL EVER LIVED” and that is very IMPRESSIVE to her because she was the GIRL who did GOOD THINGS for other people.
And she wanted to FEEL that way, that's how she FEEL IMPORTANT and that MEAN that she had LEFT IT BEHIND. Some RESEARCH, such as the one by researcher ANNA SUTTON, indicated that AUTHENTICITY is linked to INTERPERSONAL AND INTRAPERSONAL WELL-BEING. In philosophy, HEIDEGGER, for example, describes the AUTHENTIC person as committed to making his or her own life FOCUSED, COHERENT, and fully ENGAGED.
While for SARTRE, living AUTHENTICALLY involves making DELIBERATE choices to be FAITHFUL TO YOURSELF and taking RESPONSIBILITY for your actions. I saw this a lot the moment HISTORY decides to PUNCH LEVI, a PUNCH she had promised MIKASA. LEVI — HUMANITY'S STRONGEST SOLDIER.
IT'S SYMBOLIC as she showed what she COULD DO about what she was CAPABLE of. Even though EREN tries to convince her NOT to do that, she does. She was MAKING HER OWN DECISION there, she was ACTING FOR ITSELF, she was being SINCERE.
HISTORY chooses to be the QUEEN and to perform this role she could no longer be someone who HAD NO CHOICES FOR ITSELF, in this position she had to be DECIDED. CHRISTA, the ancient STORY, could no longer be there. There's a liberating phrase that I carry with me that works most of the time "You're not anyone's last resort".
When to know when OUR HELP is for us OR IS IT FOR OTHERS? There is no RIGHT or WRONG there. Imagine that you called a TIGER PUPPY to your house, he is QUIET and does not offer ANY DANGER, only then he starts ROARING LOUD OF HUNGRY and you realize that the only way to make him stop is to give him MEAT, you keep doing that and realize HE IS GROWING and more and more demanding MORE MEAT, you keep giving him MEAT, so he LEAVES YOU ALONE.
So the more you feed him, the BIGGER he gets and the more TRAPPED you get too and the question I ask you is: are you really helping the tiger, IS IT ABOUT HELPING HIM OR IS IT ABOUT YOU? Like, subscribe and share. It's just the beginning.
