QING SHEN | Violet Evergarden: More Than an Anime

This whole story happens in a fictional world where war just ended. Violet is a young girl who has followed Major Gilbert to the battlefield since she was a child. At the end of the war, the Major is killed by the enemies, and Violet is sent to the Major’s friend, Claudia, who opens a Postal company. There violet works as an Auto memory doll, or a typist. However, she suffers from PTSD and has difficulty living a normal life. What’s worse, the death of the Major hurts her immensely since he was her only family and friend. She considers herself a “tool” of the Major and only acts according to his command. She doesn’t understand human feelings, so when the Major tells her he really loves her, she is quite confused. After becoming an Auto memory doll, she listens to the story of different people and writes letters for them. In this process, she gradually gets the feeling of empathy and understands what the word “love” really means.

From a tool to a girl who knows what is love, how to love, and how to beloved

At first, Violet does everything according to the Major’s command, without which she doesn’t even know how to live. For example, when the Major asks Violet to select a gift, she says that she doesn’t know how to choose. When the Major asks Violet to leave him and the battlefield, she cries because she feels like she couldn’t live without the Major’s commands.

In fact, Violet is just one of the typical soldiers who are dragged to the battlefield. The only thing she wants to do is to receive orders, act upon it, and repeat. This reminds me of The Reader, which is a great work of literature. Soldiers kill people on the battlefield while they don’t know why they do so. As said in The Reader, they commit a sin of ignorance. Indeed, ignorance leads to misunderstanding, discrimination, orientalism and many conflicts.

Finally, the war ends, and the Major tells Violet he loves her before he dies. However, Violet doesn’t understand the word “love”.To understand what is love, she becomes an Auto Memory Doll. At first, she finds it hard to adjust to the new environment. However, after typing letters for all kinds of people, she can empathize with others. She knows how to care about others, and how to accept love from others.

Reflections on War

Though it is not confirmed by the author, and the story happens in a completely fictional world, I believe the inspiration for the background to be drawn from World War I or World War II.

Talking about wars, we tend to think about the destruction they bring to economies and civilians. However, after watching this anime, I realized that wars also harm the soldiers. Violet’s inability to adjust to the new environment, being alerted when hearing strange noises, and always feeling like and acting as though she were on the battlefield are symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) suffered by soldiers, who experienced artillery bombardments and suffer psychological trauma after the war. Apart from PTSD, Violet also suffers from the loss of her family and friend, the Major.

Economic losses could be made up, factories could be rebuilt. However, the loss of families and friends, and the terror people feel are always there.