WEEKLY META: Armin

[silkycuttle]

A different character or plot/setting point will be posted each week for meta discussion. This week: 

Armin Arlert!

Discussion can be on anything, so long as it's at least tangentially related to the weekly topic. Reply to the first comment to vote on what next week's topic should be. 

Spoilers should be warned for, but are allowed. Creating your own posts on whatever meta you wish, your own or reccing someone else's, is still highly encouraged

Comments

[silkycuttle]

If you have something you want to discuss, vote here to make it the next week's topic! These topic can be characters, groups of characters (e.g. the Scouting Legion, titans, the relationships within the 104th), themes (e.g. human vs. monster), setting (e.g. the period, sexism within society vs. the military), or whatever you think is large or interesting enough to generate discussion.

[(Anonymous)]

Jean Kirschtein for next meta discussion?

[(Anonymous)]

Armin, Armin, Armin...

I admit that for the longest time, I didn't pay all that much attention to him (which feels ridiculous in hindsight) but nowadays I feel that he is one of the most developed and complex characters in the series. (Nooo, thankfully I saw the light before chapter 59. Still embarrassing that I boarded the Armin train so late, though.)

I think he is generally speaking a gentle, kind person, but he also has a sort of steely determination and a clear sense of what he must do or what needs to be done. Hence what we get in chapter 59 - him shooting the woman without hesitation and holding back his feelings until they're safe, and then we get his heart-wrenching breakdown later. I'm kind of glad that this side of him exists, it would be boring if he became the emotionless, cold, manipulative tactician. The inner struggle between his pragmatism and his compassion is more compelling to read about.
He's also really mature for his age (he feels like a little old man at times), generally very serious and mild-tempered. Anger is pretty rare for him (though I did see quite a bit of it in his expression in chapter 59 when he shot that woman). Calling him either and opimist or a pessimist is kind of exaggarated, I think he has a clear view of how things really are, but he also keeps fighting because he hopes and sees the potential for change.

And despite him not being a shifter, a Reiss, or super-humanly strong, there are multiple instances where his actions have influenced the plot in a major way. He is one of the top-tier plot-moving characters. Plus, a lot of characters would just have died without him (Jean three times over by now, for example).

His friendship with Mikasa is not one of many words, but she has his back and is there to silently support him when he needs it and he looks out for her, too. We established in a previous thread that Mikasa doesn't really lean on and open up that much even to her two closests friends (because she thinks she must constantly be strong for them), but even so, Armin shares a deep friendship with her and she is very gentle and protective with him. Armin, meanwhile isn't intimidated by her and always treats her as his equal despite her prodigy status. I also had the impression in 59 that he didn't apologize to her for his own reaction (the vomiting) but rather because he ended up thinking that he was being insensitive to her by asking her about the time she killed that man. Her reaction was certainly startled, and Armin probably felt that he had pried to deep.

Eren... They share a dream, they have both a lot of intellectual curiosity and Armin was the addtional inspiration to Eren's desire for freedom, since he showed him what sort of wonders exist in the world beyond the walls. Given that Armin was able to "awaken" him when Eren was still unable to control his titan form, it also shows what a strong influence Armin has on Eren. He is his most important person and vice-versa. The fac that Armin is also pretty physical with Eren shows how close they are (and how gentle Armin is) despite Armin's overall still reserved nature. Outside of their shared dreams they're pretty much opposites, but that's not a problem in their relationship since they understand each other so well and have such a strong affection for each other.

Jean is a very new friend to Armin, since within the timeline of the story, they only have gotten closer within the span of 2 months. Based on Jean's comment, for the longest time he seems to have seen Armin as a weak hanger-on to Eren (and therefore didn't pay him much mind) even if he admits in the same breath that he saw Armin as being talented, too. Armin's feelings for Jean in the early trainee days are harder to decipher - but Armin does take note of Jean when he learns about his decision to join the SL and is shown in the background to pay attention to Jean while Jean explains his decision to Sasha and Connie. Then of course, there's the scene where Jean delivers his speech to Eren, and Armin is shown to be standing behind Eren and glaring angrily at Jean (that was changed in the anime, though). If I had to guess, I'd say that Jean only recently defied Armin's expectations, and before that Armin didn't like him much. Jean antagonized his best friend, was only looking out for himself, and was probably intimidating for Armin, too.
But with his decision to join the SL, Armin's opinion of Jean has improved a great deal.

I think that Armin sees how much Jean respects him and values his opinion, and he sees that Jean's insecure deep down, just like him. Plus, Armin's pretty talkatative and so is Jean, so this friendship is a good outlet for Armin's need for in-depth conversations. They have opposing opinions regarding how to handle the current situation, but the reason why this hasn't escalated into fighting between them is probably because of their opposing temperaments and the fact that Armin's so good at arguing his case. I think you can see especially in the FT arc how taken aback Jean is by the fact that Armin completely outargued him and there's this general sense that Armin keeps starling and surprising Jean.
I don't think that Armin resents or considers Jean stupid for his values, though they do exasperate and worry him. (I think Armin kind of saw it coming even in chapter 57, that Jean would seriously endanger himself if he held on to his opinion on not killing.)

Ugh, I could blab about Armin's relationship with Jean forever but I'll close it with some observations on that look they shared in chapter 59 since there is a lot going on in a handful of panels. Obviously, Jean feels super guilty and can't bring himself to tell Armin why he was the first one to shoot. But Armin's expression in that one panel is also very... soft and trusting, like he expects to Jean to tell him the truth, no matter how bad it is. Jean sees that and the lack of resentment and anger directed at him makes him feel even worse, so he turns away because FUCK, he can't bear to lie to Armin and he also can't bear to hurt him further and he doesn't deserve Armin's affection given how much he let him down. Or at least, that's how I see it.

[(Anonymous)]

I admit that for the longest time, I didn't pay all that much attention to him (which feels ridiculous in hindsight) but nowadays I feel that he is one of the most developed and complex characters in the series.

NGL, he's become my favorite character.

The inner struggle between his pragmatism and his compassion is more compelling to read about.

I highly recommend Ghostmartyr's meta on Armin and how he struggles with morality versus necessity. This is her most recent relevant post, and in it she links to/quotes a past one.
http://ghostmartyr.tumblr.com/post/91310968095

Anger is pretty rare for him (though I did see quite a bit of it in his expression in chapter 59 when he shot that woman).

The other notable time I recall him being angry was on the battlefield during the 57th Expedition, when he's urging Jean to fight and take vengeance. In both instances, his friends and colleagues had either just been killed or were under immediate threat. That said, in the previous instance he'd also been knocked off his horse and had a face full of blood, and in this current chapter the enemy soldier had her gun in his face and was about to shoot him when Mikasa kicked her down.

He is one of the top-tier plot-moving characters. Plus, a lot of characters would just have died without him (Jean three times over by now, for example).

Armin is, among other things, a statement that even in a canonverse that values brute strength over everything else, intelligence is extremely valuable.

I like your analysis of his friendships with Mikasa and Eren. I think Armin brings out the best in both of them, whereas Eren and Mikasa have a knack for bringing out the worst in one another, despite their mutual loyalty and caring. Good point that Armin, who is very much a cerebral creature, is able to be quite physical with Eren (or for Eren — I'm thinking of that "beautiful salute"). Their intellectual curiosity is the bridge between them, and next to it all their differences are secondary.

The Armin/Jean relationship started off nonexistent and has grown in complexity, definitely. To the canon points you list, you can add Armin channeling his rage to inspire Jean to take revenge during the FT arc; and also Jean's horror at watching Armin be molested while being unable to help him. I think his angry remark in chapter 55 about the old pervert "soiling" Armin, while prompted by Armin's idea about causing an accident, was fueled by his own anger toward the molester and toward himself for his helplessness - which he displaced onto Armin, because while Jean's a good person he's still 15 and abrasive.

[(Anonymous)]

Bless you and this post. I'll try to add my own two cents to it, sorry if I sound scattered but I am somewhat tired.

The way Jean turned his head in that scene reminded me of how he turned his head when he saw Armin's crying face as he was being molested in chapter 55. Jean just can't bear it to look at Armin's eyes and see something he doesn't like.

The thing that I like the most about Jean and Armin is how they both bring out lesser-seen sides of the other. I'll talk about Jean another time, but it seems to me that Armin is more...sassy, for lack of a better word, when he's around Jean. He's not above downright pulling Jean's leg ("you both have that angry look," "you're looking like the bad guy now"), which is kind of a big deal for somebody who has a history of being bullied, and he is completely unafraid of voicing his honest opinion. The only person with whom Armin behaves like this are Eren and Mikasa, but with Jean it seems to me he's more willing to be...I want to say challenging, in a "you're wrong and here's a rundown as to why" way. Like the way Jean's morality and thinking style is different from his stimulates him. Mostly, I think it's because Jean is always willing to challenge back, while Eren and Mikasa are more likely to just go "it's Armin, of course it's a good idea" and leave it at that. It's only a vague sensation, though.

If I were to say what all of Armin's closest friends (both old and recently acquired - Jean, Eren and Mikasa) have in common, I'd say that all of them know Armin is more intelligent than them and instead of being resentful, they appreciate him all the more for it. I feel this is something Armin is very aware of and very grateful for (again, history of bullying + smart people and intellectuals seem to be in a bad place in the SNK world, so it's not obvious that people would respect Armin's intelligence).

Also, I too got the impression that in the latest chapter he was apologizing to Mikasa over the insensitive question, rather than the vomiting. Armin seems to me to be as protective of Eren and Mikasa as they are of him, and also to be a lot better at being aware of their feelings that they themselves sometimes are. It's somewhat obvious with Eren (mostly because Eren needs a whole lot more protection), it's subtler but it's definitely there with Mikasa. He's happy when Mikasa and Eren share a moment, for example, when Mikasa says she'll stay behind with passed out Eren, he shows concern when Mikasa says she's been out chopping woods with a couple broken ribs (granted, everybody would, but Eren's reaction is basically 'yeah, that's Mikasa for you', while Armin seems to be having a minor heart attack). He also stops her from jumping in the middle when Levi beats Eren during the trial, and Mikasa lets herself be stopped.

Mikasa and Eren both trust Armin a lot. More than Armin trusts himself, I'd say. In general, their relationship is very equal and very tight on all three sides - it's just that between Mikasa and Eren it's more obvious, because, like mentioned, Eren needs protection a lot more often and Mikasa's brand of protection is much more flashy. So people talk a lot about how Eren is all the family Mikasa has left, but to me it's clear Mikasa considers Armin part of her circle, at least. And Eren and Mikasa are all that's left of Armin's family, too. And I don't think Eren is considering his father part of his family much at the moment, so yeah. They are each other's real family, at the moment. With the recent and very temptative addition of what's left of the 104th, but they're the original core.

One thing I really like about the relationship between those three is the utter lack of any kind of jealousy and pettyness. Eren doesn't seem to know what jealousy is, Mikasa doesn't resent Armin for his closeness with Eren at all, Armin doesn't resent Mikasa for sometimes focusing all of her attention onto Eren.

Between Armin and Eren, in my opinion the fact that they're so different actually makes their friendship more solid. Eren can be almost childish, at times, which is bad when he gets into fights with the others, but good sometimes because he's incapable of being cynical - he's always this den of enthusiasm and anger and energy, which is probably good for Armin, who in my eyes has a bit of a tendency to weariness. On the other hand, Armin is the one who sweats the details in stead of Eren, the brains to Eren's brawn (I'd say that the truth is that Mikasa is the brawn and Eren is the heart, but Eren would probably disagree, lol), and Eren is aware of this and doesn't give a damn (he nonchalantly tells Connie "we'll ask Armin later" when he asks him stuff about Erwin's plan.)

Armin's relationship with Mikasa is actually one of my favorite ones in the manga. It's very subtle, and it's easy to miss since Eren-the-massive-attention-drain is usually with them or around them or the theme of their conversation (this isn't a jab at Eren, he's just how he is and he's the protag too) but it's nuanced in its subtlety, and it's also one of those rare deep and important female-male relationships that don't have a romantic subtext (not that I don't ship it, but you know what I mean about the rarity of female-male platonic friendships in fiction, probably). My impression is also that they've been growing closer. They both somewhat acknowledge Eren is what brought them together, but it's also obvious they've grown to appreciate the other in isolation, too. The more Mikasa learns to find her own meaning beyond protecting Eren, the more Armin learns to trust himself, the closer they grow.

[(Anonymous)]

Jean just can't bear it to look at Armin's eyes and see something he doesn't like.

Whereas I don't think the reverse is true. Armin, despite certainly having emotional vulnerabilities, is capable of witnessing much more horror and taking it in stride than Jean is, while Jean is genuine courage and bravado around a soft emotional core. They're complementary examples of how nothing is as it first appears in this canon.

Jean doesn't have the strong childhood bond with Armin that Mikasa and Eren do, but most definitely they trust and respect one another, which permits them to challenge one another as you said. Jean had no problem telling Armin during the torture sequence that he'd just suggested something unconscionable, but when Jean gives him that backhanded compliment during the 57th Expedition, Armin tells him in not so many words that he's being an asshole.

We were talking back in the meta post about Eren about how Jean is fairly intelligent himself, if not up to Armin's level. Also, both of them are emotionally perceptive, even if with Jean it's hampered by his defensiveness and with Armin by his self-doubt. I think these factors further strengthen their working relationship and their friendship.

Yeah, there's no question Armin was apologizing to Mikasa for prying into something very emotionally fraught. He wouldn't apologize to her for vomiting; they go back too far for that, and anyway she chose to approach him while he was throwing up.

Care, concern, and trust among the Shinganshina Trio are definitely equal in all directions. I think Eren's nonchalant reaction to Mikasa chopping wood with broken ribs is because he has far too much experience trying to stop Mikasa from doing something she's set her mind on, and he realizes it's futile. Both of them most definitely trust Armin more than he does himself, and the rooftop scene in the Trost arc made that abundantly clear. While Armin has gained self-confidence since then, he still agonizes a great deal over what's right versus what's needful, second-guessing himself continually. (Mikasa and Eren don't differentiate as much between these two concepts.)

As for Armin stopping Mikasa from pulling Levi off Eren during the tribunal, that was less for Mikasa's sake than for Eren's (although to be fair it could have resulted in both Mikasa and Eren being executed). But, yeah, while she's smart enough that she could have figured out the necessity of the beating for herself, her automatic reaction of must protect Eren overrode all else, and her trust in Armin was the only thing that stopped her from interfering. I very much like your observations about their friendship and how unusual it is in fiction.

Definitely, Eren trusts Armin implicitly. You're right in that none of the three are jealous or petty to begin with, but Eren has a fair amount of realism complementing his idealism. Consider his answer to Pixis's question at the end of the Trost arc. More to the point here, he has a reasonable grasp of what he lacks that other people have and vice versa. He's not stupid but he'll never be a tower of intellect, and he's okay with that… just as Armin isn't weak but he'll never be a top-rate fighter, and he's come to grips with that, too.