Hollow culture

[branchandroot]

So, what I’ve been wondering, as we move through the Hueca Mundo arc in Bleach, is: did Aizen create the current culture we see among the arrancar, or did he just take it over?

(Spoilers ahead, of course.)

The fact that Hollows right up to Menos Grande are instinct and hunger driven has meant that the lower levels don’t have much in the way of organized culture or society.  Even the adjuchas seem to organize or group only in small bands, according to what we’ve seen of Grimmjow’s past.  But the arrancar are shown to have organization.  They are still driven by hunger, but they have regained enough mind and individuality to create as well as consume, at least by the witness of Las Noches.

So, is that something they have generated and constructed themselves, over however many thousands of years?  Or is that construction and organization something Aizen imposed?  The question doesn’t seem to me to have been answered one way or another, yet.  If Aizen has been in contact with them for the whole hundred or so years, then the progression we see among the Espada, the ex-Espada and elaborate ranking and numbering, could have been his instigation.  But perhaps not. It’s Aizen who adopts their manner of dress, and those things generally mean something in KT’s writing.

I’m really hoping we get some kind of indication one way or another, somewhere along the storyline.

Comments

[cothurnus]

I've been working through reading your posts analysing Bleach, and I love the fact that there is someone else, albeit, somewhat more articulate than myself, who also sees Bleach as such an intelligently crafted story.

I would say though, about hollow culture, it seems to me to be the pay-off to all of those hints about schisms and rivalries in shinigami culture, which, as far as I've read (up til the beginning of the fullbringer arc), aren't really explored. In fact, I find it interesting to see the similarities between both the Seireitei and Las Noches as political societies, and I wonder if maybe there's a comment there about the way that political rivalry, often seen as a civilised impulse, could be just a different way to manifest hollow-like passions.

[branchandroot]

*nods* Hollows and Shinigami are really clearly set up as parallels. Actually, the more we see, the more I think KT feels that the politics and divisiveness are simply the pattern of any organized group. The fullbringers and the Vandenreich both show the same shape. Which suggests that Ichigo's tendency to ignore the politics is exactly what makes him the hero. The power is nice, too, and it's the lever he needs to use, but it's his dedication to actually doing good things instead of using them as an excuse to wallow in extremism that's heroic.

[cothurnus]

Yeah, actually, I think that's the best and most concise summary possible, I think, of some stuff that I've been milling over for a while. (I've been thinking about doing a post comparing Ichigo and Beowulf - sort of for the lulz, but also for looking at heroism and power in general.)