How about when Haku loses his home and must find somewhere else to belong which ends up being Yubaba's bath house?
this indicates a physical sense of belonging, which is in fact the Kohaku river, which has now been replaced by apartments. So maybe this indicates he's replaced by the greed of humans. So one does not always deserve what he receives.
and to add to the names, even though he is not the main character, Haku has lost his sense of identity which connects to the common Japanese belief that their soul is reaped when one loses their identity.
So in conclusion, I think haku is one of the strongest points in relation to belonging in a negative way, that poses food for thought.
That his sense of belonging has been so badly tarnished, he turns to power to fill this void, to steal the gold seal - which again points to greed - the way he's been treated is how he is now treating others. This could be because Yubaba is the person who has stolen all the power he has over his life.
Haku has been reaped of spiritual, physical and mental belonging so when Chihiro, through all of her experience throughout the movie, through mental and spiritual maturity, has created a portal through which she aids him, she remembers his name and therefore he gains the most important aspect of belonging back, his spiritual one, his soul. So now it doesnt matter where he is physically, he know who he is.
I think religion should also be of note in this movie as buddhist religion is probably where the concept of the name being attached in some way to the soul. So a sense of belonging to a religion in the spirit world and the every day world is unanimous.
Wow haha, this is going right into MY SPEECH TOO lol!
Just a few thoughts
Any other suggestions?
-Josie
yr 12, The Jannali High School
