Gojo: usefulness vs humanity
I've been thinking about Gojo a lot lately (sorry Gege) and how people describe him. And not only us, as viewers, but especially people in the manga.
And, additionally, how the guy describes himself.
What I've found is that how people describe him most has to do with either his utility, abilities or skills. Other descriptions that are related to his personality are often negative since, as we know, he can be hard to deal with unless you don't care about his facade and are able to see past it. And of course, seeing past it is not an obligation, and people don't seem very inclined to do so -and I think it's because they might tend to think "why would he deserve that, he already has everything."- (These are just my thoughts, though.)
I believe there was sort of a Q&A with the characters in one of the volumes, where they all tried their best to describe Gojo. I couldn't find those panels, but I remember their answers being about very surface-level aspects of him. As I said before, they were often either negative traits about his personality or positive things about his reputation. But, of course, the thing that stood out the most was this one:
(And here we have very graphically what it means for him to be the strongest: Gojo, alone.)
And this is also the way he describes himself.
It's a fact, something he is very aware of. Probably the very first thing he thinks about himself because it also is how other people see him. He is the six eyes user, he is different and has always been. Though there was an interval of time, three years, when it wasn't the case.
But without getting ahead of myself, even with his opponents, it's also the very first thing they were aware of.
Is there anything you don't have? He is strong, he is fast, he is smart. With and without cursed energy. He is powerful. Abilities, skills and utility, these are the things that stand out the most.
Another descriptor that I found interesting was what Toji called him once:
I mean, if I had someone as strong as Gojo as my opponent, I would definitely think that him existing and being so powerful is a little fucked up. It has to mess with your brain. Can we really blame these people for taking a look at Gojo and instantly thinking "strong" and "monster"?
I don't know. It's very sad, if you ask me. Mostly because Gojo is acutely aware of how he is perceived; because despite everything, he is human.
Our ojitos claros has feelings and such. Wild, huh? What's more, his humanity and his feelings are his achilles heel. He cares deeply, and that will always be in the way of him achieving his highest potential. Which is why he chose to rely on others and educating the youth.
Anyway, throughout these descriptions it isn't hard to notice that not a lot of people see this human aspect of him. I think that even Gojo makes sure that they don't see it. Actually, very few choose to see and treat him like another human. And what I mean by this is being like Hm, he's strong. He's a prick. I'm gonna stick besides him.
But in the story we have someone who has described him differently, as an equal.
"Who's Satoru Gojo, anyway? (He's super strong, right?)"
Here we have Gojo's strength highlighted, which is to be expected as I've written, because it's the first thing people think of him.
But throught his answer, Geto dodges that idea (though he doesn't deny it) and gives a different description, one we hadn't seen before: He was my best friend.
Throughout the story we see that there is someone who has taken a look at Gojo, has been like Hm, he (we are) is strong. He's a prick. I'm gonna stick besides him.
Geto refers to and treats Gojo entirely different from how other characters do.
They banter, they get on each others' nerves, but Geto cares about Gojo, despite him being strong. He scolds him, trusts him, but he cares nonetheless.
It makes you wonder if people often care about his wellbeing, considering that, well, he is Gojo Satoru. The strongest and... sometimes a prick.
And I think that one of the reasons that Gojo took Geto's betrayal so hard was because the jujutsu system was responsible for corrupting the only person who saw him as more than Gojo Satoru.
With great power not only comes great responsibility, but great loneliness too. We've learned from too many superhero stories that they have to push people away in order to 1. continue being strong 2. protect the people that they love and 3. protect themselves from heartbreak.
The way people describe Gojo is no coincidence, he makes sure it's what happens, but it also just... happens. And he lets it happen.
You have to put him at your level to really see behind those sunglasses of him. You don't only have to be strong enough, but you also have to want it. And Geto, for some reason, did. They just clicked.
I think it's amazing to see such a bond, because it completely changed Gojo.
Those three years were very significant to him, because maybe it was the first or last time where he had someone who understood him, saw him and chose to stick by him, just like Gojo chose him too.
With Geto, the name Satoru didn't only mean the strongest or a damn monster. It was just a name, which was associated with friend, trust and love.
What makes the strongest "human", then? What gives them humanity? What separates them from being a monster, an object, a killing machine?
