i would be so interested to read this O_O
Omg so this post got me thinking about the depiction of the Gothic Double in dn; the definition of the gothic double being, (1) the split self as a representation of societal repression, (2) the uncanny; seeing the familiar (ie. yourself) in the unfamiliar or monstrous, and (3) linked fates, be it due to either obsessive or supernatural bonds.
The split self as the duality of man, Light wants to be seen as good by society but at the same time harbours a deep resentment towards it. Upon killing, Light sees himself in the monstrous and thus rationalizes that the monstrous must not actually be so. (This duality is classically demonstrated by the Yotsuba Arc, which is reminiscent of a Jekyll/Hyde transformation in character.) Once Light accepts the death note, and accepts the moniker of Kira, his fate is sealed.
The split self as two sides of the same coin. Two characters of the same mind, but one is compacted by the restrictions of society while the other lives entirely free from it. Light recognizes himself in L, which disturbs him and so he rejects it, pretending it doesn't exist. Their fates are linked through mutual obsession. One cannot live while the other survives, and yet with L's death Light goes through a (second) spiritual death of his own.
A manifestation of Light's apathetic boredom. Light is less afraid of the version of himself he sees in Ryuk, a literal supernatural specter representing death, than the version of himself he sees in L, and perhaps without meaning to trusts him as a friend. Their fates are linked by supernatural bond; Ryuk is an inescapable physical presence, and destined to write down Light's name one day. (Light's death reminds me more of a Dorian Gray-esque double in that he is killed by a mostly passive object/figure; Ryuk, and the notebook as an extension of Ryuk)
Near and Mello are cosmically linked in that they are, as individuals, narratively only partial fragments of L that need to come together to meet the sum of the whole. Their fates are entirely dependent on their realization and acceptance of this, on both of their parts. (They are the most obvious example of the gothic double imo, because all of this is said directly in the text.) The source of tension over the uncanny comes not from recognizing themselves in eachother, but rather recognizing L in eachother.
And now some tenuous thoughts that I haven't fully thought through yet...
Mirror images. Mikami is the opposite of L in that he is externally identical to Light, but internally different. Light and Mikami are doubles bi-directionally because, by way of circular logic, Mikami pedestals Light as a deified version of what he wishes to be; and Light lauds Mikami for being "exactly like himself". When in reality Mikami is the actual, genuine version of what Light is pretending Kira is. Thus their fates are inextricable because Mikami is, in a way, the purest iteration of Kira; and it is specifically because of their symbiosis that they both fall.
To contrast him with a pure foil;
Matsuda does mirror Light as the purehearted, upstanding youth that wants to be seen as good by others (especially Soichiro). He doubts his certainty of Kira's evil much like Yotsuba Light does, and in the end he shoots Light, prevents him from making a kill, and helps bring Kira down. Which is exactly what Light verbally promised to do. But Light doesn't pay him enough mind to feel threatened or insecure by the authenticity of Matsuda's nature. I think that an argument could be made in the reverse, that Matsuda may see his uncanny self in Light; but since in his naĆÆvetĆ© he doesn't realize this until the very end, it isn't something that everypresently haunts him until after the story is finished. And although Matsuda has somewhat of a fixation with Light, it isn't to a level of obsession, and there is no spiritual or supernatural bond between them.
However Matsuda and Mikami both have a similar ironic perception of Light in that they both idolize him, while themselves being the authentic versions of what Light tries to be in splitting himself between "Light Yagami" and "Kira". I think it's very interesting that they have no connection narratively, despite being in a very similar position to Light as Mello & Near are to L.
