#ch341

There’s nothing about this scene that’s strictly necessary, but I like how Oda went out of the way to show this dude having a little bit of sympathy for some random kid who’s obviously really struggling. Sure they’re about ready to be hit by a giant tsunami, but some things are more important

So if there’s anyone out there wanting to get into writing, some common advise you’ll hear is to make your characters active instead of passive (as with most things, this is not a rule that anyone should set in stone--passive protagonists can work, but they can be tricky if you don’t know what you’re doing). One Piece is pretty great at this, in that they’re given the agency to choose their path in the story. A lesser writer might set up the circumstances so that the Straw Hats are forced into going to Iceburg’s mansion for a second time. Stories with passive protagonists often feel more like chess pieces than their own people, which just doesn’t work with One Piece’s theming on freedom. 

With the power of retrospect, I feel like this is one of the bigger moments regarding Luffy’s development as the Straw Hat’s captain. One of the things Oda’s trying to accomplish with this arc is have the Straw Hats really emerge on a world stage while also dramatically expanding the scope of that world to the reader. When it came to the fate of the Merry, while Luffy eventually came around to the right decision he first had to be talked into seeing sense by Iceburg. A wrong choice now likely spells the end of the Straw Hat Pirates. Luffy and the rest know that they’re being set up by an unknown enemy. It’s up to him to decide whether or not they walk into that trap with their eyes wide open.

We know Usopp knows about the incoming storm because Sanji and Chopper warned him, and even if they didn’t presumably he would have heard the warnings in town while out shopping. Yet even as the entire city shuts down and evacuates, he’s decided to stay with the Going Merry. 

Usopp’s self-delusion makes him do a lot of questionable things, but had he (and the Merry) not been kidnapped by Franky then there’s a good chance that the Aqua Laguna kills him then and there.