How does the text relate to the theme of a journey?“Spirited Away” revolves around the story of a little girl named Chihiro and her journey of saving her parents, who have been turned into pigs by spell. At the outset, Chihiro is moving to a new town with her parents, leaving everything including her friends. On the way to their new home, they accidentally find a tunnel, through which they walk and eventually come to a small town with lots of restaurants. With no one around, her parents decide to eat first before they pay. While her parents are gobbling the food, Chihiro wanders off and encounters a boy named Haku. Being told by Haku that she must leave that place, she goes to find her parents, but they have turned into pigs, and the way back is already blocked by water. Now, spirits go about the town. Fortunately, she meets Haku again, and he tells her the way to save her parents: she must get a job from Kamuji, the six-armed boiler man and work until her parents recover. But later she is directed to the witch, Yubaba and becomes a servant girl in the Bathhouse. With the new name Sen, she works hard and goes through lots of hardship so that her parents would become humans again, as being told by Haku. Finally, due to the fact that she passes the final test set by Yubaba, in which she has to identify her parents among the pigs, she is allowed to leave the spirit world with her parents. The most important thing, however, is that Chihiro has grown up through the whole “saving parents” journey. Undoubtedly, she has turned into a lovely girl, who is more polite, responsible, brave and grateful to those who have helped her. At first she was quite worried about moving to a new house and studying in a new school, but after going through so much, she said, “I think I can handle it.”
What is the main issue in the text?
In my opinion, the primary discussion of this movie is the courage and determination possessed by Chihiro in order to save her parents. Against all odds, she successfully handles all the taxing tasks given by Yubaba, the owner of the Bathhouse. First of all, she needs to find a job by Kamuji. Even though there is no more suitable job for her, Kamuji is convinced by her grim determination – at last, he recommended her to find a job by Yubaba. After getting the job, she has to work very hard. For instance, she needs to mop the floor and clean the Big Tub, which is well known for its dirtiness. Later, she also bathes a “stink god” without fail. Then, she also settles the chaos caused by the spirit known as “No-Face”, who is fond of her. All these are suppoted by her dogged persistence. Furthermore, she also journeys to look for Zeniba (Yubaba’s sister) in order to return the seal and hopes that Zeniba could break the curse over Haku, probably hoping that Haku would continue to give her a helping hand in her way to save her beloved parents, besides feeling grateful to him for the help before. Towards the end of the movie, she overcomes all the setbacks and achieves her aim. To me, this movie, which is all about a tenacious, never-say-die girl, would benefit those who watch it.
What quality do you admire or dislike in a character?
The key character in this movie, Chihiro, is the choice of my admiration. At first, she is a little timid girl, who is not brave enough even to enter a tunnel with her parents. But later, she changes and becomes so courageous until she dares to travel by train to a place known as Swamp Bottom to look for Zeniba. She has no fear in front of spirits. Before this, she was so afraid of walking down a staircase; but later, it seems that there is no problem for her to climb a ladder up to Yubaba’s room. Furthermore, I am amazed by her fierce determination. Wiping the floor, cleaning the Big Tub, serving the revolting, filthy “stink god”…she is bound and determined to save her parents. What makes me admire her more is that she is grateful and helpful. This can be perfectly exemplified by the help she gives to Haku after he is injured and suffers from internal bleeding. Since Haku once helped her, she tries to save Haku by giving him the Herbal Cake from the River Spirit. By sharing her drowning experience during her childhood, she also helps Haku to recall his real name, which is Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi. In short, I am pretty much surprised but impressed by the transformation she made.
How does the text develop your understanding of the world?
From my perspective, the movie brings out the message that most of the children in this era are normally spoiled: They are just like the flower in the glasshouse, they are overindulged, and they grow up under the care of their parents. As portrayed by Chihiro, it is arguably a problem for them to adapt to a new situation and react accordingly. Furthermore, the giant baby behaves as if he is the king, since his mother Yubaba spoils him and provides him what he wants. Somehow the children are also not taught by their parents to be polite and to respect others. For instance, Chihiro still needs to be reminded by Lin so that she would say “thank you, madam” and “yes, madam”. In addition, she does not knock on the door before she enters Yubaba’s room. Besides that, I also realized that human beings are greedy by nature, and normally greed is followed by disasters. If Chihiro’s parents are not so greedy to wolf down the food without paying first, probably they won’t turn into fat, lazy pigs. It could also be predicted that the frog and the servants would not be swallowed by “No-Face” if they are not obsessed by the tiny pieces of gold, while “No-Face” would definitely not grow into a giant. At the end, all the gold turns into sand. To sum up, it is widely believed that greedy people would not have a good ending.
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