from an orojackson post that got deleted "I will start this by saying that I absolutely love Big Mom’s flashback, and that Oda managed in just two chapters to make WCI as a whole a much better, more complete arc for me. It’s through these two chapters that I finally see a nearly complete picture, one painted in contrasting colors between probably the two main narrative pillars of this arc, Big Mom and Sanji. Their story tackles the same themes from different perspectives, which brought together raise each other that much more by giving greater significance to both the events and persons that shaped up their lives, as well as the nature of the characters themselves, and how what they were born with impacted their upbringing.
I will start this by saying that I absolutely love Big Mom’s flashback, and that Oda managed in just two chapters to make WCI as a whole a much better, more complete arc for me. It’s through these two chapters that I finally see a nearly complete picture, one painted in contrasting colors between probably the two main narrative pillars of this arc, Big Mom and Sanji. Their story tackles the same themes from different perspectives, which brought together raise each other that much more by giving greater significance to both the events and persons that shaped up their lives, as well as the nature of the characters themselves, and how what they were born with impacted their upbringing.
Let’s first discuss the nature of these characters, what they were born with. In terms of personality both are presented as kind hearted children, who empathize with others and wish to help others out. Big Mom goes out of her way to make peace between animals, or help out the other children, while Sanji prepares food for small animals, and shows joy at their satisfaction.
However, a factor that greatly changes their early years is their Strength. Big Mom was born too strong for those around her and that’s a reason for dissatisfaction and harm towards them, while Sanji on the other hand was born “too weak”. It goes further than this though, Big Mom was naturally born too strong, a “natural born destroyer”, while Sanji was born “just” a normal person, and thus too weak for the aspirations of his father who was trying to artificially create a “destroyer” akin to Big Mom.
Their strength pushes them away from their family and the place of their birth, having them discarded as misfits who can’t adapt and match the expectations of those around them.
Something else that was a big part of their lives, starting from their early years, and ended up greatly shaping up the persons that they are today is Food. As mentioned earlier, Sanji used to cook for the small animals that took refuge in his surroundings. He also prepared food for his sick mother, who’s praise encouraged him further and continued to push him on this path of being a provider.
Because that’s what Sanji is, and this is where we see the second contrasting aspect between him and Big Mom when it comes to the same theme. While Sanji is a “Provider”, Big Mom is a “Consumer”. A basic need of Big Mom which overrides her good intentions is that to consume, while a basic need for Sanji is to provide to others. Both find satisfaction at their core in this, and it’s something they can’t help themselves from doing. This is also something that once again leads to them losing their families. Sanji’s need to provide for others through his cooking goes against his father’s principles as Royalty, while Big Mom’s need to consume leads to the tragic event of her literally eating everything dear to her, the family that provided her with the happiest day of her life for her birthday.
Another interesting fact is that both Big Mom and Sanji experience starvation at a young age, as a huge event that ends up changing the rest of their life. Both are saved from the repercussions of that event by their parent figures, and it leads to them following those parent figures to a new found home. For Sanji it’s the Baratie, and for Big Mom it appears to be the WCI as the island of the Lamb’s House relocation, but this is speculative from my part at the point of writing this post.
Their lives continue to greatly revolve around food and their nature as a “Provider” and a “Consumer”, with Sanji becoming a Chef and Big Mom becoming a Yonko which demands food as price for her protection, and constantly looks forward to her never ending stream of consumption focused tea parties. Even the making of her crew follows the tendency of a consumer, with her using her children to “eat up” other families and incorporate them into her own, using them as their “life and blood”, as Perospero told Judge at the current Tea Party. They are just “cows”, just “products” for Big Mom that she can consume for her benefit. Same with the residents of WCI, who are demanded to give away portions of their souls, which ends up being consumed for the purpose of animating WCI with Big Mom’s soul abilities.
Now the latest aspect is their Parenting. I already addressed part of this in the “Strength” and “Food” sections because those were significant aspects that influenced this one as well, so I will try not to repeat too much of what I’ve already stated. As I said earlier, Sanji’s father created him for the purpose of using him as a superhuman weapon. He wanted to model Sanji according to his needs, and expectations as a descendant of a royal bloodline, and the fact that Sanji did not match those needs and expecations made Judge give up on him. In Big Mom’s case, her natural parents are flashed out a lost less, but from what is shown, they have no exceptional expectations from her, and just wish a normal life from their child. However, we can see their expectations as just as hard for Big Mom to meet because of how far from normal she was since birth. One could argue that their hand was forced and they had no choice but to abandon her to a certain extent, but I’m not going to go into the moral aspects of their choice, and just state it as it happened. Just like Sanji, Big Mom was abandoned because she did not match the needs and expectations of her natural parents. Something else that we can conclude is that in spite of the efforts of their natural parents, they ended up living lives that match the nature they were born with, one that I’ve discussed earlier when I labeled them as a “Provider” and a “Consumer”.
The persons that did manage to actually influence them a lot more than their natural parents though are their parent figures. Zeff and Carmel both played a huge role in their upbringing, and end up pushing them on a path that matches their nature. Obviously the two figures contrast in their own nature, with the well intentioned Zeff as the one who makes sacrifices for Sanji’s sake and earnestly puts him on that path, while the ill intentioned Carmel raises Big Mom for her own sake, and Big Mom is pushed on a path that’s build on the noble aspirations that Carmel promotes, but does not believe in.
As a result of that, Big Mom’s vision and the manner in which she conducts herself on that path is twisted and ends up as a monstrous parody of those noble ideals, while Sanji’s path stays true to Zeff’s ideals, and is one that ends up bringing happiness to himself and to those around him. Sanji ends up being loved and appreciated. He’s needed by his friends who become a second family to him and his captain goes as far as to state that he would not be able to achieve his dream without Sanji’s help, while laying down his own life to help Sanji out and get him back on his side. Meanwhile, Big Mom is only keeping her family, blood of her own together through fear. They end up valuing their own life more than hers and her wishes and aspirations, and many are unhappy with Big Mom’s actions and what they are forced to do for her sake.
So at the end of the day, the two characters end up staying true to their nature when it comes to the relationship they build with others as well. The “Consumer” ends up taking happiness from others, while the “Provider” gives it to them.
not only did carmel have a big role for big mom but so did streusen just like how both sora and zeff had a role with sanji and for big mom carmel has a bit of both sora and zeff as stated above streusen plays more on zeff
you could also compare big mom with carmel to sanji with sora and big mom with streusen to sanji with zeff.
both big mom and sanji both had mother figures who they loved very much but while carmel was faking it sora was genuine and sora has shown to love everything sanji did and was willing to eat sanjis bad food he made for her with a smile on her face because of it was his attempt to show affection and to make him happy for she loved him and how she cried at sanji saying have a nice day while carmels smiles were to keep up her act and because she wanted to profit off of linlin using linlin for her own happiness
both streussen and zeff were pirate chefs who acted as father figures to big mom and sanji respectively and talked about dreams whie streussen had a df that made it so he wouldnt starve (and if it wasnt for him big mom would have starved) and its because of zeff that sanji didnt starve but while zeff made a sacrifice
where he went without eating and had to cut off his own leg streussen had a df to feed linlin
Streusen has manipulated and used Linlin however he pleased, taking advantage of her confusion over her vanishing benefactor and friends and the fact that she was 6, thus very influenceable and easy to manipulate and brainwash while zeff was always genuine in his attitude to sanji while he was strict/rough with him and hide his affection while being a bit gruff while streusen went to linlin in order to use her for his own needs/fun zeff went to sanji to help him and starved so sanji wouldnt
I will start this by saying that I absolutely love Big Mom’s flashback, and that Oda managed in just two chapters to make WCI as a whole a much better, more complete arc for me. It’s through these two chapters that I finally see a nearly complete picture, one painted in contrasting colors between probably the two main narrative pillars of this arc, Big Mom and Sanji. Their story tackles the same themes from different perspectives, which brought together raise each other that much more by giving greater significance to both the events and persons that shaped up their lives, as well as the nature of the characters themselves, and how what they were born with impacted their upbringing.
Let’s first discuss the nature of these characters, what they were born with. In terms of personality both are presented as kind hearted children, who empathize with others and wish to help others out. Big Mom goes out of her way to make peace between animals, or help out the other children, while Sanji prepares food for small animals, and shows joy at their satisfaction.
However, a factor that greatly changes their early years is their Strength. Big Mom was born too strong for those around her and that’s a reason for dissatisfaction and harm towards them, while Sanji on the other hand was born “too weak”. It goes further than this though, Big Mom was naturally born too strong, a “natural born destroyer”, while Sanji was born “just” a normal person, and thus too weak for the aspirations of his father who was trying to artificially create a “destroyer” akin to Big Mom.
Their strength pushes them away from their family and the place of their birth, having them discarded as misfits who can’t adapt and match the expectations of those around them.
Something else that was a big part of their lives, starting from their early years, and ended up greatly shaping up the persons that they are today is Food. As mentioned earlier, Sanji used to cook for the small animals that took refuge in his surroundings. He also prepared food for his sick mother, who’s praise encouraged him further and continued to push him on this path of being a provider.
Because that’s what Sanji is, and this is where we see the second contrasting aspect between him and Big Mom when it comes to the same theme. While Sanji is a “Provider”, Big Mom is a “Consumer”. A basic need of Big Mom which overrides her good intentions is that to consume, while a basic need for Sanji is to provide to others. Both find satisfaction at their core in this, and it’s something they can’t help themselves from doing. This is also something that once again leads to them losing their families. Sanji’s need to provide for others through his cooking goes against his father’s principles as Royalty, while Big Mom’s need to consume leads to the tragic event of her literally eating everything dear to her, the family that provided her with the happiest day of her life for her birthday.
Another interesting fact is that both Big Mom and Sanji experience starvation at a young age, as a huge event that ends up changing the rest of their life. Both are saved from the repercussions of that event by their parent figures, and it leads to them following those parent figures to a new found home. For Sanji it’s the Baratie, and for Big Mom it appears to be the WCI as the island of the Lamb’s House relocation, but this is speculative from my part at the point of writing this post.
Their lives continue to greatly revolve around food and their nature as a “Provider” and a “Consumer”, with Sanji becoming a Chef and Big Mom becoming a Yonko which demands food as price for her protection, and constantly looks forward to her never ending stream of consumption focused tea parties. Even the making of her crew follows the tendency of a consumer, with her using her children to “eat up” other families and incorporate them into her own, using them as their “life and blood”, as Perospero told Judge at the current Tea Party. They are just “cows”, just “products” for Big Mom that she can consume for her benefit. Same with the residents of WCI, who are demanded to give away portions of their souls, which ends up being consumed for the purpose of animating WCI with Big Mom’s soul abilities.
Now the latest aspect is their Parenting. I already addressed part of this in the “Strength” and “Food” sections because those were significant aspects that influenced this one as well, so I will try not to repeat too much of what I’ve already stated. As I said earlier, Sanji’s father created him for the purpose of using him as a superhuman weapon. He wanted to model Sanji according to his needs, and expectations as a descendant of a royal bloodline, and the fact that Sanji did not match those needs and expecations made Judge give up on him. In Big Mom’s case, her natural parents are flashed out a lost less, but from what is shown, they have no exceptional expectations from her, and just wish a normal life from their child. However, we can see their expectations as just as hard for Big Mom to meet because of how far from normal she was since birth. One could argue that their hand was forced and they had no choice but to abandon her to a certain extent, but I’m not going to go into the moral aspects of their choice, and just state it as it happened. Just like Sanji, Big Mom was abandoned because she did not match the needs and expectations of her natural parents. Something else that we can conclude is that in spite of the efforts of their natural parents, they ended up living lives that match the nature they were born with, one that I’ve discussed earlier when I labeled them as a “Provider” and a “Consumer”.
The persons that did manage to actually influence them a lot more than their natural parents though are their parent figures. Zeff and Carmel both played a huge role in their upbringing, and end up pushing them on a path that matches their nature. Obviously the two figures contrast in their own nature, with the well intentioned Zeff as the one who makes sacrifices for Sanji’s sake and earnestly puts him on that path, while the ill intentioned Carmel raises Big Mom for her own sake, and Big Mom is pushed on a path that’s build on the noble aspirations that Carmel promotes, but does not believe in.
As a result of that, Big Mom’s vision and the manner in which she conducts herself on that path is twisted and ends up as a monstrous parody of those noble ideals, while Sanji’s path stays true to Zeff’s ideals, and is one that ends up bringing happiness to himself and to those around him. Sanji ends up being loved and appreciated. He’s needed by his friends who become a second family to him and his captain goes as far as to state that he would not be able to achieve his dream without Sanji’s help, while laying down his own life to help Sanji out and get him back on his side. Meanwhile, Big Mom is only keeping her family, blood of her own together through fear. They end up valuing their own life more than hers and her wishes and aspirations, and many are unhappy with Big Mom’s actions and what they are forced to do for her sake.
So at the end of the day, the two characters end up staying true to their nature when it comes to the relationship they build with others as well. The “Consumer” ends up taking happiness from others, while the “Provider” gives it to them.
not only did carmel have a big role for big mom but so did streusen just like how both sora and zeff had a role with sanji and for big mom carmel has a bit of both sora and zeff as stated above streusen plays more on zeff
you could also compare big mom with carmel to sanji with sora and big mom with streusen to sanji with zeff.
both big mom and sanji both had mother figures who they loved very much but while carmel was faking it sora was genuine and sora has shown to love everything sanji did and was willing to eat sanjis bad food he made for her with a smile on her face because of it was his attempt to show affection and to make him happy for she loved him and how she cried at sanji saying have a nice day while carmels smiles were to keep up her act and because she wanted to profit off of linlin using linlin for her own happiness
both streussen and zeff were pirate chefs who acted as father figures to big mom and sanji respectively and talked about dreams whie streussen had a df that made it so he wouldnt starve (and if it wasnt for him big mom would have starved) and its because of zeff that sanji didnt starve but while zeff made a sacrifice
where he went without eating and had to cut off his own leg streussen had a df to feed linlin
Streusen has manipulated and used Linlin however he pleased, taking advantage of her confusion over her vanishing benefactor and friends and the fact that she was 6, thus very influenceable and easy to manipulate and brainwash while zeff was always genuine in his attitude to sanji while he was strict/rough with him and hide his affection while being a bit gruff while streusen went to linlin in order to use her for his own needs/fun zeff went to sanji to help him and starved so sanji wouldnt
