The Shadow Self of Naruto Uzumaki- Part 1
Image from DeviantArt by Animemarianaruto
There’s a scene in the popular anime series, Naruto, which gets me every time I watch it. In a matter of moments, my quivering lips and moist eyes give way to full-on weeping. It feels extremely satisfying, and I voluntarily subject myself to this scene every time I just want to feel something. For context, the anime series follows the exploits of the very awesome and very skilled ninja (shinobi), Naruto Uzumaki, as he defends his village against an unending onslaught of villains, while striving towards becoming Hokage- the leader of the village and a master shinobi. One of the reasons the series as a whole appealed to me is because of the extensive backstories that are laid out for each character, especially the “villains”. Each character has developed their motivations and worldview in response to their childhood and formative experiences, thus making it almost impossible for the viewer to reduce or deny their humanity.
Laying out these backstories allows the series to delve deeply into the psychological, philosophical, and mythological themes that play into the narratives that the characters have of themselves, and of their sense of purpose. For the orphan Naruto, his primary motivation seems to be to win the respect and affections of the members of his village, which he hopes to do by becoming all-powerful, by becoming Hokage. This motivation seems to have arisen from his experience as a child of being shunned by the village for carrying within him a tremendous beast- the nine-tailed fox- that unleashed great violence upon the village during the time of Naruto’s birth, killing many of the villagers, including his own parents. The beast was momentarily captured and locked up within baby Naruto, as a result of which, he became an outcast who the villagers are in equal parts afraid and dismissive of. Naruto however grows to be a teenager who at least outwardly displays a surprising sense of confidence about himself, an unshakeable faith in his abilities, and an insatiable drive to become the best. He also consistently strives to be kind and compassionate to everyone he meets, always looking for the best in them, and sometimes to a fault.
However, there is a shadow self to Naruto’s compassionate, confident self- a self that Naruto comes into a direct confrontation with in the scene I mentioned at the beginning of this post. Underneath Naruto’s outward confidence and cheerful nature, lies a deep insecurity that he will not be loved and accepted by people. This often takes the form of annoying and forceful attempts to foster closeness and trust, without understanding why someone may not want to open up to him, and in the attempt breaching their boundaries. His unwavering faith in his abilities taken to an extreme, often prevents him from appropriately discerning whether a situation may be unsafe for him or his friends, and leads to hasty, and potentially dangerous decision making on his part. Underscoring his insatiable drive to be the best, is an impatience which continually manifests as jealousy and envy of those who are more skilled than he is, or those from whom he could stand to learn something. And finally, his tendency to be kind and compassionate is tied up with a strong sense of duty and responsibility to the group, which when absent, leads to outbursts of uncontrollable anger and violence towards someone who may be perceived as an “outsider”.
Consciously at least, Naruto has almost completely restrained his shadow self- the critical, angry, insecure adult who experienced prolonged isolation and dismissal as a child. What he however doesn’t realize at first is that it is this very shadow self which motivates him towards becoming the best shinobi, towards being loved and accepted, towards being compassionate. Naruto’s deep desire to be accepted comes from an equally deep experience of loss and rejection. It is often from the negative that the positive takes shape. It is often from an experience of lack, that one may move towards abundance.
The reason why Naruto comes into confrontation with his shadow self is because he seeks to exercise control over the untamed beast, the nine tailed fox that has been locked up within him. However, he has been told that in order to control this beast and use it to his advantage, he will have to also gain control over his shadow self. Only when Naruto’s confident compassionate adult self gains control over the critical adult self, will he be able to manifest his complete self. Only then will he be able to harness the powers of both light and darkness. Only then will he be able to tame the beast within him.
Naruto has often tried to reject this critical adult self within him; the shadow self. But the truth is that in a very strange and fucked up way, this critical adult self has a protective function. It realizes how much pain and criticism Naruto has experienced as a kid. It realizes how often the kid within him felt rejected, and felt like a burden. And so, the critical adult self tries to prevent Naruto from experiencing this all over again. If Naruto can control people by becoming stronger than everyone else, if he can force them into accepting him or submitting to him, and if he doesn’t trust the villagers who rejected him- then the critical adult self thinks that he will be safe, that he will not get hurt. The critical adult self moves towards safety, but it moves towards safety in a negative way. It tries to achieve safety by either controlling the world or by withdrawing from the world, and in extreme cases by trying to annihilate the world. If there is no world, then there is no more threat to Naruto.
