Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-5732937-20130219044818/@comment-74.216.34.185-20150324033508

So I know this thread is really old, but I just did a quick reading and had to put my 2 cents here just in case someone else googles this like I just did.

To begin, I'll comment on the original quote:

"Everyone is entilted to their own sorrow, for the heart has no metrics or form of measure. And all of it... irreplaceable."

This first part is almost a blatant statement about all 4 of the four girls in RWBY (I'll leave the rest of the cast since I don't really know that much about them). Ruby's Mom died, Weiss (check the theory above), Blake and her experience with Adam (if not other experiences above and beyond that), and Yang with her own mom (dont remember - volume 2). The second part about metrics is again a general statement about the first, simply stating that even though their sorrows are different, they are still very much the same since each will feel their own sorrow just as much as the others. The last bit in my opinion is out of place since there is a hesitation to use the word irreplaceable which would give a sense that sorrow is a good thing to have. But the last statement could also be read to be understood as a statement about the characters by saying they are who they are because of their sorrows.

Now, the main problem I have is that the concept of sabi (japanese for loneliness and by extension sadness according to Paul Varley's Japanese Culture 4th ED) runs deep in this quote indicating the likelyhood that the statement was made to be inverted. As such it would read something along these lines:

"Everyone is entilted to their own happiness, for the heart has no metrics or form of measure. And all of it... disposeable."

In this case, the first sentence reads in a lighter mood in that everyone deserves to be as happy as they can be, but the second sentence undermines the message by giving the happyness a quality that makes it seem frail and easily breakable.

Now combining the two readings, each person is entitled to both sorrow and happiness, both of which are irreplaceable, but both of which are frail in their own way. Sort of like placing each on one side of a taijitu (yin/yang symbol from Taoism).

Anyway, take that however you want and have a nice day!