The Darkest Motif in A Silent Voice: An Analysis

tw : suicide, bullying, depression, death, ableism

disclaimer: I am not a sociologist or psychiatrist. This analysis should only be read for entertainment purposes.

please retweet, do not reply.

major spoilers ahead

Koe No Katachi, aka A Silent Voice or The Shape of Voice, is a beautiful movie that takes a unique approach to the usual coming-of-age movie. However, they aren't afraid to discuss heavy topics such as bullying, mental health, and, as we will focus on in this thread, suicide.

There are two characters who attempt to kill themselves in the movie: Ishida Shoya and Nishimiya Shouko. While both attempts are thankfully unsuccessful, the events that cause them to attempt it in the first place are characteristic to two different types of suicide.

Although what pushes them to suicide may be different, a reason they both share is atonement, or forgiveness. This will be explained later in the thread, when we analyze suicide in Japanese culture.

According to sociologist Emile Durkheim, there are four types of suicide: egoistic suicide, anomic suicide, altruistic suicide, and fatalistic suicide. We’ll be focusing on the first two: egoistic suicide and anomic suicide.

Egoistic suicide is characterized by a socially-isolated person who feels they have no place in society and ends their own life. In the movie, Shouya was ostracized by his classmates from the end of elementary school all the way to the end of highschool.

He had no friends and could not even look people in the eye, fearing they are saying negative things about him. Without strong social ties, Shouya feels as if he does not have a place in society, which is what leads him to the decision to take his own life.

In contrast, Shouko exhibits aspects of anomic suicide, described as a lack of regulation in life. It commonly happens when someone experiences a large change or disruption in their life, such as the death of a family member.This leads them to a state of anomie, or normlessness.

Shouko was already struggling with the effects of the bullying she experienced in elementary school, and with that pain brought back into the present, this is surely a difficult time for her.

With the death of her grandmother, Shouko may feel utterly lost and directionless. Her grandmother, who has always been here for her, is now gone, leaving a gaping hole in her life.

This new world without her grandmother is strange to her, and she cannot foresee the future without her grandmother’s advice and support. Thus, this may lead her to decide to take her own life in the climax of the movie.

In Japanese culture, suicide is seen as a way of taking responsibility for one’s actions and a way of asking for forgiveness.

In the movie, Shouya feels guilty about the burden he caused to his mother, who had to pay for Shouko’s damaged hearing aids and had ripped her own earring off her ear as an “eye for an eye” payment.

Shouya is seen selling his belongings, cancelling his phone plan, and quitting his job, all as a preparation before his suicide. He believes he is taking responsibility for the trouble he caused both his mother and Shouko by paying back the money and killing himself.

Shouko is shown to feel she is a burden to her family and friends. She is constantly apologizing for things that are not her fault but she feels responsible for, such as Ueno’s dislike for her because of her deafness and Shouya getting ostracized by his classmates.

At the climax of the movie, she climbs onto the railing of her balcony, planning on jumping as a way to apologize for the negative things she caused to the people around her.

Suicide is a tragic topic that A Silent Voice portrays elegantly. The amount of thought put into the characters is commendable; allowing us to trace their thought process of their most personal actions, telling us more about the character and how they view themselves.

Once again, I am not a sociologist. I don’t claim what I’m saying is 100% accurate or it is what the creators intended, this is all just for fun. I hope you enjoyed this analysis, and feel free to retweet/dm me your thoughts! Let me know what you want me to analyze next.

sources: