I was going to dedicate this post to analyzing the Al Bhed language of Final Fantasy 10 and 10-2, but then I started looking at the Al Bhed themselves, and I found myself fascinated by this fictional tribe of peoples. What is it they represent in the grand scheme of Final Fantasy 10? What parallels exist between this tribe and anything in Real Life?
Ajanouha uh dra vmuun!
Let's get two things out of the way here. In fiction, there are two ways to use symbolism: applicability, which encourages the viewer to apply their own interpretation of the work, and allegory, which is the interpretation enforced by the author. The second thing I want to get out of the way is this: Al Bhed= Jews.
The reason I state such a thing is because the parallels between the Al Bhed and the Jewish people are so strong, it is impossible to think anything other that the Al Bhed represent, in some way or another, the Jewish people. Let's find out how.
First, to explain the Al Bhed: They are a desert dwelling race of humans who practice the use of machinery (called machina in Spira). Typically their clothing consists of goggles, masks, pants, vests, and other assortments. The Al Bhed speak their own language, which is radically different from the common language spoken throughout Spira (hereby referred to as Spiran, but really the language the game's markets speak, like English or Japanese). The Al Bhed language, at least in the English version, is written thus: every letter on the alphabet is replaced by ANOTHER letter of the alphabet. For example: H is R, E is A, L is M, and O is U. Therefore, Hello in Al Bhed is "Rammu". The Al Bhed typically travel the world, often shunned by the other people of Spira. Why? Because their use of machina is expressly forbidden by the Church of Yevon, the sole faith in all of Spira, and for all intents and purposes, the ruler of the entire world. Because of their use of machina, the Al Bhed are explicitly the scapegoats of Spira, heretics who apparently have no place among the common populace. Hatred against the Al Bhed is not only common, it is accepted AND encouraged. Sound familiar?
As is now known, Jews originated from the land we call the Levant, which is the area directly east of the Mediterranean and west of Mesopotamia.. This place is a desert region, currently housing the nations of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel. The history of the Jews can best be summarized as this: moving around a lot and getting crap thrown at them. Ever since before recorded history, Jews have been migrating from region to region, maintaining, with varying degrees of success, their traditions and cultural identity alive. Jews often speak their own language, Hebrew, which they speak to each other.
Like the Al Bhed, Jewish people have not had an easy time in other regions. Their homeland was sacked by various empires, including the Persians, the Romans, the British, and others. They have had to travel the world, often shunned by the locals, and much too often bearing the brunt of hatred. That's not even getting into the hate crimes they have suffered, the systematic attacks they have suffered, like the Pogroms of Russia, or most infamous of all, the Nazi Final Solution. And of course, there exists certain Papal Bulls that speak in regards to the Jews as well. Some of them were meant for protecting these peoples, like the Sicut Judaeis, which protected Jews from mistreatment during the First Crusade, but there were also edicts that harmed Jews as well, like Pope Innocent III's Esti Judaeos, which forbade Jews from eating with Christians or owning Christian slaves. There was also the Pope Eugene IV's Dundum ad nostram audientium, which called for the complete separation of Christians and Jews, and of course the Super Gregrem Dominicum, which invalidated whatever testimony any Jew (or Muslim) would have against Christians.
So, we have here a desert dwelling race of peoples who speak a unique language, have their own unique customs, are shunned by the common populace, and are officially treated like garbage by the religious authority of the land. Because of this many, many parallels, is it really that hard to see the Al Bhed as an allegory for the Jewish people?
But then I got to thinking: are the Al Bhed REALLY an allegory for Jews? Did a Japanese company really research the Jewish people and INTENTIONALLY made the Al Bhed as an allegory for Jews? I did a small amount of research, and did not find anything that could verify this hypothesis. The only thing I found was the fact that Fumi Nakashima, the sub character designer of FFX, wanted to give each race in Spira distinctive clothing styles.
So what does this mean? It means that the idea of the Al Bhed being representative of the Jews is little more than my interpretation, which I got from my limited knowledge of History. And when I stopped to think about the Al Bhed, I came up with a few more interpretations.
The Al Bhed can be seen as Atheists and atheistic ideas trying to survive in a world of blind faith in religious dogma. But then I started diving into this idea, and found some interesting symbolism. If one sees the Al Bhed as pro science, anti religion atheists, and the Church of Yevon as Anti Science, Pro Dogma theists, then one begins to see the game as a bit of a struggle between what is, for all intents and purposes, a giant allegory of the struggle between reason and faith. However, there are several scenes in the game that show that the machina the Al Bhed love so much are absolutely useless against Sin, the main villain of the game. However, it is also made clear near the end that the teachings of Yevon offer no permanent solution to Sin, and that Sin is, for all intents and purposes, eternal. However, this is something I think I'll save for a future blog entry.
Another interpretation that one could see is the Al Bhed can stand in for the Protestants of the 15th century, while Yevon is the Catholic Church. The Al Bhed, like the Protestants, reject the teachings of the Church in favor of doing what they think is right, and for their troubles they got attacked, excommunicated, and made heretics. Or the Al Bhed can be seen as allegory for Japanese Christians during the Edo period, with Yevon being the Shogunate. Or, perhaps more realistically, one could see the Al Bhed as stand ins for the Baha'i Faith while Yevon represents Islam. Or you could see the Al Bhed as being communists, while Yevon is the US government during the Red Scare.
What are the Al Bhed, and what do they represent? The Al Bhed are a stand in for any and every group of people that have ever been persecuted for who they were, what they believed in. The Al Bhed are everyone that has ever been called a name. ever been thrown out of an establishment for no greater crime than being who they were, have been systematically oppressed by a hypocritical establishment that certainly didn't mind benefiting from their contributions. What are the Al Bhed to you? That depends on how you see them. And how you see them depends on your experiences, what you have learned. I saw them as a stand in for the Jews, and also for atheism. What about you? What do you see?
The pictures in this blog contain captions in Al Bhed. If you want to understand what they are saying, here's a link to a website that will help you translate: http://stefangagne.com/albhed.html. My apologies to the owner of the site, I don't have the resources to mirror his site.
Hu uha ihmilgean dryh dra [Al Bhed]!
As is now known, Jews originated from the land we call the Levant, which is the area directly east of the Mediterranean and west of Mesopotamia.. This place is a desert region, currently housing the nations of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel. The history of the Jews can best be summarized as this: moving around a lot and getting crap thrown at them. Ever since before recorded history, Jews have been migrating from region to region, maintaining, with varying degrees of success, their traditions and cultural identity alive. Jews often speak their own language, Hebrew, which they speak to each other.
Like the Al Bhed, Jewish people have not had an easy time in other regions. Their homeland was sacked by various empires, including the Persians, the Romans, the British, and others. They have had to travel the world, often shunned by the locals, and much too often bearing the brunt of hatred. That's not even getting into the hate crimes they have suffered, the systematic attacks they have suffered, like the Pogroms of Russia, or most infamous of all, the Nazi Final Solution. And of course, there exists certain Papal Bulls that speak in regards to the Jews as well. Some of them were meant for protecting these peoples, like the Sicut Judaeis, which protected Jews from mistreatment during the First Crusade, but there were also edicts that harmed Jews as well, like Pope Innocent III's Esti Judaeos, which forbade Jews from eating with Christians or owning Christian slaves. There was also the Pope Eugene IV's Dundum ad nostram audientium, which called for the complete separation of Christians and Jews, and of course the Super Gregrem Dominicum, which invalidated whatever testimony any Jew (or Muslim) would have against Christians.
Bnelg!
So, we have here a desert dwelling race of peoples who speak a unique language, have their own unique customs, are shunned by the common populace, and are officially treated like garbage by the religious authority of the land. Because of this many, many parallels, is it really that hard to see the Al Bhed as an allegory for the Jewish people?
But then I got to thinking: are the Al Bhed REALLY an allegory for Jews? Did a Japanese company really research the Jewish people and INTENTIONALLY made the Al Bhed as an allegory for Jews? I did a small amount of research, and did not find anything that could verify this hypothesis. The only thing I found was the fact that Fumi Nakashima, the sub character designer of FFX, wanted to give each race in Spira distinctive clothing styles.
So what does this mean? It means that the idea of the Al Bhed being representative of the Jews is little more than my interpretation, which I got from my limited knowledge of History. And when I stopped to think about the Al Bhed, I came up with a few more interpretations.
The Al Bhed can be seen as Atheists and atheistic ideas trying to survive in a world of blind faith in religious dogma. But then I started diving into this idea, and found some interesting symbolism. If one sees the Al Bhed as pro science, anti religion atheists, and the Church of Yevon as Anti Science, Pro Dogma theists, then one begins to see the game as a bit of a struggle between what is, for all intents and purposes, a giant allegory of the struggle between reason and faith. However, there are several scenes in the game that show that the machina the Al Bhed love so much are absolutely useless against Sin, the main villain of the game. However, it is also made clear near the end that the teachings of Yevon offer no permanent solution to Sin, and that Sin is, for all intents and purposes, eternal. However, this is something I think I'll save for a future blog entry.
Another interpretation that one could see is the Al Bhed can stand in for the Protestants of the 15th century, while Yevon is the Catholic Church. The Al Bhed, like the Protestants, reject the teachings of the Church in favor of doing what they think is right, and for their troubles they got attacked, excommunicated, and made heretics. Or the Al Bhed can be seen as allegory for Japanese Christians during the Edo period, with Yevon being the Shogunate. Or, perhaps more realistically, one could see the Al Bhed as stand ins for the Baha'i Faith while Yevon represents Islam. Or you could see the Al Bhed as being communists, while Yevon is the US government during the Red Scare.
What are the Al Bhed, and what do they represent? The Al Bhed are a stand in for any and every group of people that have ever been persecuted for who they were, what they believed in. The Al Bhed are everyone that has ever been called a name. ever been thrown out of an establishment for no greater crime than being who they were, have been systematically oppressed by a hypocritical establishment that certainly didn't mind benefiting from their contributions. What are the Al Bhed to you? That depends on how you see them. And how you see them depends on your experiences, what you have learned. I saw them as a stand in for the Jews, and also for atheism. What about you? What do you see?
The pictures in this blog contain captions in Al Bhed. If you want to understand what they are saying, here's a link to a website that will help you translate: http://stefangagne.com/albhed.html. My apologies to the owner of the site, I don't have the resources to mirror his site.
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