#we had 2 choose a character w a physical mark/disability and analyze what it represents

[dumbass-extraordinaire]

Marked for Greatness: FMA

In the manga Fullmetal Alchemist, protagonist Edward “Ed” Elric is an alchemist with two prosthetic limbs, an arm and a leg.  Ed lost his limbs when he and his younger brother, Alphonse, tried to use alchemy to resurrect their dead mother through a forbidden process called “human transmutation”.  One of the rules of alchemy is equivalent exchange, meaning you must give as much as you take, and there is nothing equivalent in value to a human soul.  In short, the dead don’t come back.  Ed meets Truth, a god-like being that grants him hidden knowledge of alchemy but takes his left leg and Alphonse’s whole body.  When Ed realizes Alphonse is gone, he gives up his right arm in exchange for his brother’s soul, which he bonds to an empty suit of armor.  The rest of the series follows the two brothers as they work to find a way to get their original bodies back.

Ed is an alchemical genius, and he is very prideful.  He assumes that he is smart enough to succeed where all others have failed, and he and his brother suffer because of it.  His prosthetic leg is a constant reminder of the toll his hubris has taken on his body; his arm, and by extension Alphonse’s armored body, serve to remind him of how his hubris can negatively affect the people he loves.  Even though he had the best of intentions, he still violated a taboo and was punished for it.  And when all is said and done, even though Ed gives up his alchemical abilities so that he and his brother may regain their bodies, he still doesn’t get his leg back.  He must live with that constant reminder of his hubris until he dies.  Science without ethics and compassion are bound to cause pain, as Ed learns over and over again.  But his prosthetics are also symbolic of his love for others.  Ed and Alphonse only committed the taboo because they wanted to see their mother’s smile again.  Ed gave up his arm so that he would not lose his little brother after the ritual went awry.  Winry, Ed’s childhood best friend, quite literally builds him up by fixing his prosthetics everytime they break.  If Ed’s greatest vice is his pride, then his greatest virtue is his love for the people in his life.  His prosthetics represent these two facets of his personality, and Ed’s journey throughout the manga lead him to value his bonds with other people over his once-prized alchemical genius; in the end, this love is what saves him.

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