Following up the previous post, the Straw Hats being open about fighting Arlong’s crew simply because they made Nami cry is not only a sign of good friendship but also demonstrates their belief in the validity of emotional value. The impetus for the battle was not directly the fish people’s oppressive actions towards the people of Cocoyashi, but was the way in which those actions made Nami feel. The objective or tangible results of Arlong’s actions, such as the villagers living in perpetual fear & poverty, are only secondary motivators that give the Straw Hats confidence in their decision, while the primary driver is the emotional state of one of their crew. It is likely that Luffy would want to help free Cocoyashi no matter what, especially if anyone on the island requested his assistance, not just his friend, but seeing Nami crying in despair made the issue more personal and dire.
What I found most enlightening in this episode was noticing the distinctly different personality types in the Straw Hats as they approach this battle together being their first major conflict since Sanji joined the crew. While Nami is not present here, we know that she is already an incredibly complex character, blending her deep compassion for her community with her flexible moral compass into a Robin Hood-esque mentality of lying, cheating, & stealing in order to help the innocent people she holds dear. It reminds me of Soren Kierkegaard’s “teleological suspension of the ethical” on which I wrote my college philosophy final about, positing that the Blues Brothers are the ideal Christians for the same willingness to lie, cheat, & steal in order to save the orphanage they grew up in from being demolished.
A defining moment demonstrating the other 4’s personality types is when Sanji saves Luffy from Octojohn and then calls Luffy an idiot. Sanji loves to run his mouth & talk shit, such as when he tells Octojohn about how he would cook him into a snack to enjoy while drinking alcohol; not a delicacy or full meal, just a casual snack he may not even remember eating the next morning. Growing up around the sailor chefs who are always rude to each other has absolutely informed Sanji’s use of language & communication, so insulting an enemy and insulting a friend may sound similar, but there is a distinct use of context to indicate more than the surface level of his words. Still, Sanji speaks from emotion in either situation.
Conversely, although Zoro is very quick to agree with Sanji that Luffy is an idiot, Zoro has a much more reserved attitude about the subject and nothing to prove to anyone. He isn’t necessarily afraid to voice his rude opinions about his captain, but he also would not be the one to bring it up because it isn’t a particularly important thing to him. He is aware of Luffy’s sometimes immature personality, but has great respect for his heart & ideals, so the often silly choices he makes are easily forgivable by Zoro, who keeps his mind focused on important details, even in the midst of combat. When Luffy is thrown into the water, Sanji immediately reacts, beginning to dive into the water to save him, but Zoro calmly reminds him that the fish people would have the advantage and that the smart move is to finish the combat before trying to save their captain.
Usopp, on the other hand, never seems to have much of a plan at all, and is also quick to defend Luffy’s honor when the other 2 are insulting him. Sanji & Zoro consider being brutally honest a friendly trait, whereas Usopp includes polite & supportive language to be a critical element of his loyalty to his captain. Usopp very much will make crass bluffs when he believes it will help his goals, but would never just insult a potential enemy to their face simply because he is upset with them. Quite the opposite, in fact, he is typically willing to say anything they want if it might help him survive a little longer. Even still, his method of being “cowardly one minute & brave the next” offers its own advantages by throwing his opponents off-guard so he can surprise attack them. He is innately filled with more reactive fear than the other Straw Hats, trying to avoid combat when possible, but would never try to escape a difficult challenge if people need his help.
Whole Luffy has many of the same immature & childish tendencies of both Usopp & Sanji, such as when he yells “ouchie” after being hit, he also has much of Zoro’s calm pragmatism, as well as Nami’s flexible morals. When Sanji calls him an idiot, he doesn’t respond or even acknowledge the insult because it doesn’t matter or affect the battle and Sanji is his friend so there is no malice to interpret, as far as Luffy is concerned. The Straw Hat captain uses clever methods, such as grounding his feet in the concrete, yells insults at Arlong, stay focused on the problem at hand, and will do anything he can to help the people he loves, ultimately embodying characteristics of the rest of the crew. In many ways, he may be learning how to be a better pirate from his own crew, but in another sense, he chose his crew based on their similarity to his own personality.
Last note, I talk a lot about how much reputation matters in the One Piece world, and I really enjoyed how Octojohn recognized Luffy as “that guy who likes to take walks.” Luffy was a new person on the island that Arlong’s crew had never met before, but they remembered as much as they could because of how much these details matter in the setting. If a new person only describes themselves as enjoying walks, then that becomes their own defining characteristic, something that other people would use to describe them, something that sets them apart from others. The way that we describe ourselves and each other absolutely matters in how we are perceived by others and how we perceive each other, as well as how people perceive people they have never met based on verbal descriptions. While this specific reputation is not especially vital, it is still an example of word-of-mouth rhetoric and how it spreads.