Need Or Deserved

Love-Needed or Deserved?

Who in their right mind would say someone doesn’t need or deserve love? No one would, right? Of course not. Everyone deserves someone, everyone needs someone else. That is a part of life. That is not the point of this essay. The point is, who “needs” or who “deserves” love more-Zuko or Aang? Do any of them need or deserve it?

Do They Need Love?

For starters, let’s look at Zuko. Does he need love? Or is it just something that we tell ourselves so that we feel better about it?

As a Zutarian once said, “A person needs to be loved the most when he deserves it the least.” So, does Zuko need love? Yes, he does.

He has been thru more in his life, in the past few years really, than most people go thru in their entire lives. To start off with, his mother disappeared without any reason just because she tried to protect him. Zuko knew nothing about what happened to her, except that she wasn’t around anymore. His father said nothing about where she was. (Until more recently.) So, for six years Zuko had no clue of where she was or if she was even alive. Do you know how hard that is for someone?

Not to mention, his family, the ones that were supposed to be there for him and protect him, wanted nothing more than to see him dead. (Besides Iroh and Ursa, of course) I don’t know about you, but that can be bad for someone. Living day to day knowing your own father not only wanted you dead, but was going to kill you. Imagine growing up in that kind of an environment. Not exactly the best one to have.

If that wasn’t bad enough, his own sister not only loved to torture him, but also wanted him dead. You know, most people play with their sisters and brothers. Maybe have a rough fight or two, but not so far as to have the desire of killing them. Do you know any?

And this was the type of environment that Zuko grew up in? As Toph says, It’s no wonder he isn’t in worse condition. Thru most of his life, the people that were supposed to love him, rejected him.

The one time he stood up for what was right, he should have been thanked by his father for standing up, supported for his decision. Instead this “loving” father chose to not only scar Zuko, but also to banish his own son, the heir to the throne. All because he defended the country he loved so much. Ironically, it’s interesting to note that later on, this country which Zuko is trying to save, rejected him.

His own family, his own country, has hated him, hunted him, done anything in their power to try to destroy him. The one thing he truly wanted in life was love from his father, which was denied by Ozai. Out of everyone, Iroh and Ursa are the only ones to love Zuko. And they aren’t even around right now.

And Aang? Does he need love? I think both Kataangers and Zutaraians would agree on one thing. Of course he needs love! Why wouldn’t he?

Everything he has held dear, he has cherished, was destroyed. Why? Because he did nothing to stop it. He ran away. It would be one thing if it was just his family, or maybe a few close friends. Was it? No. It was EVERYTHING.

Imagine waking up one day, just seems like a normal average day to you, and you find out your family, friends, home, entire culture and people were destroyed. Everything you loved, everything that says who you are, is gone, vanished. Have you ever had that?

If that isn’t bad enough, come to find out, you could have done something about it to stop it. You now have this guilt inside of you because you were too scared to do anything about it and you ran like a little child.

That is exactly what happened with Aang. He wakes up one day to find not only his family, his parents, his mentor, his friends, his culture is gone. That’s something unfathomable. Because no matter what, there are still people out there of the same culture as you. There are still Mexicans, Germans, Japanese, whatever it is; there are still some out there. Imagine for a moment if there were you were the last of your kind, the last Mexican, the last German, or the last Japanese.

It’s one thing to lose your family or your friends. It’s another to lose an entire culture, an entire heritage. That’s something Aang had to find on his own. Then to know that all because of you, there has been a war going on for 100 years because you did nothing to stop it. Oh, and did I mention he is only 12?

Don’t you think that is a bit much for a twelve year old to have to deal with? Would you want your twelve year old to have to deal with that?

Do They Deserve Love?

Let’s start with Aang this time. Does he deserve love? I would seriously smack your face if you said no. Of course he deserves love! After everything he has been thru, not only does he need it, he deserves it!

He has to deal with the “weight of the world” on his shoulders. I don’t know anyone who has to deal with that. It’s not just figuratively either. It’s literally. He, a 12 year old boy, has to single-handedly save an entire world that is doomed, defeat a horrible monster, and somehow bring peace to the world.

Imagine that kind of responsibility trusted upon you. You alone have the duty to destroy someone and save the world. And, you have a time limit to do so. Nice feeling, right? Oh, and in order to do so, you have to give up the one person you love.

Yeah, I pretty much say he deserves some love.

What about Zuko? Does he deserve love?

I say, yes he does. He has gone thru so much in his life. And where most who have dealt with the same would break down, it has changed him for the better. Not just his personality, but his entire look on things. He is no longer seeing things clouded, as it were, but sees things clearly as they were meant to be.

There is nothing holding him back. He knows his duty, he knows his responsibility, and he finally knows what is right. No longer is he doing things just to please his father, as he once did. But he does them because deep down, he knows they are the right thing to do.

Not to mention, he abandoned the life he loved and the girl he loved to be humiliated by a pissed-off girl, giving up his rank, title, and lifestyle to once again, run for his life and, along with Aang, bring peace to the world. That’s something. Who else willingly gives up their high title of being a Prince they have worked so hard to regain only to go back to running for their lives? Oh, and by the way, he also has to face his family who has hated him and destroy them.

So, they both need and deserve love. The question is not if they need or deserve it, but who needs or deserves it more?