Joanah Eresechima - Naruto and the Second Self

While reading Somewhere I’ve never Travelled, I became interested in the concept of the second self. According to the book, the second self is complementary to the first self and their integration creates a unity that is stronger than the two of them separately. But this comes only after the first self can accept this second self. I am not completely confident about this comparison but what popped into my mind was the anime Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki is a boy who dreams of becoming the leader of his village, the Hidden Leaf. The only problem is that he has a dangerous beast that is sealed inside of him that attack the Hidden Leaf before he was born, causing him to be ostracized by his village. What I’m thinking is that Kurama is Naruto’s second self. For one, their first encounter matches the dynamic of the second self discussed in the book where the second self appears when the first self is most vulnerable to its influence. Their first official meeting occurs when Naruto is thrown off a cliff and needs to tap into Kurama’s power in order not to die. Naruto is visibly scared of the beast but is courageous enough to demand its power since it’s residing in his body. Another dynamic is that the two parts complement each other. Naruto is weak and annoyingly overconfident due to his inexperience, and fights to be acknowledged. On the other hand, Kurama doesn’t have anything to prove; he’s lived many years and people fear him because of how powerful he is. Throughout the story, when Naruto gets desperate, Kurama gives Naruto some of his power, but the tradeoff is that Naruto loses control of him. At one point, Naruto ends up injuring one of his friends, and he vows to only rely on his own power. However, this doesn’t work. No matter how hard he tries to fight it, he once again gets consumed by this power. At another point, he reinforces the seal and Kurama’s hatred only grows stronger. Naruto has become stronger at this point but it’s obvious that he’s not at the strongest he could be. The turmoil between the two is only holding Naruto back. It’s only once Naruto truly confronts the fox, determined to end the cycle of hatred that had not only taken his friend away but also prevented Kurama from opening up to him that Kurama actually reconsidered his relationship with Naruto. Kurama has grown to hate humans due to their treatment of him, which is one of the reasons he attacked the Hidden Leaf. Despite being ostracized at a young age, Naruto loves his village and becomes a ninja because he wants to protect the people in it. Naruto is different from the other people he has been sealed into. Since he has been inside Naruto his entire life, he understands him the most and knows he is being genuine. So, in the end, Kurama opens up to Naruto and the boy can finally break the seal, combining the two parts into one whole.

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