Symbolism

Death Note is full of symbolism, from the Christian and Roman overtones (Apples, Divine Rule and the Shinigami Realm) to literary masterpieces (MacBeth, Julius Caesar and Sherlock Holmes), Death Note has become one of the few animes to have extremely deep roots in both American and Japanese cultures.

The most obvious symbols used in the series are Apples and the conflicting ideals of Justice between L and Kira.

Apples are complex symbols, having a variety of meanings and incorporations within a variety of contexts. They can mean knowledge, wisdom, luxury, joy, and/or death. In Greek mythology, apples appear repeatedly: the goddess Hera received an apple as a gift of fertility upon her engagement to Zeus, King of all Gods. Apples, in regards to the Garden of Eden, were the first symbol of temptation and Original Sin (note that this was an oversight by Ohba, as the actual forbidden fruit was a pomegranate). In secular ideology, apples function as a symbol for totality, as in the "cosmos" or "universe", due to their nearly perfect spherical shape.

The apples in Death Note could also be a reference to the apple in the film, Snow White and the Seven Drawfs. The evil witch tells Snow White that the apple is a magic wishing apple, which can make all of her dreams come true. However, the reality is that the apple is poisonous.

Justice has many underlying meanings. To understand the concept completely, we must first examine the origin of law begun by Hammurabi of Babylon (1795 BCE) as well as the Bible (Old Testament: 450 BCE, New Testament: 45-140 CE). In addition, we must also analyze the various goddesses of Justice: Ma'At (Egypt), Themis (Greek), and Justitia (Roman).

The first written code of laws was written by Hammurabi of Babylon, whose name translates to "the kinsman that heals." He is the first (known) historical creator of what we call Justice, or Law. His code of laws are still in practice by people all over the world to this very day, whether they know it or not. Without Hammurabi, laws and morality would probably not exist as they do today. That is how important his work was to the entire planet.

The Bible came along over a millenium (1000 years) after the time of Hammurabi and Babylon. Beginning with the Old Testament (a.k.a. the Talmud, Torah or Talkh). In circa 450 BCE, Moses' "10 Commandments" became the earliest concept of morality, not law. If one were to give a poll asking most of humanity: "What is right and what is wrong?", and the majority will generally tell you something along the lines of what is stated in the "10 Commandments."

Many of the details beyond the "10 Commandments" were vastly expanded upon, as well as changed by, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. His teachings discarded many Jewish notions of law and justice, even though he was once a Jew himself. For instance, in the Old Testament: "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." In the New Testament, Jesus' mantra is "Turn the other cheek." This is a vast contrast to the old ways, which were beliefs based almost entirely in Judaism.

Many other contributions have been made since then, including: Rome's creation of the original justice system, the Confucian belief system and philosophy as well as America and it's ideal-driven culture.



Written exclusively by Mogturmen 21:38, 26 September 2008 (UTC).