A think piece of sorts
Someday, someone will appear, carrying the history of all those decades on his back, and challenge this whole world to a fight. — Edward Newgate.
Men underneath the sea, islands in the sky, marine admirals made of light, and a city on the back of a giant elephant; Welcome, Ladies & Gentlemen, to the incredible world of One Piece.
Unless you’ve been living underneath a colossal rock, you’ve probably heard of Eiichiro Oda’s action-packed adventure story. It follows the journey of Monkey D Luffy and his Strawhat Pirates in their attempts to locate the legendary One Piece, a treasure of yet unknown nature.
To the untrained eye, it appears to be a stereotypical shounen story. It sells the trope of a simple-minded yet driven protagonist who overcomes obstacle after obstacle through sheer willpower and friendship
Piece By Piece
A more in-depth observation of the story reveals the stunning political allegories shrouded underneath the incredible world-building and action-packed fistfights.
A recurring theme in One Piece lore is oppression and exploitation. From Arlong’s brutality at Arlong Park, the struggle for land in Skypiea, the racism the Fishmen endure, and the classist dictatorship in Wano. “Deliver us” seems to be the cry wherever the protagonist finds himself.
By using parallels of contemporary society, Eiichiro Oda unravels the degrees of prejudice and their effect on the commoners with the most enthralling stories.
Nasty Pieces of Work
We’re introduced to the Marines quite early in the story. They were in charge of executing the pirate king. Touted as defenders of the weak and enemies of the villainous pirates. Yet as the story unfolds, so do the motivations behind the might of the sea.
We learn that the main reason they exist is not to ensure peace. They use violence to protect and defend the interests of the Celestial Dragons — Arrogant, inbred aristocrats who behave as though the world is theirs for the taking because… genealogy.
It‘s debatable that the Celestial Dragons are the worst antagonists in the story. They enslave thousands, are racist to whomever they please, and commit the most heinous crimes with no retribution. Anyone — ruler or not — who attempts to defy them, gets destroyed with the full might of the Marines as an act of warning.
The Celestial Dragons, led by the Gorosei, who are five special Celestial Dragons, are in charge of handling the affairs of the World Government.
The World Government, a collection of over 170 countries, controls the military might of the world. Being totalitarians obsessed with keeping their knowledge of past events a secret, they unleash their firepower on whoever goes looking to uncover said secrets.
In their utilization of brute force and censorship, the only ones able to stand up to them are the pirates.
Pieces of Eight
As interesting as the World Government is, the pirates are the true driving force of the story.
Daring men and women who rushed out to sea in search of adventure and the promise of treasure yet contend against the rulers of the world who prefer them subservient to their order.
Oda brilliantly portrays the struggle between the World Government, and Pirates not as a fight between the “good” pirates and the “evil” government or vice versa but rather as a more complex clash of interests. He conveys to us instead, the potential for darkness within the average man, regardless of their political affiliation.
The protagonist himself is an unconventional symbol of resistance against oppressive authority.
A pirate, yet without the stereotypical character profile which includes looting and murder, who leads his crew in their adventures from island to island, liberating each one from a different oppressor. Monkey D Luffy‘s simplistic view of the world is the backbone of most of his revolutionary work.
His desire for unbound freedom combined with righteous indignation at seeing even the lowliest of society treated poorly makes him an incredible liberator.
The Final Piece of The Puzzle
nherited will & influence are huge thematic devices in the story. They spur the protagonist and countless others to the seas to rebel against the world. It’s what the revolutionary army utilizes to spring up civilian support for their cause.
Inherited will is the ideology that is passed down from generation to generation. The belief is that the fight for freedom isn’t dependent on one sole person, but rather on countless people across time. As the Pirate King himself puts it, “Someone will be born, and that person will surpass us”.
The theme of inherited will is a perfect mirror of the revolutionary struggle in our world. Countless freedom fighters & revolutionaries died without seeing what they fought for come to fruition, yet they pushed on.
The belief that as long as those who will rise in contention against these oppressive powers that be exist, the hope of an eventual world where we’re free of exploiters continues.
From the stories of heroes like The Suffragettes, Angela Davis, Malcolm X & Sankara, millions are inspired to rebel against oppressive authority, and the tides of freedom will not ebb as long as some benefit from said oppression no matter how many are killed or imprisoned.
Won Peace
Mirroring the search for the One Piece, our struggle for socio-political freedom continues to this day. From the oppression by neo-colonial Europeans in Sub-Saharan Africa, the war in Palestine, and the fight for the autonomy of women in Iran, numerous people around the world still struggle for the day that they can, at last, be free.
In first-world countries, the oligarchs through the financial monsters of Blackrock, Vanguard & State Street continue to amass and control more wealth at the cost of the environment while they make plans to leave the earth or live forever.
The nature of history warns that change is constant. The people on whose backs the elite build their wealth and influence will eventually rise one day and shake the balance of the world.
Whether it be the Celestial Dragons up in Mariejois, the corporate oligarchs in their Hightower offices, or the Windsors in Buckingham, the oppressors will be yanked from their golden thrones.
