The Destruction of the Greatfish Isle
An island torn into pieces, fragmented into more than half - water flowing through many of these newly created sections. Stormy rain falling as a torrent, as if trying to erase the memory of the former isle. Jabun, the sole inhabitant apparently, had fled the destruction upon forewarning of danger. This isle in question is Greatfish Isle from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. The video game posits the action as evil but we have an idea of the true perpetrator - Ganondorf ordered the island's utter destruction in hopes of finding Jabun, guardian of the isle. He is very much an instrument of evil but in this story we see Ganondorf as ultimately human with a clear intellectual direction; he takes on elements of evil but cannot be distinguished truly from humanity.
This destruction of the island, whether perpetrated by evil or not, reflects utter environmental degradation. In the Wind Waker, there are dramatic changes in the weather where a clear day will become a stormy night and for time there is no day - during that part of the game where there is only stormy night and no day. This potentially reflects the impact humans have on the climate. Another example that comes to mind is from the Simpsons where Mr. Burns tries to block out the sun forever. Climate change - when viewed macroscopically - does include desertification and other effects, especially hydrological effects. But the destruction of the island reflects more than mere climate change - after all, it was literally torn asunder; it constitutes a more extreme extension of climate change. Tearing the land open reflects the ultimate land degradation. Such an act represents a callous disregard for the environment - akin to, perhaps on a smaller scale, the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which can also be thought of as environmentally detrimental - and therefore reveals a perception that humanity matters more than the land. Even if humanity depends on the land, suggesting a selfishness behind the isle's irrevocable change. Though the environment can be restored or even possible regenerate, catastrophic degradation can set it back a lot. Greatfish Isle therefore cannot simply return to its former state. Even with Ganondorf defeated, Jabun does not return to his now-destroyed home.
Other subjects in the Wind Waker make for interesting environmental analysis. For example, Ganondorf throws the world into disarray in many ways. One prominent example is the change in wind patterns and the apparent appearance of air pollution on Dragon Roost Island when Valoo is tormented by a then-unknown disturbance. Taking this scene as a metaphor, it could say something about invasive species and biodiversity, which does fit in with other themes found in the game (if read a particular way). This mini-post represents the first in a series on environmental themes in the Legend of Zelda series, which may or may not continue. But within this paragraph is a potential second post.
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Update
Hello, everyone. I'm sorry that I have not updated in over a month, despite having made the promise of still trying to post weekly or something. This post represents starting a new series that I had planned to for a while. I intend to add more blog posts hopefully once this week is done and I am more free. I likely have a lot to talk about but I will, in some consolation, show the reports and such I have been working on. (The ones that I wish to be show will be linked in a future post.)
School is nearing the end so (quality) free time may become an occurrence again .
