Kokoro no Guntou >> Extras

Why chose Dorothy?

As I may have said before, or somewhere else, I used to hate Dorothy.  I don’t quite remember why. But if you think about it, it’s quite pointless to waste your energy hating a character that is not real. 

Of course that doesn’t mean that you have to like her. But maybe you should realize what Dorothy’s past must have been like.  Her father died and no one quite knows what happened to her mother. That leaves her all alone at a very young age. But, what do we have here, Duke Dermeil ‘rescues’ her and raises her, as he is her grandfather.

Now think about, Dorothy lost her parents at such a young and naive age. It’s only obvious that she would fall to his beliefs. A parent’s (or guardian’s) actions always rub off on a young child, because a parent is the child’s biggest rolemodel. Of course she would start to ‘love war’.

But in fact, she doesn’t.  As Quatre points out in the last episode (or the second to last), Dorothy hates war. So you can’t quite hate Dorothy for loving war.

In fact, all Dorothy was trying to do was show humanity a war so great and so destructive that they would never want to fight again.  I even have proof, quotes from the script (found at gundamwing.org)

Dorothy: Show humanity a war so lamentable that they would have no wish to see its like ever again!

Quatre: Is that... what this battle is about?

Dorothy: That's right! Taking away all the weapons won't stop wars. You have to change the hearts of the people, otherwise they'll be destroyed like my father.

Quatre: You're... more kind... than me....

Dorothy: It doesn't make me any happier just because you say that! This compassion is just a deterrant to living! People should only have to worry about staying alive.

Quatre: Dorothy.... You're like me.... hating fighting... but never able to exonerate yourself for
your gentleness.... but... you can't deny your gentle nature.... Trowa has taught me that.... you have to accept everything.... humanity needs that quality... or else... there is no reason to exist.... isn't that so? The remaining humans... would be no better than animals.....

My other reason for this Dorothy shrine is because, Dorothy obviously loved her family greatly.  She just shows it a bit differently. She had to love her grandfather, otherwise she might not follow his beliefs. But, she learns to move on quickly, knowing that he would not want her to cry for him.

Dorothy says, “You have to change the hearts of people.” All along, she was only trying to help the ‘people’ she’s referring to, by showing them that war is a terrible thing. The only way she could do that is to give them the war. How can you hate that?  How can you hate someone who was only trying to help in the first place?

So, my conclusion is, maybe Dorothy isn’t so bad after all.