You may be on to something with the actions/motivations distinction. In certain circumstances, I can totally see Azula doing just that; actually doing something that would help people but for her own selfish reasons. Could I see her becoming selfless? - not really. Could she recognize her emotional shortcomings and choose this path as a way to deal with them? That I don't know. Maybe one day, if she became mature enough... If she recognized her inability to feel compassion and empathy and choose to do charitable work both for her grandeur AND as a way to do something considered "noble", would that be a good motivation? And no, the majority of the people she helped probably wouldn't care.
It just proves that there are few things that are clearly black or white. People, actions, motivations... it's rarely simple, and different view points may both look justified from their own perspective.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2014-09-18 04:48 pm (UTC)You may be on to something with the actions/motivations distinction. In certain circumstances, I can totally see Azula doing just that; actually doing something that would help people but for her own selfish reasons. Could I see her becoming selfless? - not really. Could she recognize her emotional shortcomings and choose this path as a way to deal with them? That I don't know. Maybe one day, if she became mature enough... If she recognized her inability to feel compassion and empathy and choose to do charitable work both for her grandeur AND as a way to do something considered "noble", would that be a good motivation? And no, the majority of the people she helped probably wouldn't care.
It just proves that there are few things that are clearly black or white. People, actions, motivations... it's rarely simple, and different view points may both look justified from their own perspective.