|
I love the word "vocation". Etymologically, it's similar to "voce" (voice). Literally, it's a "calling."
When Sheryl answers Alto's question about the reasons why people choose to sing or fly in episode 5, it's the same idea. Analyze all you want; you don't need a reason to love something. Sometimes, it just calls (sings) out to you.
When you're young, it's easy to let your parents define your world. Win their approval, or rebel against them. It's a binary choice. Either way, you're still trapped under in a sky with ceilings and walls. Run towards, or run away. Either way, you're still running.
Piloting is something that Alto genuinely wants to do. It's not to give up kabuki to spite his father. It's not to protect Ranka from the Vajra (nor does she want to protected from them).
There's a third option. Do neither. Be yourself. Justify nothing. The scene in which Alto sees his father in a wheelchair in episode 23 is an important one, in that he realizes that his dad is just a man. There was never a battle to be won between them. Alto flies because he wants to. He defends Frontier because he wants to. Piloting is his vocation, his calling. He flies, like Sheryl sings... because he was meant to.
|