Violet Evergarden - An Personal Literary Analysis

Villar, Nicolas (2019, October 13)

Shared link: https://tinyurl.com/lcfaith-c36-violetevergarden

Introduction
Violet Evergarden (2018) shows the viewer what love is, through the eyes of a young
protagonist, Violet Evergarden: a female ex-soldier who was trained as an emotionless assassin.
Through 1 season with 14 episodes, having 20 minutes in each, love is slowly but surely explained
to the protagonist, aiming for the viewer to deeply and emotionally sympathize with them.

I. Violet in A New World

In the first three episodes, Violet is introduced to a world without warfare. She
wants to learn the meaning of love, as the last words of her comrade and caretaker, Major
Bougainvillea, were that he loved her. With the help of Bougainvillea’s friend, Colonel
Hodgins, she takes a job of ghostwriting, helping others write down their ideas on letters
through typewriting. The title of the job is being an “Auto Memory Doll”, as they usually
dress as a compassionate doll to help their clients convey their ideas.

II. Love: Familial Care

On the third episode, Violet learns that letters are used to communicate feelings,
not just reports or ideas. A fellow Auto Memory Doll, Luculia, struggles to tell her alcoholic
brother that she is still thankful for his support for her through the years of their youth.
Luculia has too much thoughts to say, but Violet ghostwrites her brother a very short, yet
meaningful letter, saying “To my brother, I’m happy, I’m happy that you’re alive. Thank
you.”

On the fourth episode, Violet goes with her fellow Doll friend Iris to the province to
ghostwrite. It was a request for Iris, but she has had her arm bandaged from an accident,
allowing Violet to accompany her. To Iris’ amazement, the anonymous ghostwriting
request was from her mother, hoping for her to come back and visit them. Through a few
disagreements with her family and Violet as well, she asks Violet to ghostwrite an apology
and thankfulness letter.

Through both these episodes, Violet learns through her two friends about familial
love: how short and long letters alike can be heartfelt and truly meaningful, especially if
one was distant, silent, or separated from one’s family.

III. Love: Moments Created Together

Through the sixth and seventh episodes, Violet explores (separately) that love is
about creating moments with your friends or your loved ones. In the sixth episode, she
spends a night in an observatory, where she meets Leon and shares sights and stories,
under a bright comet in a starry sky.
 In the seventh episode, she helps a famous writer, Oscar, make a story for
children. As Oscar struggles with alcoholic tendencies after the death of his daughter,
Violet helps his cultivate his creative and wholesome side through reminding him about
the wonderful memories he made with his daughter.

IV. Love: Longing, Loss, and Loneliness

Violet only discovers in the eighth and ninth episodes that her comrade and
caretaker, Major Bougainvillea, died in the war that recently ended. She doubts herself,
being one who took many lives without any hesitation. However, her colleagues reassure
her that she has truly made an impact in the new life she has been leading: for others, and
for herself too.

Your memories are dyed

in mistakes that can’t be undone
The wound may ache and throb at times

But the warmth won't fade either

It lives on in your memories
Countless loves will save your heart
So don't forget to move forward to tomorrow
You have the courage to embrace everything... Believe in it

Source:
an excerpt from “Believe In” - Aria Yuuki (English Lyrics)
Violet Evergarden (2018), Episode 9

“I had many burns all over my body. Is it okay? Do I… Do I have a right to live?”
“You can’t erase the past. But all your accomplishments as an Auto Memory Doll shall
never be forgotten either.”

-Colonel Hodgins to Violet, in Violet Evergarden (2018)

this is where I cried so much. I still do cry whenever I think about it (ಥ﹏ಥ)

V: Love: Building Your Loved Ones Up

In the tenth episode, Violet helps prepare multiple letters from a dying mother to
an unrevealed recipient. Anne, the mother’s daughter, believes she is being ignored.
However, after the mother finishes all these letters, she spends the rest of her ill life with
Anne. Later in the story, Anne discovers that her mother has been writing her birthday
letters in advance. Violet’s colleagues discover that Violet and the mother had been
preparing letters for 50 years ahead.

The next episodes feature Violet stopping a civil war from reigniting, however in
the last episode of the story, the thirteenth episode shows Violet wholeheartedly accepting
 Gilbert’s death. Here, it is revealed to Violet that love is about preparing your loved ones
to live in the outside world, for better or for worse.

References:
Internet Movie Database (2018), Violet Evergarden season 1. Retrieved from
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7078180/episodes?season=1&ref_=tt_eps_sn_1

Anime Song Lyrics (2018), Believe In (English Lyrics). Retrieved from

https://www.animesonglyrics.com/violet-evergarden/believe-in

Springfield! Springfield! (2018). Violet Evergarden Episode Scripts. Retrieved from

https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/episode_scripts.php?tv-show=violet-evergarden-
2018