“Only Justice can bring Peace”
When Aang receives these words from Avatar Kyoshi, he remarks, “I knew I shouldn’t have asked Kyoshi.” Why does he remark it this way? I believe it is because she is Aang’s opposite. Aang is an airbender and Kyoshi is an earthbender and they are conflicting elements. They’re each other’s opposites.
The air likes to roam around free while the earth stays put and does not move. Fire is all about will and individuality as opposed to water which consists of flow and togetherness. Each of these elements are unique and have qualities that no other element has.
When Aang learns to Earth Bend, he finds himself having the most trouble with it because it runs contrary to his nature. In a fight, he instinctually evades and dodges his opponents’ attacks, and for the most part, he doesn’t stand his ground in any fight. Aang will not be confrontational when an argument happens unless he absolutely has to and for the most part he is fine letting Sokka or someone else do the planning and leading the day-to-day activities.
I believe we are all like Aang in that everyone belongs to one of the four elements. There are those of us, who like Aang are free spirited and there are others who are enduring and persistent. There are some, like me, who burn intensely and passionately and others, like my opposite, who goes with the flow and see things more from an intuitive point of view.
We all belong to one of these elements and because of that, we view the other ones differently. There are all sorts of qualities I see in people that I admire and share with, but there are also qualities in people that I can’t stand or have a hard time understanding and other people will have different reactions to those same qualities.
Depending on your element, some traits will be easier to take on than others. Being a fire type, the qualities of water I have the hardest time trying to apply in my life and I’m sure a water type will have the hardest time implementing the traits that come naturally to me.
Balance is the moral of Avatar the Last Airbender. Aang eventually learns to earth bend by bringing that side out of him with the guidance of his teacher, Toph. He learns this and all the other elements to bring balance not only to the world, but to himself and he’s not the only one going through that transformation. Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Zuko all get this same transformation as well throughout the show. They incorporated that into their lives and became better people because of it and not only that, but they became better benders as well. Robin Matz made the brilliant comment on a YouTube video of the fight between Katara and Hama (will link the video below) saying that Katara was thinking like an earth bender when she simply stood her ground and blocked one of Hama’s attack. I think this is what we have to do with our lives as well. Though Aang will always be an air nomad, and thus an air bender by heart, he became the person he was meant to be by learning to understand and use the aspects that make the other elements unique, including the resoluteness and persistence of his opposite element, earth.
“It is important to draw wisdom from many different places, if we take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale. Understanding others, the other elements, and the other nations, will help you become whole.”
-Iroh
Hama vs Katara
Gabriel's Blog 