He was smiling as he listened but at that question...
Iroh found another seat and brought it over, before bringing them both tea. It wasn't that he wasn't going to answer. He was. It just wasn't a simple thing to answer. And he was trying to figure out how exactly to explain it. He knew that it cast their family in a bad light. A very bad light; while he was used to that by now...
He sipped his tea and then set it down, arranging himself in his chair before he spoke. "Part of how you grew up was because you are a prince, Zuko. But some of what people outside the Fire Nation might see as odd about how you were raised is the same for all the Fire Nation children of your generation. Dancing, music, art. These, and many other things are passions, prince Zuko. For many they can consume a person's life. We were taught to believe this is a bad thing. And if you want to bend those people into warriors who follow your every order, they are."
He tugged lightly on his beard in thought. "Take yourself for an example. Your father taught you that what mattered was his opinion of you, your honor - as he defined it, and your duties to the Fire Nation. Had other things mattered strongly to you, then perhaps I could have convinced you to set aside your hunt for the Avatar. Who knows how things might have turned out then," he mused, then waved that aside.
"Had you been interested in dance or music, as examples, you would have learned that they can be used to communicate. If you came across someone using Water Bending to create music, you might have stopped to listen, you might have spoken to them as a person you could respect, rather than a potential subject to subjugate. The fewer interests we have not tied directly to the glory of the Fire Nation, the easier we are to control. The easier it is for us to see people who are not part of the Fire Nation as other. Lesser. It is my hope, Zuko, that when you serve as Fire Lord you shall welcome in other passions, and learning from around the world. Our world has had too much of war, and too little of music."
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2021-06-03 08:33 pm (UTC)Iroh found another seat and brought it over, before bringing them both tea. It wasn't that he wasn't going to answer. He was. It just wasn't a simple thing to answer. And he was trying to figure out how exactly to explain it. He knew that it cast their family in a bad light. A very bad light; while he was used to that by now...
He sipped his tea and then set it down, arranging himself in his chair before he spoke. "Part of how you grew up was because you are a prince, Zuko. But some of what people outside the Fire Nation might see as odd about how you were raised is the same for all the Fire Nation children of your generation. Dancing, music, art. These, and many other things are passions, prince Zuko. For many they can consume a person's life. We were taught to believe this is a bad thing. And if you want to bend those people into warriors who follow your every order, they are."
He tugged lightly on his beard in thought. "Take yourself for an example. Your father taught you that what mattered was his opinion of you, your honor - as he defined it, and your duties to the Fire Nation. Had other things mattered strongly to you, then perhaps I could have convinced you to set aside your hunt for the Avatar. Who knows how things might have turned out then," he mused, then waved that aside.
"Had you been interested in dance or music, as examples, you would have learned that they can be used to communicate. If you came across someone using Water Bending to create music, you might have stopped to listen, you might have spoken to them as a person you could respect, rather than a potential subject to subjugate. The fewer interests we have not tied directly to the glory of the Fire Nation, the easier we are to control. The easier it is for us to see people who are not part of the Fire Nation as other. Lesser. It is my hope, Zuko, that when you serve as Fire Lord you shall welcome in other passions, and learning from around the world. Our world has had too much of war, and too little of music."