The Triumph of the Sharers of Shora and Nausicca of the Valley of the Wind

Both the novel A Door into Ocean by Joan Slonczewski, as well as the animated film Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind directed by Hayao Miayzaki portray worlds in which strong female characters go against the work of man to help save the environment and its contributing factors to their world. The thing I find interesting is how both the Sharers in “Ocean” and Princess Nausicaa in the film both know of certain creatures that are dangerous to humans in their respective properties but, unlike everyone else, they understand the necessity of these creatures and what they do for the world. Nausicaa realizes the importance of the giant “Ohmu” creatures and the insects in the Sea of Decay, which is they absorb the toxins from the world in an attempt to cleanse it, and Merwen discusses the importance of even fleshborers having their “place in the web” (Slonczewski, 124). Other characters, such as Realgar in “Ocean” or Princess Kushana of the Tolmekians in “Nausicaa” do not understand the importance of the environment and seek to destroy what is not theirs and they simply do not get how everything is on the earth and plays an important role for a reason. Realgar attempts to use a virus strain to wipe out the Seaswallowers but the Sharers of Shora attempt to keep them alive because it “had its place in the web” (123). At one point in “Nausicaa” the Ohmu are described as “the fury of the Earth herself.” All of these creatures have a certain niche they must occupy, and this comes up frequently in most science fiction novels about the environment. The one’s who understand the importance of the web of life and know what must be done in order to keep that web spinning are the one’s who win out in the end. With all of his military power at his side, Realgar could not overtake Shora and make the Sharer’s comply to the standards of the Patriarch, and Kushana could not use “The Giant Warrior”, a bio-engineered war creature, to wipe of the Ohmu and the rest of the insects because Nausicaa protected them. She, like Merwen and Spinel and the rest of the Sharers, all understand the web of life and the place every creature has inside of it.

Slonczewksi, Joan. A Door Into Ocean. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 1986. Print.

Takahata, Isao. Miayzaki, Hayao. 1984. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Japan: Top Craft.