<p>Gorou Miyazaki had denied that Arren's murder of his father was a reflection of his own feelings; rather, it was more or less the feeling of the young Japanese generation:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>On Earthsea, Goro denied that Arren’s oblique patricide reflected the director’s own feelings in an interview at the Venice Film Festival. “I do not have much relationship with my father; because of that, I have never felt like killing him. I decided to start with the son murdering the father because I understand that’s more or less the feeling of the young Japanese generation. When I worked in the Ghibli museum, most of the staff there were young people with common problems. I wondered about why that was and tried to come up with reasons, which are reflected in the film. I purposely didn’t explain why Arren stabbed his father because I wanted the audience to think about it, and reach a broader idea of why these problems exist.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p><sup>Source: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161208202501/http://www.mangauk.com/post.php?p=family-feud" rel="nofollow noreferrer">&quot;Tales from Earthsea and family feuds&quot;, <em>UK Manga Entertainment Website</em></a></sup></p>
<p>However, as Gorou purposely didn't explain the why, it proved to be a challenge for many viewers to figure that out for themselves. For what it's worth, Ursula K. Le Guin thought the murder was committed without much reason:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The moral sense of the books becomes confused in the film. For example: Arren's murder of his father in the film is unmotivated, arbitrary: the explanation of it as committed by a dark shadow or alter-ego comes late, and is not convincing. Why is the boy split in two? We have no clue. The idea is taken from A Wizard of Earthsea, but in that book we know how Ged came to have a shadow following him, and we know why, and in the end, we know who that shadow is. The darkness within us can't be done away with by swinging a magic sword.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><sup>Source: <a href="https://www.ursulakleguin.com/adaptation-tales-of-earthsea" rel="nofollow noreferrer">&quot;Ursula K. Le Guin: Gedo Senki, a First Response&quot;, <em>ursulakleguin.com</em></a></sup></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2015-03-26T09:42:58.500Z
2023-08-05T04:27:37.390Z
2023-08-05T04:27:37.390Z
Gao
<p>This was the biggest question I had for Gorou Miyazaki's debut animated film <em>Tales from Earthsea</em>. Was the motivation for Arren's murder of his father ever revealed in the anime or in the original <em>Earthsea</em> series by Ursula K. Le Guin? Or was it just a projection of the inner feelings the director had toward his father?</p>

<tales-from-earthsea>
Why did Arren kill his father?
# Why did Arren kill his father?
Posted by: username_0 on 2015-03-02
This was the biggest question I had for Gorou Miyazaki's debut animated film *Tales from Earthsea*. Was the motivation for Arren's murder of his father ever revealed in the anime or in the original *Earthsea* series by Ursula K. Le Guin? Or was it just a projection of the inner feelings the director had toward his father?
**Tags:** tales-from-earthsea
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## 1 answers
### Answer by username_0 on 2015-03-26. Score: 4 | Accepted answer
Gorou Miyazaki had denied that Arren's murder of his father was a reflection of his own feelings; rather, it was more or less the feeling of the young Japanese generation:

> On Earthsea, Goro denied that Arren’s oblique patricide reflected the director’s own feelings in an interview at the Venice Film Festival. “I do not have much relationship with my father; because of that, I have never felt like killing him. I decided to start with the son murdering the father because I understand that’s more or less the feeling of the young Japanese generation. When I worked in the Ghibli museum, most of the staff there were young people with common problems. I wondered about why that was and tried to come up with reasons, which are reflected in the film. I purposely didn’t explain why Arren stabbed his father because I wanted the audience to think about it, and reach a broader idea of why these problems exist.”

Source: ["Tales from Earthsea and family feuds", *UK Manga Entertainment Website*](https://web.archive.org/web/20161208202501/http://www.mangauk.com/post.php?p=family-feud)

However, as Gorou purposely didn't explain the why, it proved to be a challenge for many viewers to figure that out for themselves. For what it's worth, Ursula K. Le Guin thought the murder was committed without much reason:

> The moral sense of the books becomes confused in the film. For example: Arren's murder of his father in the film is unmotivated, arbitrary: the explanation of it as committed by a dark shadow or alter-ego comes late, and is not convincing. Why is the boy split in two? We have no clue. The idea is taken from A Wizard of Earthsea, but in that book we know how Ged came to have a shadow following him, and we know why, and in the end, we know who that shadow is. The darkness within us can't be done away with by swinging a magic sword.

Source: ["Ursula K. Le Guin: Gedo Senki, a First Response", *ursulakleguin.com*](https://www.ursulakleguin.com/adaptation-tales-of-earthsea)
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