The Conflict and Compromise of Uchiha Sasuke

The Conflict and Compromise of Uchiha Sasuke is a video essay by YouTube creator Craftsdwarf that focuses on Uchiha Sasuke's character and motivation in Naruto, especially seeking to explain his seemingly-erratic behavior in Shippuden. It has a matching counterpart about Uzumaki Naruto, A Defense of Talk no Jutsu by Mathwiz, which is the first part of Mathwiz's Hope and Hypocrisy in Naruto series.
Craftsdwarf's summary from YouTube: 
Seeking to explain Sasuke's motivation and character arc as Sasuke moves from protagonist to antagonist, Craftsdwarf argues that Sasuke's actions "can only be justified within the narrative on the grounds that they make logical sense, without straining believability or coming across as contrived."Craftsdwarf, text versionarchive, published 31 May 2018. Accessed 07 October 2018. In other words, to understand Sasuke one must not only use a Watsonian lens but also set aside the assumption that all of Sasuke's reasoning can boil down to him being "a confused teenager forced to grow up in a world he comes to disagree with."
Song title 	Source
Yureru Kokoro 	Chihayafuru
Sasuke's Theme 	Naruto
Nervous 	Naruto
Ayashii Kumoyuki 	Chihayafuru
Survival Examination	Naruto
Sasuke ~Destiny~ 	Naruto
Ninmu 	Naruto Shippuden
Meiun 	Chihayafuru
Fuda no Michibiki 	Chihayafuru
Senya 	Naruto Shippuden
Samidare 	Naruto Shippuden
The video is a little over twenty minutes and the audio is all Craftsdwarf delivering a verbal essay over clips from Part I and Part II of Naruto. Craftsdwarf uses music from the Naruto OSTs and Chihayafuru under their narration rather than letting the sound of the clips play.
==Main Points==
===Some topics discussed===
* Sasuke's search for autonomy, his pride, and his motives.
* Naruto and Sasuke's influence on each other.
* Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama's failed friendship and how it compares to Naruto and Sasuke's success.
* Sasuke's relationship with Uchiha Itachi, Uzumaki Karin, Haruno Sakura, Hatake Kakashi, and Gaara.
===Summary of argument===
* A main theme for Sasuke is conflict, especially conflict between his belief that "the road to strength is cutting off bonds" and his inability to cut off his bond with Naruto or even ignore Naruto when it would be advantageous to do so.
* One of Sasuke's strongest character traits is his conviction, despite seemingly contradictory actions and "flip flopping motives."
* Sasuke starts out willing to work with his team to become stronger, but after their fight against Gaara "where Naruto so severely upstaged him" and Gaara shows the strength of his own hatred Sasuke began "to see Itachi's path: that of cutting of one's bonds and bearing that hate alone" and the show of strength from Itachi that quickly followed pushed Sasuke into choosing Itachi's path and leaving the village.
* At the end of Part I, when Sasuke and Naruto fight in the Valley of the End, Sasuke is attempting to compromise by putting his headband back on and fighting Naruto instead of just escaping to Orochimaru's hideout because Naruto "surpassed the Sound 4, and showed that his road to strength through effort and camaraderie was still valid." Naruto's failure to understand this leads to his defeat and Sasuke's final departure.
* Learning the truth about the Uchiha Massacre means Sasuke has to focus getting vengeance on "the village that forced the impossible situation on his brother, the shinobi who willfully enable the system, and the world that perpetuated a situation where genocide was the only path to sustained peace." However, Sasuke felt he could not, as Itachi wanted, return to Konoha as a hero because that would mean keeping the truth about the massacre a secret and accepting that Itachi had done the right thing all along.
* Although Sasuke starts as a protagonist, the audience is supposed to feel that Sasuke is an antagonist, "impossible to root for," after he sides with the Akatsuki and turns on Team Taka.
* Naruto and Sasuke walk opposite paths, and are able to eventually compromise because they each grow to understand the other and communicate through conflict. Madara and Hashirama were unable to compromise in this way.
* What defines Sasuke most is his need to distinguish himself, not "his desire for vengeance, or power, or his edge, or his compromise, but in the area where he connects most to Naruto."
* When he's brought back with edo tensei, Itachi is finally able to compromise with Sasuke and recognise him as his own person. Sasuke's plan to become Hokage and take the world's darkness on to himself is a compromise that results in "the unification of the two paths Sasuke had once walked, blazing a trail that was neither Itachi's nor Naruto's, but his own."
* Ultimately Naruto's path, with friendship and recognition based on deeds, is validated by the narrative and Sasuke's path of vengeance and cutting ties is proven wrong, undermined by Sasuke himself. However, Naruto's path could not have succeeded without running parallel to Sasuke because Naruto's true success was not strength or recognition but compromise, and so in this way by also compromising, Sasuke can be understood as not only completing his own narrative arc but also as being integral to the completion of Naruto's search for a way to end the cycle of hatred.
 
==Excerpts==
 
==Reactions & Comments==
As of October, 2018, the video has 1,998 views, approximately 3,900 likes, and 67 dislikes. 
The top comment, with 478 likes and 42 replies is:
:One reply provided a link to more meta:
The second highest comment had 377 likes and 62 replies.
Other comments from the video:
==Notes & References==
===Notes===
===References===
Category:Naruto
Category:Anime & Manga Meta
Category:2018 Meta