Englandās character tends to get a lot of criticism, for, well, how critical he is of America. Donāt get me wrong either. England can be exceptionally mean. At the same time, however, as Iāve mentioned in previous posts, he can also be just as sweet, considerate, and thoughtful.
To understand why England tends to take out his frustration onto America, itās important to situate this behaviour within the context of the Revolutionary war, both before and after (duh).
The isolation and constant mocking that came with being the āBlack Sheep of Europeā took a huge hit on Englandās self-esteem. Of course, being as sensitive as he is, he responds with anger and keeps the accompanying feelings of stress and anxiety to himself.
Things were different with America, who functioned as Englandās stress relief. Englandās even noted to feel at peace when heās with America.
This can be attributed to the fact that Americaās youth and naivety led to his unconditional acceptance and love for England. America was the one person England could feel at home with. While the rest of the world hated England, America didnāt.
That said, England became dependent on America emotionally. He didnāt have to worry about being rejected by Americaā¦that is until America began fighting for his independence.
To put it simply, America going against him broke Englandās heart. He felt like he could trust and rely on America to have his back, only to be betrayed (in his POV) and isolated once more when other European nations sided against him in Americaās favor.
History repeats itself, and England found himself all alone again.
While subtle, there are significant hints about just how deeply the Revolution hurt him.
For one thing, itās said that heās suffered from 100 years of heartbreak. Likewise, an even more telling emotional omen of the past is that in one his character notes, three important pieces of information are given.
1)Ā āHis temper was quite stormy during the decades after Americaās independence.ā
ā Anger is a maladjustive way of either expressing oneās need for something or acquiring it. In this case, it could be a reaction to the loneliness he experiences after losing America.
2)Ā āHeās quite bad at expressing himself. He himself knows that people often misunderstand him, he uses this fact for self-depreciating jokes.ā
ā This ties in with how easy it is to see him as an angry person when heāsĀ actually extremely sensitive.
Taking the latter two bits of information, you can see why Hima then says this about England:
3) āHe could easily be the most pitiful one in this webcomic.ā
In other words, England thinks lowly of himself, cares about othersā opinions of him, poorly expresses his sadness by acting out in anger, and yet doesnāt bother to fix these external misconceptions.
Like I said before, America was his best friend, and because he canāt articulate his feelings well, England went from using America as a stress ball to a punching bag (this term is used loosely).
For example, England is notorious for being a āscathingā critic of Americaās movies.
Nonetheless, what youāll also notice is the subtle hints of America knowing that England cares about him.
Here, America āwith a noticeably teasing look, as if he understands more than what he voicesā allows England to poke holes in his proposed world defense plan.
Also pay attention to how England ācommendsā parts of Americaās plan.
Aside from these faults, the strengths in Englandās character prevail when theyāre most needed. Even though any mention of Americaās dependence causes England to get sick, he visits America and celebrates the occasion with him.Ā
It causes him a lot of pain to do so, but he still commits to it. Not only that, but he gives America the liberty bell on the 100th anniversary of his independence, worries over and offers to repair the bell in 1958 despite the offer being turned down by American officials, and gives America a new one another one hundred years later.
While America is amused by Englandās evident embarrassment, the next panel can easily be interpreted as him crying and laughing from happiness.
Please note that the anime handles this scene quite differently, as itās depicted more as in America laughs so hard that he cries.
I think itās also important to end this by mentioning that England was also Americaās best friend. America is arguably just as lonely as England.
When he was younger, America was scared to sleep alone. Regardless if England always fell asleep before he did, America still needed him.
In āWeāre Shipwrecked Tooā, we get this awkward moment where both of them consider sleeping closer to each other for warmth, but in the end choose not to.
The tension here reveals that England isnāt the only one having trouble working past the difficulties in their relationship.
Nevertheless, we also get moments where America reaches out to England.
Ex: During a blizzard, he asks England to come and play video games with him, but is turned down.
As seen in more modern strips, the two of them are slowly working towards reconciliation and visit each other often. The perfect ideal would be if theyāre able to become best friends again, not just in their hearts, but openly and expressively without any qualms of what others might think.
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