I don't have time to write this out yet (with manga caps, etc., although I started last week), but I want to write a post about how One Piece has many underlying themes, and one of them is good folks investing in bad masters, or opting for the status quo, all with various outcomes.
Cases in point,
Gin and Don Krieg: (stays with his abusive captain, could have left)
Gaimon: to a degree. He wants to take care of the island forest animals, but he's lived his life so long dedicated to a false expectation, that he maybe can't break the habit and leave (most tenuous of this list).
Bellamy and Doflamingo: (eventually leaves, but fights Luffy pointlessly for the time it takes for Doflamingo to toss Law around like a beanbag and pump him full of bullets [or his body-double]), there is a battle before that.
Shits on Law for rescuing him from marine capture at Doflamingo's castle headquarters, rather than thanking him. Had wanted to go out with Donquixote crew, or moreso, the man, he'd dedicated his life to. A man that he experienced firsthand as not giving a shit about him.
Reiju and the Vinsmoke family?: She doesn't have her free will, but enough emotions to help Sanji out. (Again, more elements are at play here).
King Harald: keeps chasing the World Government like the gaslit half of a narcissistic, codependent relationship. The WG dependent on his naivety, and Harald chasing after their approval. Yes, he wants peace for his people, but has so much self-loathing that he attacks his own kind rather than the institution that has done him so much emotional harm (I will expand on that later), and then chases after and tries to atone to that organisation.
Imu states (1164?) that Harald's pliability is what the World Government, or Imu, is after, for their own nefarious means (mwha-ha-ha). But Harald has witnessed the injustice of the WG.
Garp. He is remaining in the institution for the rank and file, and I will also expand upon that later. He seems to be more aware and critical of the shortcomings of his boss (the navy, the WG) if we compare him to Bellamy or Gin, and also has more agency (but, this is the theme of One Piece too — about the choices you make when you can make those choices).
He isn't blindly loyal or fawning or starry-eyed about the higher-ups, which also makes him different from the above (to be fair, Gin and Bellamy seem to know the shortcomings of their bosses, but still lick their shoes). His employer is more powerful than the individual employers or seekers of approval above, and I think that his decision is probably the most layered/complex, because he seems to be the most aware, even if the end result so far has not been ideal.
Bellamy also was never made an executive, and he stayed loyal after knowing that (at least for the duration of Dressrosa).
Hawkins and Apoo? (Kaidou's subordinates) --> although it seemed they didn't have much of a backbone in the beginning, and they were faced with a huge threat (to their men, in the case of Hawkins, as well as himself).
Then, we get those who do leave their abusive bosses when they can, and those who are aiming to.
Jaguar D. Saul, Sabo, Nami, Robin, Law, Sanji, Yamato, Dragon. Dragon, Law, and possibly Robin, here are characters who moved from a darker organisation/ Families they willingly entered and maybe believed in (Robin, Law definitely did) to either a lighter one and/or their own (non-evil, non-abusive) independence. Robin and Law's organisations are obviously criminal, Dragon's organisation has the veneer of respectability.
Yamato, and most of those in that list, rebelled against the beliefs and actions of their families or organisations from a young age.
(Also characters like Bon Kurei (Bon Clay), Hatchi, Mr 3). Stussy? (although programmed, but caught between two worlds for sure).
Kuzan is possibly here too (we're still not sure of his motivations in joining Blackbeard). Drake is also an interesting character, due to all of his allegiances, and don't forget Guernica's (<--the CPO agent. I might have it wrong) words to him, that he wished he change allegiances so easily (which, as we know with Hawkins, is not always the most positive thing, so it's that independent will and ability to assess and choose. Circumstances affect that ability, for sure).
Something about Vivi in there too. She chose to stay with her kingdom due to duty, Carrot too. Yamato as well. Carrot seemed to have less choice, but considering she independently stowed away on the Thousand Sunny on its trip to WCI, she's not without agency, i think (even if I don't like the decision :D). Scabbards staying with Toki or Oden.
Anyway, I'll tease it out. I'm sure there are more characters to put in all categories, and I know it's not a perfect 1:1 match for everyone I've singled out. But, yeah, the (wrong) choices we make along the way, even in the light of evidence. And or But, the individuals making those choices, don't feel they are the wrong choices for them (except maybe Reiju), blinded by either convictions or the inability to visualise themselves in another situation (or having too much fear to act).
I am one of those people who do not necessarily feel that Garp made the wrong choice, by the way, but it definitely has had consequences on his life and the life of others. I don't think we know the full story yet.
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