Ritter Delorges wrote:Every nontrivial character takes on a life of its own. ... I think it is not unreasonable to argue that the real Rin is fully defined by whatever made it into the VN, no matter how.
That is a great point, and it made me think of an essay that I read in a literary theory class I took a few years ago. (I have recently completed a BA in English, and I love theory.) This gets to the question of how much authorial intent matters when one interprets a text. In the mid-20th century, a movement called the New Criticism emphasized close reading of texts and tried to reduce or eliminate any reliance on external evidence. Though that movement has come and gone, this basic idea remains influential, and it provides a reasonable framework for the interpretation of difficult texts. Rin is a very complex character, and it is certainly tempting to consider what the developers had in mind when they created her, but I would argue that this is not necessary. She exists within the text, and one can use internal textual evidence alone to try to understand her. Wimsatt and Beardsley describe this concept in their essay, "The Intentional Fallacy." (Note that they are talking about poems, but their statements should apply equally well to any genre, including visual novels.) "The poem is not the critic's own and not the author's (it is detached from the author at birth and goes about the world beyond his power to intend about it or control it). The poem belongs to the public. It is embodied in language, the peculiar possession of the public, and it is about the human being, an object of public knowledge" (1234). Perhaps a good way (but by no means the only way) to attempt to understand Rin is to look closely at key moments in the text and not worry about the external factors that may have influenced her story while it was being written.
(I wouldn't argue that close reading, ignoring all external factors, is the only legitimate way to interpret a piece of literature. Relying entirely on the methods of the New Critics can be limiting at times. Sometimes, taking into account the external context can result in useful interpretations. As previous posters have noted, in the case of Rin, the external evidence is limited and doesn't provide a wealth of information upon which to base an interpretation, so we are led back to the text.)
Perhaps if we want to try to wrap our heads around Rin, we should bring in a few key quotes from her story and see how they fit together. (Note that this may result in spoilers.)
It is obvious from the story that Rin has difficulty communicating with others. She can be blunt, perplexing, frustrating, or just downright weird. She claims that she doesn't understand herself (and she probably doesn't). I share many of these characteristics with her, although hopefully I'm not as extreme. Perhaps that is why I feel like I can understand her, at least on an emotional level. It is apparent to me that she lives primarily in her head, but that she wishes she could interact better with the external world.
The following scene gives some insight into her character. I haven't noticed other people elsewhere on the forum talking about it a great deal; maybe they have in threads I haven't visited yet. Since it is an easily encountered scene in Act 1, I don't think that quoting it would constitute a serious spoiler. People reading this thread have probably been all through Act 1 anyway.
This is one of my favorites, perhaps because I can see myself doing the same thing (and I have come close more than once). This scene is "Mind Your Step," and I believe it can come up in all paths except those leading to Emi and Shizune. Hisao has gone to the village with Lilly to help with her shopping. After dark, as they are ready to go back to the school, they encounter Rin standing in the middle of the road, looking completely lost. "She looks like a zombie. Or a statue. A statue of a zombie. / But slowly, some symptoms of understanding seem to light in her dark eyes: this is something she must react to. / Rin blinks once. Very thoroughly." At this moment, Rin is deeply lost inside of herself, and when the real world intrudes upon her alternate reality (or alternate nothingness), she is slow to come to terms with it.
When Hisao asks her why she is there, she says, "I was wondering about that myself too. Just now. / Some people asked that just before. I assume they were wondering the same. / I didn't know. They didn't know either. I asked. That's why I'm wondering. So that was pretty much it. It's a murder mystery without a murder." Then, she points out the direction the other people were going, and Hisao thinks to himself, "Rin really does use a lot of words to say things that don't need a lot to be said." Here, she is babbling a bit, trying to work through the situation in her mind as she answers Hisao. It seems that she grasps at the first thought that comes to her, which is perhaps why she points out the direction the other people were going, even though it is entirely irrelevant. This detail, however, shows how observant she can be. Even when she appears completely lost, she is perhaps not as oblivious to her surroundings as she may seem. She is an observant zombie.
When Hisao remarks that she looks lost, rather than try to become un-lost, she says that she should have taken another pose. This is, perhaps, a hint of character development to come. At times, she doesn't want people to bother her. She just wants to be herself, even if she is rather strange. Maybe she should try not to attract so much attention to herself. (Multiple interpretations of this event are certainly possible.)
Rin might have come to the village for some purpose, or she might have just gone for a walk and ended up there. I doubt anyone will ever know for certain, including Rin herself. But she has an idea. "I do have. Some idea. I can't really tell what kind of an idea." There is yet more to this scene, and it is just as crazy, but I think I have gone through enough of it to extract some of her character traits. To summarize, Rin lives in her head, lets her mind wander into strange territories (or possibly just zones out), is rather detached from external reality while at the same time being highly observant. She wants to understand what is going on within and around her, and she wants to communicate her understanding, but she does not possess the language to do so. But she wants the freedom to be herself, even including the freedom to stand in the middle of the road looking like she is completely lost. (I sure felt bad for Lilly in this scene; Rin seems to completely perplex her.)
I intended to post a few short remarks about Rin, but I got interested and ended up posting an essay. Sorry, everyone, for being so long-winded. I may dig up some other quotes later and see if I can come up with further interpretations. If others post some of their favorite quotes, I'll be happy to attempt some close readings. I'll leave this thread for now with a final thought from the scene "Mind Your Step." Hisao explains well the reason that it is so difficult to understand Rin. "Talking with Rin is like playing chess with a supercomputer who does seemingly completely random moves as if to mock everything you know about chess. It's like that, except with human interaction. / And even if I win, it feels like losing." And this is why she is such a wonderful character.
Heather
Work Cited: Wimsatt, William K., Jr., and Monroe C. Beardsley. "The Intentional Fallacy."
The Norton Anthology of Theory & Criticism. 2nd ed. Ed.: Vincent B. Leitch. New York: Norton, 2010. 1232-46.
Now combine this one with Hisao earlier noting that all of our water becomes clouds and go on a wonderful adventure of imagination.