Posted:
Bear with me. I realize that this is a long analysis, but I had a lot on my mind 😆
In the past few days, there have been innumerous posts based on his character. People started one thread after another, glorifying him or condemning him. The latter has been done to such an extreme that there have been actual discussions on him being a rapist and/or committing domestic violence. I've decided to share my own personal viewpoint, my personal analysis of his character. You're free to read, respond, and/or simply ignore.
Members start so many threads in one day that my analysis will probably drown amidst them all. But I will try to bump this post a few times in order to give ya'll a chance to read. Please keep an open mind when you read this. There's no intention of offending anyone.
Please restrict your responses in this thread to only discuss/analyze Arnav's character (you may do that in relation to other characters, but no bashing, thank you).
1) Who is Arnav Singh Raizada?
I think that this is a question that people have tried to answer based on each their own observations of his character. Let's take a look at the facts for starters.
Arnav is a complex man with deeply rooted psychological issues that date back to his teens when he and his sister experienced their parents' death. He's a man who has been betrayed by his own (his father's brother who kicked him and Anjali out on the street). He's a man who (at a young age) became responsible for his disabled sister and had to provide for her, a man raised by his sister (who, as we all know, is zealously paranoid and sees bad signs everywhere), a man who lost faith in a god, in trusting people, in good, in relationships. He's a man who believes that money and power is all that matters. That relationships don't last. That people always have ulterior motives. He has the most cynical outlook on life and it's what helped him survive so far.
He needs control over people around him, over his own life. And he deals with people at times as one might deal with inanimate objects. He understands that people are tempted - they always consider the disadvantages/advantages and what they can get out of a situation. It's how he relates to them. He assesses a problem/solution from a viewpoint that basically goes "what can I get out of this?"
This is Arnav's reality. It has shaped his mindset. Cost/benefit. Don't allow people to see/know your weaknesses. Watch your own back.
2) How does/did Arnav deal with his past?
People deal with trauma in dissimilar ways. You'll find people such as Khushi. Inspiring. The way that she manages to stay positive and proactive, no matter what life throws at her. It is an uncanny and absolutely unique ability to always be able to turn bad things around, battle them, and come out smiling. To endure without victimizing yourself.
You'll find people such as Arnav. People who don't manage to move past the scars their past has inflicted upon them. People who become emotionally detached and downright cold. Naturally, there are external factors in their circumstances that played a part in the way they've been shaped. For instance, in Khushi's case, she lost her parents, but then she was taken in by her mother's sister who provided her with love, safety, and a family. Khushi didn't need anything - emotionally and physically (looking at the bigger picture). The traumatic loss became easier to bear with the support of a loving family and a positive outlook on life.
But Arnav (and Anjali), on the other hand, ended up on the street. Betrayed by their family members. We don't know exactly when they were taken in or how Mamiji came into the picture with her jewels - but regardless, Arnav and Anjali only had each other to rely on. They shared an understanding, a traumatic event, and a bond. Arnav, for one, didn't feel that he could depend on anyone but his sister. Not even Mamiji. Indeed she sold her jewels to help him make a career for himself, but Arnav treats it much like a business deal. She sold her jewels, and now he buys her whatever jewels she desires - they don't interact much besides from this. There's a mutual understanding there.
Arnav's past and present is intricately connected which is why he can't move past it as of now. He isn't dealing very well at all.
3) What does the psychologically rooted issues mean for Arnav's persona?
In real life, I personally can't stand it when people continue to victimize themselves rather than stand up and move forward. In real life, I believe in being proactive - no matter how damaged your past is. There aren't any excuses for doing unto others what has been done to you.
However, I do understand that there are people who fight an internal battle with themselves all the time. I understand that, in a human, there's the potential to do bad. I understand that not everyone knows or understands how to deal with pain in a proactive way. In the right way. I understand that some psychological issues can be so deeply rooted in a mind/soul that it eliminates the ability to consider the consequences of one's actions and how it impacts the people around you.
In stories, I do have a soft spot for the tormented soul. I wish to see him rise from the dark - I wish to see him realize all the bad things that he has done, understand/recognize it, and feel remorse. I want to see his struggle to make amends and experience the beautiful moment of redemption with him.
The thing about real life is that man is essentially alone. The world can be a cruel place to the one who is alone. This is mirrored in Arnav and Anjali and it helps me relate to them. It gives me a bad taste in my mouth, but it also depicts a cruel reality, because not everyone is able to fight their way out of the darkness - 18 or 28. I know 35-year olds who still lie in their bitter darkness, unable to change. So even the smallest changes in Arnav gives me a boost, a hope. He may have taken one step back by blackmailing Khushi - but he has taken several small steps forward in the past several months that show the potential to do good, to be kind and caring, and move past some scars. This isn't easy - especially for a man who has had a very specific mentality since his teen years.
He might make more mistakes yet, but it's important that he realizes his mistakes, feels remorse, corrects them, and redeems himself (something that he has been able to do in the past couple of months in relation to Khushi).
4) Khushi has experienced loss as well. So what makes it harder for Arnav?
People aren't the same. Their mentality, personality, and nature are not the same. They deal with trauma in their own ways - some in destructive ways. Khushi's aunt took her in, gave her love and morals and values, and raised her like a daughter. She was given the love and safety of a balanced home. She was taught right from wrong.
Arnav has issues with his mother abandoning him, and the flashbacks show him screaming for his mother on his sister's wedding day. Arnav and Anjali didn't have the love and safety of a balanced home. When Nani and the others stepped into the picture, it was too late. They had walled themselves up, closed the door to their private relationship - they trusted only each other. They're more mentally fragile. They are more damaged, psychologically.
Considering all the issues Arnav has (trust issues, abandonment issues, mother issues, etc., etc.,), it shouldn't surprise us that he reacts a certain way or makes a choice that has fatal consequences for everyone involved, yet he doesn't care as long as it protects his sister. She's all he has. Even with Nani and everyone else around, Arnav has never depended on them for support or love or trust. He can't. Because if his father's brother could betray him, then anyone can. Anyone, except Anjali.
Personally, I like Khushi's way of handling life much better than Arnav's, on a practical level. It's more ideal. But I understand Arnav's side as well because I can understand that people's mentalities, pain thresholds, etc., aren't the same. It takes more for some people to fight the darkness - perhaps because they're more affected by the past. Maybe because their fears are greater. Their ability to take obstacles with a grain of salt lesser. Arnav has very rational mind, but sometimes he isn't able to think in proactive solutions. Instead he causes more hurt and pain for himself and people around him. He needs a guide. Someone to show him the right way. Khushi brought tiny changes in him, and he even admired Shyam, but now that both characters seemed to have betrayed him - he has lost the foundation on which he was building those changes.
It's back to square one. Because his theories are confirmed about people and the world. He doesn't understand that just because some people betray you, have bad intentions, doesn't mean that everyone is the same. That you should stop trusting and caring. The reason he doesn't understand this is because he hasn't been taught it.
Being raised by a zealous sister who is so paranoid that she sees bad signs everywhere, that is bound to leave a mark on you. Either you lose complete faith or you become overly sensitive about everything. And if you lose faith, you start to make your own rules and guidelines for what is right and wrong. But man wasn't made to legislate. And Arnav Sing Raizada is not God. So what he deems right can essentially be wrong because he has no rules/guidelines to follow but his own.
This is why I don't condemn Arnav's character, because deep down I see him as a lost boy who has had no one to guide him throughout his life, who was shaped by the circumstances that were (essentially) bad for him and his sister - and as a man, a shaped man, he has made choices so wrong and cold and self-destructive that he can't even see it himself unless someone points it out to him. And even then, it'll take more than that to make him acknowledge it. Because accepting that you have done wrong, that you've lived wrong, isn't easy for any human being to hear and accept. It's like telling a mother that she's a bad mother and hasn't raised her child right.
In shows, I want to see a person take that journey toward becoming a good and positive person. It's what shows me that people can change, that struggles can be endured, battles won, and that despite all the bad choices you've made - there's hope for redemption. I need to see Arnav do wrong, realize it, feel remorse, and redeem himself. I need to know that, despite all his wrongs, he won't go to Hell because he redeemed himself.
5) For the love of God, what went on in Arnav's head when he decided to blackmail Khushi?
For starters, I'd like to point out that Arnav is entirely aware of the fact that his blackmail is hurting Khushi. It's also an evident fact that he doesn't find any pleasure in causing her this pain. His eyes, the tone of his voice was enough proof of that.
He blackmailed Khushi because he needed to shut Shyam up. He blackmailed her because he could not form one coherent retort to throw back at Shyam. The snake left him speechless. Shyam humiliated Arnav, humiliated his sister, and Arnav could say and do nothing. Arnav realized, in that moment, that he has no idea who/what Shyam is or what the man is capable of, or even how the man thinks.
How do you blackmail someone who is so confident, smirking at you over your sister's shoulder, as if he doesn't fear anything? Shyam laughed in Arnav's face. He disrespected both him and Anjali. He dared. Arnav doesn't know a thing about Shyam - he cannot tell the mindset of his enemy. Here's a creep who doesn't fear being exposed - in fact, Arnav fears the truth being exposed at a time when Anjali is so vulnerable. Shyam emotionally blackmailed him. Arnav, despite his ability to access a situation rationally, had experienced way too many hits in one night and took a step out of emotional distress as well as calculative reason. This doesn't excuse his actions, but it explains them.
When Arnav asked Khushi if she would do anything for her sister - he was indirectly hinting that he would do anything for his sister, that he was about to do something that he didn't want to do, but felt he had to do for his sister. It's as much as an apology that you'd get out of ASR in a situation like this.
When Shyam tossed away his mask and revealed himself, he shocked Arnav beyond words and action. Arnav understands that there's much more to Shyam than meets the eye. There's a man behind that mask who is the complete opposite of the brother-in-law that Arnav has always known. This is a huge shock to his system.
Imagine knowing a man for years, trusting him with your sister, admiring him like a father or brother, ask him for advice, respecting him like family - only to find out that it's all a lie, a pretense, and that when confronted with it, the man laughs in your face and humiliates you and your sister without any signs of remorse.
6) Now what?
Now, we wait. Before we call Arnav a rapist and mark him as a wife-beater, we wait and see where the story takes him and Khushi. I have analyzed Arnav from my own observations and thoughts as well as I could and I refuse to believe that he'll physically damage Khushi in any way. In fact, I don't even believe that he'll mentally damage Khushi. He might hurt her, unintentionally, because he's hurt and frustrated too. But right now he's focused on his sister and Shyam. Let's give the man a break.
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