Neon Genesis Evangelion: My take on Adam, Lilith, and Human Instrumentality

[Mankin]

Greetings. I have decided to write up a post of my interpretation of the events in the movie End of Evangelion. Since there is so much to be said about this movie, I will only deal with four topics. I will supplement my points with information from the series. Here are my topics.
1.The Creation Story in Evangelion.
2.Seele's plans for the Evas,Angels, and Human Instrumentality.
3.The meaning of Instrumentality.
4.The ramifications of Shinji's rejection of Instrumentality.

It is mentioned by Kozo in the EOE that humanity was born in the egg of Lilith and they will now return to it. We know that in Evangelion, Lilith is the original "creator" of humanity. Thus we can assume from this that humanity's original state was Instrumentality. It is also established in the series that in order for Human Instrumentality to occur again, Adam and Lilith must be reunited. We must ask ourselves, what caused this separation between Adam and Lilith in the first place? Well, we know that Adam rests in the spirit of all humans and Angels. Thus, humans decided to break free of Instrumentality. The hearts of humans were separated by AT fields and they came down upon the earth as individuals. The Angels are failed humans. Their AT fields merely became physical barriers, not the actual barriers that separate hearts. It is said that Angels possess the Fruit of Life and humans posses the Fruit of Knowledge. This is due to the fact that Angels are closer representations of Lilith the originator of life in Evangelion and they wish to reunite with her. Adam as an actual being also desires to reunite with Lilith, however, both of his children, the humans and the Angels want to use him for different means.

Now onto Seele and Nerv. The reason why they wanted to wipe out the Angels was due to the fact that they wanted humans to control the fate of Instrumentality. Under the Angel's version, all of humanity would be wiped out so they would reign supreme. Seele decided to create their own Angels, the Evangelions using Adam's genetics. After the war with the Angels was over, they planned to unite their Evas with Lilith. They chose Shinji as the candidate to represent humanity's wishes to Lilith and to recreate humanity's original state.

Human Instrumentality is complete intimacy in both mind and body. It is a representation of sex although it goes beyond that. It also represents uniting with others to rid oneself of a lonely existence. All of the characters in Evangelion desire a cure to their lonely existence and intimacy which Human Instrumentality in some ways offers.

At the End of Evangelion, Shinji rejects Instrumentality. Thus, Adam once again breaks away from Lilith and AT fields are restored. Shinji and Asuka are the first humans to return although as the movie mentions, more people might be able to materalize. In some way, this might be taken as Eva's version of the Adam and Eve story. Adam and Eve were the first humans to break away from Instrumentality thus becoming the first members of the human race. By rejecting Instrumentality, Shinji rejects the complete intimacy of it and embraces the individualism and separation of the AT fields.

Feel free to offer thoughts, criticism or otherwise.

 

[Qyöt27]

The tl;dr version: Congratulations.

On a serious note, though, there's one problem: Shinji was not actually intended to take on that role. Seele only settled on it because Gendo betrayed them and they realized that Unit 01's ingestion of the S2 engine gave them the ammo to go through with it. What happens in EOE is actually what Gendo was ultimately after (to reunite with Yui - that was his only motivation from the start), not Seele - as IIRC, it was Seele that convinced the Japanese government to deploy the JSSDF against Nerv. While it may have been an acceptable outcome for them, I don't think it can be said that that is what they were planning on. Especially the final outcome with Instrumentality being destroyed and Shinji and Asuka returning from the LCL Sea.

But probably more importantly than that, EoE is perhaps best thought of simply as Anno giving the fanbase the finger. I've never really thought through it so much to see it as a coherent piece, although the visuals are certainly stunning. Up to where it is right now prior to the 3rd and 4th entries, Rebuild seems to at least be more consistent and understandable, but as GAINAX is known for doing endings like that of EOE's, who really knows whether it's going to be just as convoluted and confusing.

 

[Mankin]

It was obvious that Seele intended to create Human Instrumentality by any means. The fact that Gendo betrayed them just gave them an incentive to stop Gendo and use Unit 01 to creat Instrumentality. The method didn't really matter to them, only the outcome. The reason those soldiers said they had failed was that they were told their duty was to stop Third Impact. They never realized that Seele had been playing with them all along.

In the original T.V. series, it seems that Seele never interfered with Gendo's plans, thus Human Instrumentality went on using Shinji as the puppet. And ole Shinji accepted the Instrumentality.

Speaking of which, Instrumentality seems to have a buttload of pros and cons. It's good because it forces the characters to come to terms with their own shortcomings and none of them will ever be alone anymore. They will have perfect tranqulity and intimacy for "eternity?" On the other hand, they lose their privacy and their individualism will slowly drain away before the combination of minds.
As to Anno giving the fanbase the finger, well sure he did do that with EOE. Yet, at the same time I can't write it off for just that fact. The way Anno was completely dedicated to his work, I couldn't see him purposedly making it a useless addition to the series and adding no coherency to it.

Dude, tl;dr pretty much sumarizes the last two episodes of the series.

 

[Zoness]

This is the best thread in the universe. I have a lot to say but it is late so I will only address one point right now: Shinji's rejection of instrumentality.

I think this is really defining for a relatively obscure reason. It clearly shows the division in Eastern and Western religious thought. It is typical of the followers of Abrahamic religions and most forums of western paganism to retain their identities after death. We always render ourselves as we are on Earth in one form or another, united with God yet totally separate. This in opposition to other schools of thought, especially within Dharmic religions that strive for total unity with the master force of the universe, all beings work to become one being and one essence.

Just a thought I guess.

 

[Mankin]

This is the best thread in the universe. I have a lot to say but it is late so I will only address one point right now: Shinji's rejection of instrumentality.

I think this is really defining for a relatively obscure reason. It clearly shows the division in Eastern and Western religious thought. It is typical of the followers of Abrahamic religions and most forums of western paganism to retain their identities after death. We always render ourselves as we are on Earth in one form or another, united with God yet totally separate. This in opposition to other schools of thought, especially within Dharmic religions that strive for total unity with the master force of the universe, all beings work to become one being and one essence.

Just a thought I guess.

Interesting thought. Often Evangelion has been thought as blasphemous in terms that God and his Heaven was destroyed by a mere human(Lilith and Human Instrumentality falling before Shinji's rejection). Under this thought, Shinji's rejection of Instrumentality would be a victory for Abrahamic religions for Shinji revolts against the Eastern conception of heaven.

In truth Lilith seems like a slave herself to the whims of Adam. Adam was recreated by binding an angel with Adam's DNA with a human(Shinji), thus possessing both the fruit of life(immortality) and the fruit of knowledge(individuality). Once again, Adam rejected Instrumentality thus killing Lilith.

Speaking of which, people always declare how depressing the EOE is. I don't see it in that way. Humans are given another chance to create a better world and all of the other NGE characters can be reborn again upon the new world. The fact that Shinji releases his grip on Asuka's neck at the EOE is evidence that he has finally come to terms with a world that refuses him love.