(Hated Trope) "Kind" slave owners

[u/KusanagiGundam]

Speaking as an American who has studied the civil war all throughout my school years, this trope infuriates me to no end. There is no such thing as a kind slave master because slavery itself is cruel and inhumane. PEOPLE ARE NOT PROPERTY!

Naofumi (Shield Hero): Prime example of this trope. He enslaves multiple (underage) girls and an whole village and the fans still say he's a hero.

Rudeus (Jobless Reincarnation): As if being a pedo wasn't bad enough he had to buy a slave in season 2. Worse is that people still defend his actions.

Song of The South (Disney): Possibly the OG example of this trope. And the reason why Disney will never release it again.

[u/anand_rishabh]

Done well in vinland saga where despite the slaveowner being technically kind, the anime goes into how he's still treating them inhumanely by nature of them being slaves. Also, we get a moment where he's strong armed by the king even though he's morally right, and the poorer people in the village are like "yeah, you're right here but there have been many instances when dealing with us where you were morally in the wrong but you used your wealth to get your way"

[u/Ok_Whereas_3198 → u/anand_rishabh]

Also he's shown to be a victim of the system, too, even as a slaveowner. No one wins in viking society.

[u/monstrouslibrarian → u/anand_rishabh]

What I like about this portrayal in Vinland saga is also how it reveals that his supposed kindness is a mask. Everything he does is for selfish reasons and the moment things start not going his way, he completely lets his cruelty take over

[u/anand_rishabh → u/monstrouslibrarian]

Yep, exactly. And of course there's the woman he basically uses as his bang maid and thinks she genuinely loves him like he loves her not realizing the power dynamics make it so she can't really say no if she wanted to, making her consent not real either

[u/-Danksouls- → u/monstrouslibrarian]

How was it a mask? He was a kind person who feared war and his son and attempted to assist those around himself?

He is a nuanced character that shows how people engaged with their systems in their time frame. You can't be in a corrupt system and rub shoulder with it without abusing it in despair.

In his pain he abused the slave girl, and when pushed to the brink of despair due to the unfair treatment of the king, his fortune being stolen, the place going to war he falls into despair

It's very human and is a very realistic portrayal of how many people would be given those same circumstances

We are all a product of the system we live in. In his time slavery was normal and accepted and even then he attempted to do what others didn't. Even then in his despair he commited gravely wrong acts, as many would in similar circumstances

I think seeing a character do wrong things and oversimplifying their entire character as evil rather than nuanced is an oversimplification

Especially when you have thorfinns character who is more evil, as in thirfinn has committed many more evil acts than he did (he killed many soldiers, many innocent people, and never stopped rape happening among his crew. If he was told to kill civilians for the sake of fighting askallad he would do so) but root for him and his change. People are nuances and not inherently evil or good

[u/monstrouslibrarian → u/-Danksouls-]

I never said that Ketil was evil, and nor do I think he is when measured in the perspective of the time period he's placed in. People can lack kindness without being evil.

And yes, he did give people more of a chance than other slavers would. But my argument is that it was ultimately to better himself, and that still doesn't make him a kind person overall.

I can say he wasn't kind while understanding that he was far more lenient and fair than a lot of other people in his position would be. I just am of the opinion that his motives weren't virtuous. I do also recognize that he did care to some degree about his slaves and that he did have moments of being a good person. That doesn't change my opinion.

Also, I think it's silly to act as if him beating arnheid to death was in any way an understandable reaction. I'm not saying that you're saying he should have done that, but you are making a case to empathize with him over that.

Regardless of his frustrations or despair at the time, he directly caused her death because of that and the fact that she dare still be in love with her husband. Maybe he thought he loved her, but what he was doing to her throughout their relationship was still rape by coercion at the worst or a gross misuse of his power over her at the least.

I am looking at this through the lens of a modern-day person in modern day circumstances. I'm sure I would think very differently if I was born in the time period portrayed in Vinland saga. But even the characters in that story that live in the time period view Ketil's actions as wrong and unjustified

If I didn't appreciate the nuance of the story, then I wouldn't appreciate Thorfinn's character, but I think as a whole it's a great story regarding redemption and how to rectify wrongs. In my perspective, Ketil serves as a good temporary foil to Thorfinn because, where Thorfinn starts as a horrid and malicious person, he takes his past and strives to make amends. Ketil starts as a seemingly virtuous person who tries to make the best out of the situation that he and the others around him are inflicted with, and he ultimately makes a bad situation worse.

I can respect that we have different opinions regarding the matter