When Marnie Was There – A reflective essay.

One thing is for sure, and it isn't easy to forgive. Especially if the person struggles to forgive

oneself first. When others violate us, abandon or disappoint us, we would prefer not to acknowledge

that torment to feel less pain. Like any other Ghibli anime, "When Marnie Was There" fixates on the

protagonist's journey to self-discovery, forgiveness, and self-healing.

As the movie's main character, Ana is an orphaned kid and is adopted as a child. She finds

comfort in being alone and sketching sceneries. Diagnosed with asthma, her aunt decided it would be

best for her to spend some time in the province with fresh air. It was at this moment that she started to

leave her comfort zone and do something she'd never done before. During her vacation, what

mesmerized her most is the mansion across a lake called "Marsh House." Driven by her curiosity, she

starts to wander around the villa and eventually be friends with a blonde-haired girl named Marnie.

However, every time they spend time hanging around with each other, Ana ends up in a scene where

she wakes up from sleep – it's as if Marnie was only a dream. It was only then that Ana realizes Marnie

does not actually exist physically in the present time, but long ago. Eventually, in the last part of the

movie, Ana's guardian told her the truth about her parents and grandmother's history. To her surprise,

Marnie turns out to be Ana's grandmother.

The movie has made me realize how lucky I am, beyond blessed that I have my biological

parents to take care of and nurture me to be what and where I am right now. Ana's feelings of sorrow

and isolation stem from her unexplained past – what happened to his parents or who they are. That is

something that had deprived him of acting as "normal" as what she claims. When her foster parent

finally told Ana about her biological parents, she was then able to complete the puzzle she's been trying

to figure out for a long time. She finally understood what happened, causing her emotional growth to

mature.

Moreover, I noticed that both Marnie and Ana share the same sentiments with family matters;

neglected and abandoned. That explains why they became connected in the story, even if it was only in

the form of a dream. The movie also taught me that no matter how much pain a person caused,

forgiveness will always be the key to moving forward and feeling better. Holding back the baggage from
yesterday's mistakes and regrets will only weigh you down and eventually consume you in darkness and

despair.

Eventually, the mystery of the story existed to mirror focal points– how we forgive others for

leaving or abandoning us and how we bid farewell. The two main characters possess conflictingly

adjusted fundamental factors; thus, when Anna drives Marnie to the old storehouse to confront her

apprehensions, they wind up "relinquishing" one another, abandoned in various renditions of a parallel

world. Be that as it may, Marnie finds this fact far sooner than Anna – from their second gathering

ahead, Marnie gets used to Anna's vanishings, and pardons her for them, and accepts her similarly as

firmly.

To conclude, when Marnie Was There doesn't ease the pain of abandonment. Pain is something

we usually live with, and it's something we suffer. It's not something we "settle" through a story only for

comfort. However, the film appears to be a lesson to teach us how to forgive others and forgive

ourselves. This movie tells us that love is more significant than any pain there is.