The world

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One Piece offers a very interesting conceptualization of the world.

So, when people talk about the world, it's not the planet earth they are talking about. The world is a concept that doesn't refer necessarily to the physical globe, but rather to the environment in which we exist.

Indeed, describing the world can be done in two ways. One of them is the scientific way, right? So it's a sphere in the solar system, with a hot core, then tectonic plaques that separate the core from the surface, and the sea is above them plaques. And the land we inhabit is the peakiest spot of the plaques. And then we have the atmosphere. And here's this image explaining that: you can see the core, and the tectonic plaques, the atmosphere...

Now, this image is not an accurate description, is it? It's a representation. Because a photo would not show anything. It's not that useful. So thanks to this illustration, you can understand the world, which is not understandable.

Okay, so this representation is the one that, as of today, is more aligned with scientific facts. So we can call this representation a scientific representation.

But there are other ways of representing the world, that is aligned with other facts, such as psychological facts, or moral facts even. The world of one piece offers a great representation of the world. It's not supposed to be scientific, it's useful in a different way. It's a representation that has meaning, not only a description. Or rather: it's value is not in the description, but in the meaning. It's a useful representation, it helps you.

There are four areas in the world, with are called by their seas.

The grand line

Once you enter the grand line, many things change. It's an area that follows a different logic. To begin with, it's totally unpredictable.

Raftel

The final island is called Raftel. It's the final island, the last island. The island that only the king of pirates reached. And it may be said that reaching the island is what made him become the king of pirates. It's said that the One Piece, whatever it may be, it's there, in Rafter, the last island, the final island. There, you can find "the secret of the world", as it is described.

So I came across the Greek Titan Oceanus, which I believed inspired the Grand Line and perhaps Raftel. From Wikipedia: "Oceanus was believed by the ancient Greeks and Romans to be the divine personification of the sea, an enormous river encircling the world." "Oceanus was the ocean-stream at the margin of the habitable-world, the father of everything, limiting it from the everything and flowing around the Elysium."

Thus, I think that Raftel is actually analgous to Elysium, From Wikipedia: "Elysium would also be known as the Fortunate Isles or the Isles (or Islands) of the Blessed, located in the western ocean at the end of the earth. The Isles of the Blessed would be reduced to a single island by the Thebean poet Pindar, describing it as having shady parks, with residents indulging in athletic and musical pastimes."

In chinese mythology, there are said to be 4 seas: North, South, East and West.

The final journey in the East Blue is in Loguetown, where the Pirate King was executed and started the Great Age Of Pirates. The "Logue" in Loguetown represents Pro"logue" and Epi"logue" since the old era ended and the new one began. This name is similar to Luffy's island "Dawn" which is the dawning of the old era and rising of the new. The Straw Hats then depart for the Grand Line, the next chapter in their epic adventure. 10 years after Shanks left, Luffy leaves to become a pirate. He departs from Dawn Island to symbolize the sun dawning on the old era and beginning a new one

The purpose of creativity in humans is very interesting. Here's a good way of looking at it: we have what is known. The territory that is known by you, by me, by society. There's things we know, things we have. So there's music like country, or rock, or jazz... music that we know, we enjoy. In medicine we know about surgery, pills, blood transplants, hospitals. In transportation we have cars, boats, planes, lorries. And all of that we know, we like or dislike, but doesn't make us anxious.

Now, that territory hasn't been always there. Someone had to invent rock. Someone had to invent surgery. Someone had to invent cars. Now they are a given, everybody knows what they are, but because someone invented them, then proved that they worked, then convinced all of us that they are fine and now they are part of what we do.

So that's creativity. It's very important, and it's very risky. And it's either very rewarding, or it's very punishing.

Because it consists on going outside the territory of what we know. In music, is going beyond what we all like: rock, jazz, country... going outside that, going where noise lives, where chaos a dirt live. In medicine, is going beyond what everyone does: surgery, pills... going beyond that, where blood, and death and people suing you live. That's very risky.

Why do people do it? Well, I can think of two reasons. One of them is that it's smart, or it could be. Because that zone outside the known territory is also where Nobel prizes are won, where smash musical hits are created and where fortunes can be made. So yes, chances are that you end up being a failure, living under a bridge, frustrated... But you can hit it and make a fortune. So that's one reason. But the second reason, and I think that this is the main one, is that some people are only happy if they live like this. Some people have temperaments or obsessions that only allow them to live on the edge of what we know, looking to discover the new, and with their work expand the boundaries of what the whole civilization knows.

In mythology I think this is represented by the idea that dragons, who can kill you easily and are fundamentally a representation of everything that's dangerous - dragons are keepers of gold and treasures.

And that's literally right. You as a creator, as a creative person: an inventor, an artist, an entrepreneur; yo go outside what is known, to the chaos, to the dragon that can kill you, and if you survive it, you find great treasures and gold.

That's what happens in the Hobbit. Bilbo goes to the dragon, who sleeps above the mountain of gold. And he gets close enough that risks his life, and ends up getting the gold. But there's always some skeletons around showing you that most people are killed. And that creativity. That's living in the great unknown. Working towards expanding what out whole culture calls home. Finding the hidden treasure and being massively rewarded for doing so.

That's the grand line. That's what the grand line is a metaphor for. You see: in the world of One Piece there are four oceans, where people live normal lives. That's the normal path. That's growing up where you were born. And some people, really weirdos, heros, misfits and conquerors chose to navigate across an very dangerous route, between the four normal seas.

And I think that's what it's about. Literally, because writing One Pieces was, for Eiichiiro Oda, exactly that. Eiichiiro Oda could find a normal job, do his thing, but no; he wanted to create stories and draw comic books. And by deciding to do that, he was entering the grand line. The dangerous place where the dragon lives. To find the gold, yes. But to live an adventure, to live a life that's meaningful. That's exactly what Luffy does.

One Pieces is Eiichiro Oda's grand line. And you have your own grand line. But all of them are grand lines. Navigating a dangerous sea in search of a treasure, living adventures, being free and also risking your life and worrying your parents.

Sea monsters

There are sea monsters. Or sea kings they call them. Basically, the sea, which is the basic territory that a pirate navigates, is full of incredibly powerful monsters.

In genesis, god also creates sea monsters. It says: so God created the sea monsters and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, then the birds – and God saw it was good. This was on the fifth day.

There are also several references to the Leviathan in the Bible. And I don't want to get biblical here because it's not my area of knowledge, but it is obviously, just like One Piece, a dreamlike book, that is also incoherent, but it is still carrier of wisdom. The Bible of course carries the advantage that I already mentioned: it has been curated and improved through time, because the parts we know are the ones that people remembered, so they are the really cool parts.

Anyway, the Leviathan is a huge sea monster, that was defeated by God. And in fact, it's sort of implied that defeating the Leviathan is what makes God god. So the Leviathan, the sea monsters, is a very powerful metaphor of the terrible unknown. The terrible chaos. The darkest predator.

Order and chaos

Marines represent order, and pirates represent chaos. And both have good and bad.

Marines are order

The bad about order is that it can become tyrannical, and that's precisely what happens to marines in many places. The other problem with order is that it can be corrupted by people who attain power in ways that are not deservers of that power. The good thing with order is that is provides peace and protection, is a fatherly virtue. It also gives a clear understanding of what's right and wrong, which conservative people really appreciate and really helps to maintain peace in a society.

Marines have a structure. This is their flag. It's order. It's justice. Pirates are just ships, each with their own flag.

Pirates are chaos

Then pirates are chaos. The bad thing with chaos is that is can destroy everything, it's confusing and no one know where to stand. The good thing is that chaos is all potential, it's regenerative, it's the only way of thinking outside the box, it can fix things that order cannot fix. Pirates seek for treasure, while marines work to protect it. This is a key point that we will get back to.

Chaos is opportunity