Coping Mechanisms
Anonymous Ask: What do you think were madaras coping mechanisms if he had any?
Thank you for this ask! Canon characters like to think of Madara as a madman who fell from grace because of his thirst for power, but based on what we know of him, that isn’t quite true.
Coping mechanisms are ways to decrease stress and deal with the uncomfortable emotions that arise from stressors. We all know how important family is to Madara. He was particularly invested in the welfare of his one remaining brother, Izuna. Madara’s coping mechanisms can be separated into those from before and after Izuna’s death.
Adaptive Coping: Before Izuna Died
Madara and Izuna led the Uchiha together and brought their family into their position of being one of the two greatest clans, not an easy feat during the Warring States Era. They seemed to have provided the clan with different aspects of leadership –Madara with godlike military strength and protection and Izuna (who was also very strong) with the political savvy and interpersonal skills to lead a group of people.
Madara was good to his family and there are no accounts of him being a poor leader at this time despite the unending stress from the conflicts they faced. Madara’s way of coping during this period was to throw himself into taking responsibility for his clan and to confide in Izuna.
- Taking responsibility- Taking control of a situation is usually considered an adaptive method of coping. After the pain of his other brothers’ deaths, kid Madara believed himself responsible because he wasn’t strong enough to protect them, as seen during his childhood conversations with Hashi by the river. I think the losses of his first brothers greatly spurred him into taking on the responsibility for the wellbeing of his last brother and clan. (You can see how much sleep he lost from his eyebags haha). Madara became as strong as he was not only because he was a talented genius, but because he sincerely wanted to protect those he loves. He got much, much stronger off-screen and attained the MS alongside Izuna and they brought the Uchiha to new heights.
- Confiding in Izuna- I think this one goes without saying. Izuna was Madara’s emotional rock and anchor. It was only right before Izuna was killed that Madara started his decline as a clan leader and eventually lost their support.
Maladaptive Coping: After Izuna’s Death
Madara’s fate after his beloved brother’s death was truly tragedy. His coping mechanisms could basically be summarized as bottling his grief, anger, and suffering inside until he exploded and lashed out, before isolating himself when lashing out didn’t work.
Madara didn’t go mad right after Izuna’s death. He was still doing everything he could to be the responsible leader of his clan and work with Hashirama. To be honest, he was set up for failure from the beginning due to how Konoha’s political structure was designed. That is, it was biased against allowing the Uchiha into positions of political power. He could have lowered his expectations (a coping mechanism that just doesn’t fit Mads) for Konoha, but he’d still slowly wither away inside because he would be failing to keep his promise to Izuna. There were multiple flashbacks that illustrated Madara’s resentment, such as in his facial expressions during his battles with Hashi or his interaction with Muu and kid Ohnoki. Madara was just bottling it all up.
I think Madara truly wanted the best for his clan and could clearly see the situation they were being forced to settle with wasn’t in their best interests in the long-term. But he didn’t possess the social skills that Izuna did and could not convince his clan to stand by him, and even ended up ostracized by them.
It was only from this point onwards that Madara really fell apart. He lost everything: his immediate family, his extended family, his purpose, and he helped found a village that could only be described as being uneasy about him. Madara never verbally asked for help, but he did in his own way, by lashing out with angry outbursts at Hashirama, who promised much more at the founding of Konoha, who was supposed to understand him, but actually didn’t. Hashirama never helped with the discrimination the Uchiha faced.
To cope, Madara isolated himself. Thus began the loneliest decades of his life, where he spiraled further and further down until he was the senile grandpa Obito met, who was even susceptible to a Venus fly trap’s ploys. He still believed in taking control of the situation, but in a much more twisted way than in his younger years. Whereas in his youth he wanted to protect what he cherished, in his twilight years, Madara came to the conclusion it was his responsibility to save the entire world by becoming its Messiah through the Infinite Tsukuyomi Plan. The rest is history.