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Haku: “You still haven’t noticed that something precious to you has been replaced.”
Haku says this to Yubaba after Chihiro heals him and takes off for Zeniba’s with baby Boh. Yubaba doesn’t realize Boh is missing because Zeniba has made Yubaba’s attendants, three disembodied heads, look like Boh. Haku understands that greed has blinded Yubaba to what she truly values, and his words suggest that without this hint Yubaba will remain interminably oblivious to what is missing. Though she usually smothers Boh with attention, Yubaba is distracted by her work and doesn’t realize that Boh is definitely not acting like himself. When Haku tells Yubaba that something precious has been replaced, the first thing Yubaba looks for is the pile of gold beside her on the table. Only when she sees that the gold is safe does she understand he’s talking about another precious thing, and when she refocuses her attention on Boh, she discovers he isn’t Boh at all. A few seconds later, the gold turns to dirt. Her greed has left her with nothing, and now, with no material objects to protect or covet, she wants only her baby. Boh becomes an important bargaining chip in obtaining Sen’s freedom, while Yubaba learns a lesson about what really matters in the world.
Almost every major character in Spirited Away has experienced replacement in some way. Shortly after this scene with Yubaba, Sen remembers Haku’s real name, which is Haku’s own precious thing that has been replaced. Sen’s memory of the Kohaku River reminds us that humans constantly replace precious parts of nature with more transient things. Haku’s true identity, Kohaku River, was replaced by an apartment complex. The stink spirit replaced the ancient river spirit because his river was polluted. Pigs replace Chihiro’s gluttonous parents. Even Chihiro’s real name is replaced with the name Sen, a smaller and presumably less important name. Ultimately, Chihiro survives because she recognizes what is precious and tries to preserve it.
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