The Schnee Family and Why its Dysfunctional

So I saw an analysis on the family and i couldn’t really get to into it so i decided to dissect it for myself because i myself know a dysfunctional Family when i see one.

(you guys are learning A LOT about me with these Rwby posts)



So this has been sitting in my drafts for a week now i guess i should reveal it now



Alright so this is mostly stuff from volume 4 so lets slap a big fat Spoiler Warning. oh and I’ll be talking about alcohol and emotional/mental abuse so if that stuff bugs you, be warned im gonna mention this a lot.

Before i start I wont be speaking too much about Weiss because we get so much of her its pretty easy to read her compared to the rest of her family. So sorry Weiss you’re getting a few sentences compared to everyone’s paragraph.

First, before we focus on each family member lets look at the family as a whole by doing some Art analysis and Critique. This painter must have not been paid much to do this portrait with how true to feelings they stayed with.



The first thing your eye sees is the parents and Whitely, the girls sitting far apart from their brother to the outer sides of their parents. The composition is fine and your eye flows decently but it looks off. No one is touching each other, at least not intentionally. When you imagine HAPPY family portraits usually the father would have his arms around his wife, or the children leaning towards each other.

The girls are crying, usually the case is they didn’t want the painting done in the first place or they were scolded heavily or lectured before it was done. See how they’re gripping their skirts obviously they’re holding even more tears back.

Notice how Whitley, the youngest, is in the middle. That’s not too uncommon but he is the ONLY smiling face in this photo. we can tell who was most ecstatic for this to happen.



Why didn’t the painter just make them smile. Depending on the artist doing this is hard if you’ve never seen them smile. so either Mr. Schnee didn’t know they were crying, didn’t care, or he purposely allowed it.



A painting is an immortalization of a person, like a photo it captures what a family is suppose to be. I can see Mr. Schnee having seen the portrait and thought “well My son is fine, thats all the matters” and had it hung up. He also may have done it in spite to humiliate the girls.

Mrs. Schnee doesn’t even want to be there, as a friend and i discussed its probably a loveless marriage.



So now we got a gist of how… unhappy they are lets tackle each character individually.

Our Vaguest and hardest Character comes First and that’s

Mrs. Schnee

What we see here is a woman who looks tired, if not that then she may be older than her husband, its not uncommon for the wife to be older in this kind of family, but lets assume her and her husband are around the same age. Clearly she’s a woman who keeps her image but those lines on her face must be stress related, if the young barely greying Jacques is there wrinkless himself, which speaks volumes on how worked up she seems since running a business isnt easy in itself.



So She’s stressed she looks older than what she is or may be what else are you going to do but turn to the bottle.



“eve are you saying She’s an alcoholic ?” YES absolutely Already we know her relationship with her Husband isn’t the best.



Weiss responded with “mother?” but then we get this from Whitley

“but people drink casually all the time, maybe she’s having a glass of whine with lunch”



Let me point a thing out, a bit later in the episode we get a glimpse of a time

Roughly about 4:05 or 4:10 in the afternoon when we see Jacques arguing with Ironwood.



so re-winding back to Whitley’s statement. “Already, drinking in the garden”

Already.



It means she does this A LOT, and we can assume that she is drinking alone. One of the bigger signs of being alcoholic is ‘hiding it’ or drinking alone. Now im not saying everyone who drinks by themselves is a chronic drinker but this is a woman with three children who, implied by weiss, shouts and argues with her husband a lot.

(not too different from my own mother currently struggling with addiction herself, but this is a red flag for anyone. If you know someone who tends to drink a little more than you feel is healthy, look at them a bit closer)



I don’t care what people think is a healthy relationship, but fighting like that is not it. Arguments are one thing, full on shouting is another.

I can assume the Marriage is a loveless one at this point, Happily married women who love their children and husbands don’t develop drinking problems as easily, especially one i can assume one who is disciplined and poised.

I’m not saying she doesnt love her children, she probably cares about them more than Jacques may, we just need to see her to know for sure.



We’ve heard nothing of their mother compared to the others since the begining so its safe to assume she doesn’t have a strong relationship with her family and its kinda depressing.



Next up: Jacques

full of mysteries until this episode. Mr.schee is your typical self righteous business man.

Sure you can say he loves his kids but so far all we’ve seen this episode is how more concerned about his company is. He’s not completely wrong, Atlas does depend on dust especially with it being the only kingdom with an actual military, but the way General Ironwood and him bicker about it makes it seem that Jacques does have a bit of a say of what the military does, especially if they’re both in the council they spoke of. We’re not totally aware of how close to the schnee’s Ironwood may be, but we can assume closer than they let on. He’s not only a General of the Military but also a headmaster of Atlas, and we an assume that due to his connections with the Heiresses through Atlas academy and the Military, its a giving Jacques would seek his Alliance. Assuming if they weren’t friends before their occupations.

He is a bit of a Narcissist, assuming by the portrait of himself in his office. Not to say having big ass pictures of yourself in your own home mean’s you’re big headed, but this is an office, a place where not only he works, but where other’s come to visit with him. A portrait of him young and “handsome” probably around the time he started building his business. He wants everyone to know he may be grey/whitening/whatever, but he’s still the young businessman with fresh ideas.

or im just reading into it but whatever, what kind of analysis underreads amirite?





I’m bored with him this character doesn’t interest me much (yet), basic dad with tight leash on his daughter, and big humbug business man who is kind of silly.

Next ambiguous family member





Whitley!

He’s fucking adorable, look at that little shit I love him. GOD Why are the Schnees so pretty. Anyway gushing aside lets take in the situation here.

As far as we know Whitley, unlike Winter or Wiess has stayed in Atlus for his entire life, Winter went off to the military, Wiess went to study abroad so that leaves Little Whitely by himself with Mom and Dad (lets be real here, Klien).

His personality is a little hard to read because of the voice acting is very Vague. Going back to the portrait we’re aware that he is the Favorite of the three, or at least the successful third attempt.

Wiess is the Heiress of the Schnee Dust company, we’re reminded of it quite frequently, traditionally a businessman like Jacques would prefer a son to be the Heir of his company be it tradition or the fact that i feel this may be a bit of a sexist family. He’s fairly supportive of Weiss and she remarks how he’s ‘different’ and compares her to Winter even though he doesn’t like her. Either he his growing up… or he’s a sneaky little shit and he wants the company. He feels he’s most deserving. Winter left them, Weiss went to beacon, wouldn’t it make sense to the youngest golden child to inherit the business. So why is Weiss the heiress still? I feel Whitley is gonna show up more and i hope he does, and i do hope he’s the little shit everyone makes him out to be. He’s so cute in his stupid Nerd vest.



Okay so let me talk about my wife Winter, The oldest sibling and the one who has had the most expectation put on her (no doubt its a given that parents are stricter with their first borns) She’s obviously VERY close with Weiss, Cares about her and pretty much we find out she’s one of the main voices of influence on her. Winter is pretty much the one Weiss attempts to make proud, so why not her parents. I can imagine that Winter realized how ill her parents are as guidance and took it upon herself to be their for her sister. Aside from small instances of their father, Winter has been the only one we’ve heard of before her appearance so its a given that Weiss seeks winter over their potentially Alcoholic mother and with good reason. Winter has seen how her parents are, knows how strict and controlling Jacques can be and how absent their mother is. I wouldn’t be surprised if Winter is actually doting of Whitley as well.

At her age she would have probably taken the company had she not gone to the Military which was no doubt a decisions of hers that she made, perhaps to against the line HER PARENTS wanted from her.

Let me crack down and say Winter is by no means in any shape or form abusive. (I know its stupid but tumblr likes to think calling your sister a boob is abuse?? ) She is a little harsh but all she does when she speaks with weiss is guide and teach her. Telling her how to deal with their father, how she’s been in those shoes.



Another aside I’d like to make, that her relationship with Qrow takes a new form when we factor her feelings about her own alcoholic mother. “He was DRUNK” Lets not forget Qrow did pull a dick move and mock Winter about protecting her younger sister. Sure he segwayed into an anti-military mini-rant Calling her and her soldiers ‘sell outs’ but he insulted that she isn’t fit to protect her sibling. I feel like thats a bit of a low blow in Winters book. I’d speak more but i don’t want my hardcore snowbird shipper bias to come in so I move on to my little tid-bit about Weiss.

She’s grown a lot from her Spoiled Heiress image we got of her. Aside from winter and klein i can safety say Weiss isn’t comfortable with her family, especially not her father. She’s a girl with big dreams outside the big Schnee house so its understandable she isn’t fond of her father, especially with friends like her team. She’s a girl who is proud of her name but not proud of its shitty critical points that warrant the hatred some people feel towards her family. She’s tired of being in the middle and we understand.



Your older sister left, this is your company, you’re the image, sing for this concert. Its pretty annoying and lonely. So i hope she breaks out soon.





Also Klein is the best butler ever, he should adopt all the Schnee siblings and they should live in a cottage and be happy. The Schnee parents are terrible.





anyway that’s all i got, I’m late for work

