WARNING: It contains spoilers of the series and/or from other reference sources —books, other anime series, etc.
(If you are a fan of the anime version, and if you like to find moral and spiritual lessons which you can apply to your daily life, these articles will be useful for you.) REMEMBER: It is only a personal point of view.
In the episode 44 of FMA, when speaking about Dante and Hohenheim, their characteristic smell and the reason of this fact. This is because they use an energy waste that is needed by them to keep living. Despite the passing years, through this method they achieved to preserve their bodies, but their souls were wearing away.
According to my reflection I can say that due to the method for the creation of philosopher’s stones, which was the instrument that Hohenheim and Dante used; directly or indirectly they sacrificed human lives in order to preserve their existence. Dante, specially, is a clear example of what I try to expose: She looked for her own survival, without minding if someone else died in the way taking her place.
"Your body and your soul rot themselves because of evil"…. "You can hide it with clothes, but your smell betrays you and it revels your lie" -Hohenheim-
This phrase remembers me a book called: "The Picture of Dorian Gray".
Dorian receives a picture of him as a birthday gift, looking at it he found that he was so beautiful, and he was afraid of getting older or seeing himself ugly with the passing time and he said: "I wish this picture gets old, and not me" and so occurred –without him knowing it. Later in the story he involves in depraved things and his soul gets corrupted shamelessly. When he finds again the picture he realizes that while he conserves his youngness and beauty, the picture is a deformed and grotesque being, so, terrified at seeing all the corruption of his soul reflected in that image he decides to stab the picture, but he is who dies converted in that ugly and corrupted being, while the picture remains intact.
In conclusion, either by smell, appearance or expressions, finally, we all have our soul uncovered in front of people and before God, as Jesus Christ said: "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." (Luke 6:45 NKJV)
All this becomes an invitation to examine what is in our heart and what it is that people are seeing reflected in us.
Is the result of you self-examination good? If it is not, there is still time to get decided and begin to change with the help of God. (Read: Philippians 1:6)
¡Blessings! ^^
Author: Shino-Writer Original Language: Spanish Translator - Editor: エロイ사마 Cleaner: Daniel Ausejo