Last week we read and discussed the story of The Ramayana. It is an Indian story that depicts the way of thought that people had in those times. For example, the main character, Rama, is exiled to the woods for no reason and he doesn't complain or say anything in regards to his punishment. Rama goes into exile because he says he wants to fulfill his Darma, or his obligations. In class we discussed why Rama was exiled and concluded that the Hunchback sort of brain washed one of the King's wives to send Rama into exile so that her son would become prince, then king. The hunchback was only trying to look after her well being because she was friends with the queen Kaikeyi and wants her son to become king. In class we also discussed that Kaikeyi refers to the hunchback repetitively by calling her hunchback. We also discussed that in the times of the Ramayana, people believed in reincarnation and that once you died you were born again, but depending on how you comported yourself in your previous life, you would be punished in your current life. For example, we concluded that the hunchback was probably a bad person or had done something terrible in her previous life in order to become a hunchback in her present life.
Rama is sent to exile and he doesn't complain about anything, he just wants to please his father, the king Dasharatha. Rama's wife is kidnapped by the demon Ravana that tries to seduce her into becoming his wife. In class we had a discussion to see if Rama was a superhero because he goes to save his wife from the demon. I think that Rama isn't a superhero because i think that most husbands would go and try to rescue their wife if they are kidnapped. I think that Rama can be classified more as a hero for the actions he took into saving his wife. I think that Rama meets some of the values or characteristics that superheroes must meet in order to be a superhero. For example, Rama protects the weak, Sita, from a demon that he kills. Rama also has unique weapons like an arrow that returns to him after he shoots it. I think that Rama's biggest flaw is when he rescues Sita and then accuses her of infidelity. Rama puts Sita through a test to see if she was unfaithful with Ravana and she passes the test because the Gods save her from the fire and tell Rama that she has not sinned. Rama then says that he knew that she wasn't unfaithful but that he had to make sure that other people knew that she wasn't because he didn't want people to think of Rama as a foolish son of a king that took back his wife after she had lived with another man even though it wasn't voluntary. I think that Rama could have proven to the people or the 3 worlds that Sita was faithful some other way or at least not have insulted Sita as he did in the story. I also think that Rama isn't a superhero because he doesn't dedicate all of his time to protecting people, which is what superheroes should do.
word count: 545
I agree that Rama could have tried to come up with another way of proving Sita's fidelity. That part kinda bugs me as well.
ReplyDeleteOne thought on the hunchback. It's possible that her rebirth into that role was actually a step up from what she was before. I think that's part of the interesting thing about reincarnation in Hinduism. You can't really be certain whether a being is reincarnated as an improvement or a downgrade unless you somehow know what their past lives were like.