great works in literature II 2850 kta 2:55-4:35— Shades of Truth . . .

The narrator has various lovers and past relationships. I do not feel as though she is regretful in telling her past; I think she is very self aware and is trying to share her stories to the two men to impact them and help them understand the meaning of life. She shares the most important stories and the ones that had the most impact on her life; the ones that truly showed how she was and how she had such intimate relationships with every man. In the same sense, when she is talking to these men, she is reminiscing. She always had intimate relationships, not only was she sexually involved but she was completely emotionally involved as well. She loved every man in a different way than the other. In the section An Old Women’s Hermitage she quoted, “He was of low rank and wasn’t good-looking, but his writing, even in his very first letter, sent me into another world…before I knew it I was beginning to suffer and yearn for him, too” (595). In the section Mistress of a Domain Lord, she quotes, “He was tender to me, and enjoyed our lovemaking. But things didn’t work out…He was still young, but in bed he just couldn’t do anything anymore…Those old men didn’t know the first thing about love, but they made the decisions. I was dismissed and sent all the way back to my parents” (599). Her love is strong in each story however, each lover is worst/more unfortunate than the last. In her search from love it seemed as though the men were too interested in the sexual part and not enough in the loving part. But she still stuck around she did not abandon any of them or leave them. She does not think of any consequences. She states, “I just followed my desires wherever they went-and I ruined myself” (page 596).  She is in search of purity and love when she is on top of the mountain and sees all the faces of her lovers. She is woken up from this dream-like stake that she has been in all her life and realizes there is more things in the world than finding a lover. Which in a sense was her own journey all along. She was in search for love and the perfect lover (which was her ‘dream’) and she was awoken when she realized that there was so much more too life. I feel as though she gained her independence throughout this journey.

-Kelly Kay

By comparing the narrator’s description of her several relationships with different men, I find that her way to deal with the relationship with the head monk of a temple is quite different from others. As for other men, her relationships with them are either “lovers”, such as the young samurai she fell in love with at 11 years old and those two in she met in licensed quarter,  or “master and servant”, like the domain lord she serves at her early age. However, none of these kinds of relationship are bounded by marriage, which is the traditional social contract for lovers. While dealing with the relationship with the monk, the narrator described her as a “temporary wife”, and they did have a contract which serves to bind(p.600). Unlike her feeling for other lovers she had, the narrator didn’t like the monk at the beginning, and she even felt that nothing gives her pleasure any more(p.601). Later on, like most husbands and wives, the narrator got used to this “marriage” and started to truly regard herself as a wife. Her opinions on everything in the temple begun to change, and she even said:” the more deaths there were, well, the happier I was.”(p.601) Although in the end she went away and this relationship also came to an end, this relationship is still important and, special to her. This is the first and only time she shared her experience of marriage.

Zeyu Kang.

The narrator has been through many hardships with love. The love deprivation that the narrator experiences has forced her to fall in love with lust. For instance, when being the mistress of a Domain Lord, the narrator felt “fortunate” (597). However, it was a short lived feeling. The narrator had it all, but the lack of sexual activity and affection has outweighed the luxury of being the mistress of a lord. Then the narrator becomes the sexual servant of a monk whom she despised working for. Yet, she soon fell in love with the idea of lusting for him: ” Later I got used to the situation, and I even came to enjoy it” (601). It is as if the narrator clings on to these men, in search for the satisfaction love, where it does not exist. The relationships that the narrator has with all men is temporary and meaningless; it is strictly business.

-Rosshelle Munoz  

Journey to the West (pdf): The Heroic Journey

Thanks to all of you for your interesting and perceptive comments!  I’ve organized the more salient comments by character, as you see below.

Monkey:

Roshelle; Radia; William; Mark; Emily; Borys; Kamran; Vyonna; Chi; Zeyu;

There is a remark that Monkey is a helper to Tripitaka, and this is a valid and interesting point of view. From this perspective, the journey is actually Tripitaka’s journey, with Monkey as a helper. Another points out that both Monkey and Tripitaka are actually helping each other. The question is then, is this a journey, ultimately for both? For all? Another comment points to Monkey’s difficulty in facing his numerous obstacles. He “consistently lashes out violently when he is challenged” (Radia) and, of course, the question is, does he ever truly overcome this. Emily points out that Monkey’s rashness can also work in his favor, because he is always the active one, the “catalyst” for what needs to be done. Mark points out that Monkey’s second call, is to search for immortality, and that it is this call which ultimately leads him to the right path. This is certainly a large question in the narrative, and one that we will all have different answers to. In other words, is Monkey finally on the road to true self-realization? Borys also sees a second call for Monkey, when they were confronted by the thieves, and instead of learning from the past, he retreats to his former rash behavior. Vyonna points out that Monkey may well be stuck in between stages three and four of the journey; he has taken up the “call” but he cannot truly cross the threshold (letting go of his old behavior). Chi suggests, contrarily, that Monkey does learn how to be a team player (with the help of the metal band). Zeyu makes a very interesting comment, when he points out that Monkey is heroic precisely because he is not perfect, as working through these imperfections is what actually creates a true hero, or full human being.

Pigsy:

Mel; Brian.

Interesting comments point to Pigsy as a kind of hero, who is willing to give up his ordinary world, and in his case, a comfortable and profitable lifestyle, a lifestyle full of instinctual behavior, in order to go out of his comfort zone and into an adventure.

Tripitaka:

Elizaveta; William; Sabera; Zuzanna; Kamran; Myra; Diana; Kelly; Gagandeep; Denny.

A comment points to Tripitaka “consistently refusing the call of adventure” (Elizaveta) because he is often depressed and hopeless. The questions here are, does he ever find strength in himself? Or, contrarily, does Tripitaka have a different kind of strength? Zuzanna points out that although Tripitaka can be weak, he has a “different heroic trait – compassion.” Sabera makes a very interesting comment about Tripitaka facing the “threshold” when he finally “lets go” (of all pretense of being a leader? of humbling himself and accepting Monkey’s help?). Myra points out that Tripitaka did indeed have some growth, as when during his “dream he did not run away, but stood his ground.

Diana and Kelly, and Gagnadeep point out that Tripitaka was a solid mentor to Monkey, from the beginning, and was the true catalyst in getting Monkey to give up his “ordinary world” or previous behavior. Denny makes a very helpful comment about both Tripitaka and Monkey, that they are actually both learning from each other (and some people feel that these two characters are actually one complete character).

A Heroic Journey is no easy task. It involves a great deal of energy, time, adaptation and skill. In the most recent excursions in Journey to the West, both Monkey and Tripitaka are faced with a myriad of trials along the way that test their ability to handle new and difficult situations. With a path before them strewn with unexpected challenges they must overcome in order to proceed, the two pilgrims (with others joining along the way) have so far proven their ability to do so. But during the earlier stages of their expedition, Monkey is the one doing most of the dirty work. When a dragon suddenly swallows Tripitaka’s horse – his only means of making it to the end of their journey – Monkey demands he return it. When his initial attempts at regaining the horse fail, Monkey decides to go to the Bodhisattva for help. It is by these efforts that they are able to get the horse back. Tripitaka is very impressed with his disciple’s efforts and in astonishment, replies, “however did you manage to find it?” In a later encounter, in order to secure their food and housing on a nearby farm for the night, Monkey is set off to catch the monster that has kidnapped the owner’s daughter. When the old man argues that he cannot allow another monster (Monkey) in the house, Monkey replies, “Just tell me about it from the beginning. If I know what he’s good for, I can deal with him.” Monkey again proves his capabilities and is later able to convince Pigsy to leave the farm. In both instances, though the outcome may not have been as expected, Monkey is the both the catalyst and the active force in their progression onward. These are few of the many cases in which he has proven his way to achieving a Heroic Journey.

-Emily Weiss

In order to reach one’s true self, they must embark on a quest that is usually full of unexpected downfalls, obstacles, setbacks, and tragedies. These challenges that the “hero” has to overcome is what eventually defines and reveals their true character and nature. The collection of all the stories from this search for one’s self becomes know as a Heroic Journey. In the story “Journey to the West,” as Emily makes a strong case for, Monkey, one of the main characters, undergoes a Heroic Journey of his own as he accompanies a priest on his pilgrimage to India. One specific area of the quest that Monkey had suffered with was the refusal of his call. He was given a second chance at reforming his lifestyle and attempting to change for the better, to use his special power for good. Monkey ended up refusing this initial call to control his impulsive behaviors and went back to his usual self when he decided to slay the retreating and defenceless bandits. The disciple showed no respect for human life as he jokingly returned to his master and demonstrated that he had refused to change his ways. This led to Tripitaka scolding him, “You have behaved with cruelty, that ill will become one of your sacred callings.” But after leaving his master out of anger, Monkey was guided back to him with yet another chance at achieve his heroic journey. Monkey told Tripitaka that he “didn’t have the heart” to leave him all alone. This showed the readers that maybe he’s actually changing for the better as Emily makes a good point of in her remarks.

-Borys Shturman

As Monkey and Tripitaka face many trials on their journey, the two characters complement each other with their various traits. As Emily mentioned, Monkey tends to do the “dirty work”, and takes action when necessary. When facing a challenge, such as when the dragon swallows Tripitaka’s horse, Monkey is determined to retrieve it. Tripitaka, however, begins to cry and gives up in despair. Monkey, angered by his lack of action, tells Tripitaka, “Don’t make such an object of yourself!”, and proceeds to look for the dragon and engages in battle. Although Tripitaka may lack a call to action, he possesses a different heroic trait- compassion. When approached by robbers, Monkey’s immediate solution is to kill them; Tripitaka has a very different approach, and tells Monkey, “It would have been quite enough in this case if you had driven them away. Why kill them?”. Although his concern for others could be seen as a weak trait, without compassion and morality Monkey is not truly a hero. Monkey’s challenge is learning to change his ways in order to find salvation. He begins to learn that not all “monsters” deserve to die. When the two characters meet Piggy, we can see that Monkey is beginning to learn compassion from Tripitaka. Rather than immediately killing Piggy, Monkey decides to engage in conversation and realizes that Piggy is meant to be another one of Tripitaka’s disciples. Piggy’s life is spared, and Monkey begins to slowly change his views.

-Zuzanna Osiecka

In my opinion both Monkey and Tripiptaka fit into the Heroic Journey model as they both go through many hardships and have different experiences throughout their own journeys. Tripitaka fits into the Heroic Journey model because he goes through a helper’s stage—an essential part of the Heroic Journey. Tripitaka begins the journey in order to find ancient scriptures, which in itself is a heroic action and throughout his journey he faces challenges and must get help from monkey. Monkey saved the life of Tripitaka by killing men who tried to steal from Monkey. This is a clear indication of the heroism that monkey has, he risks his own life in order to protect the mission that Tripitaka is trying to accomplish.

Threshold: Point of letting go,

At the beginning of the story, Monkey was willing to accompany Tripitaka and he did so in a cheerful manner because he was happy that he is finally freed from five hundred years of solitude. Nevertheless, very soon after the two departs on their journey he found differences in their ideology and methods of dealing with dilemmas. Upon being scolded by Tripitaka, Monkey immediately gave up and ran off like a problematic child. “The one thing Monkey had never been able to bear was to be scolded, and when Tripitaka began to lecture him like this, he flared up at once and cried, ‘All right! I’ll give up being a priest and won’t go with you to India. You needn’t go on at me any more. I’m off!’” This shows his limited threshold toward the occurrence of different opinions within a group, which is understandable since he has only experienced being a leader before embarking on this journey. However, after being tricked back onto the journey by Kuan-yin and made to wear the metal band which, in a way, restricts him from running wild and not following Tripitaka’s instructions, Monkey’s progress on enlarging his threshold and corporation level is surely to be noted. Although having the metal band on, Monkey learned to act as a member of the group and slowly took ownership of Tripitaka’s goal without showing any sign of being forced at all times. At many different points throughout the journey when Tripitaka was hopeless and willing to give up without trying, Monkey even encouraged him and helped him out of despair when he would have turned a blind eye and let Tripitaka fail. For example, when Tripitaka’s horse was eaten and he started crying, Monkey became angry at his weak will, “‘Don’t make such an object of yourself,’ shouted Monkey, infuriated by this exhibition of despair. ‘Just sit here, while I go and look for the wretch and make him give us back the horse.’ ”
Chi Z.

I agree with Chi, in the beginning of the story Monkey was were ruthless and showed no mercy, neither to the tiger nor towards the bandits who came forth and tried to steal Tripitaka’s belongings. He killed them with ease and without remorse; while Tripitaka explained he would have spared the men. Monkey disagreeing with Tripitaka’s point of view left out of anger, but later on in the story you can see the change in Monkey’s behavior for the better; as Chi pointed out.
Stage: Trials: Facing New Challenges
When Tripitaka was first introduced to us he had already begun his journey to look for Scriptures from Inida. It was a journey for him and Monkey none the less, but for Tripitaka it wasn’t something he was used to. We can see that when Monkey and Tripitaka started their journey they immediately faced an obstacle; the tiger. “Tripitaka was terrified, but Monkey seemed delighted.” Monkey was used to danger as seen from his reaction, but Tripitaka was new to such danger so he didn’t know how to react and let Monkey take care of the tiger only because he said he could. Impressed by Monkey’s skills I feel that Tripitaka was than at ease and less worried now because of Monkey and felt he could go through his journey with less fear. But as they continued the two faced more and more challenges worse than the ones prior. The more challenges they faced the stronger Tripitaka became in his ability to face challenges, for example. When he saw the man in his dream he didn’t fear the man instead Tripitaka spoke with confidence and stoof his ground; “What can you be but a hobgoblin, evil spirit, monster or foul bogey that you should come to this place and molest me in the middle of the night?” Tripitaka wasn’t scared when he saw the man, but instead faced him; if he were to see this dream in the beginning of his journey before meeting Monkey or Pigsy who’s to say he wouldn’t have been too frightened to say anything to the man in the dream? All the challenges Tripitaka faced had helped him in a way that made it easier for him to face the newer challenges.
~Myra Khan

Helpers/Meeting the Mentors
In the next part of the story, it begins with Monkey being trapped under a rock that says “OM MANI PADME HUM”. Which explained by Professor Jeane on Tuesday, it means “The Jewel is in the Lotus”. This might point out to Tripitaka, who meets Monkey under the rock, that this is his missing piece to continue on his journey. Soon after we see that Tripitaka meets his disciple, his helper for the journey, and Monkey meets his mentor. The first time in the story that we begin to see Tripitaka mentoring Monkey would be during the incident when they encounter robbers. Monkey took matters into his own hands and killed the robbers and Tripitaka replies with “One has no right to kill robbers, however violent and wicked they may be.” I believe Tripitaka told this to Monkey, because the first time they encountered danger on their path with a tiger, the tiger was going to attack them. However, during this encounter with the robbers, Monkey scared them off, there was no need to kill them, but if the robbers went in to attack them, I think the story would have been written a little differently. Another example would be as what Chi mentioned above, when Tripitaka gets Monkey to wear a metal headband around his forehead that prevents him from running wild. This gesture from Tripitaka as the mentor provides Monkey with a learning experience and a growth of patience and obedience, so that Monkey in turn can be a better help for the journey.
-Diana Rodriguez

Monkeys ordinary world was shaken once Tripitaka started to disapprove of monkeys actions. For example, when monkey killed the robbers, he stated “Master, we can start now; I have killed them all’. ‘I am very sorry to hear it,’ said Tripitaka. ‘One has no right to kill robbers, however violent and wicked they may be. The most one may go i’d bring them before a magistrate. It would have been quite enough in this case if you had driven them away. Why kill them? You have behaved with cruelty that ill becomes one of your sacred calling’” (Page 21). Tripitaka wants monkey to see that this was not the correct way to handle the situation. He was not seeking revenge, he only wanted them to go away. He was so distraught by monkey’s action that he turned it into a lesson for monkey to finally learn that he must let go of all this anger and frustration, he needs to come to reality and face the fact that he is not the monkey king anymore and that he must now obey Tripitaka.

Throughout the journey monkey still tries to hold on to his ordinary world. This is shown when the group was helping out the Prince they met on their journey and monkey was set on helping him, in the quote, “That magician has a treasure worth more than an army of ten thousand men. When we go to the city tomorrow, we are sure to fall foul of him, he will use it to overthrow us. Wouldn’t it be much better if we got in first and stole the treasure?” (Page 56). Monkey has good intentions to help the prince and his father, however his actions on how to help are not right. He is slowly letting go of his ordinary world and was in the stage of threshold. He is excited about helping people along the way and does want to make a difference. He takes what Tripitaka says into consideration, however his actions must change in order for him to get through his heroic journey. Even though monkey is making progress,  he still has a lot to learn.   

-Kelly Kay

  I agree with what my fellow classmate kelly’s post. She stated good points that supported her idea of Tripitaka disproving monkeys behavior just to teach him a lesson. With the the robbers example Kelly supported her idea to demonstrate Tripitaka intention to scold him to let go his angerness. I think Tripitaka also scolds Monkey King to open his eyes to face reality that he has a big responsibility on his shoulders. Tripitaka scolded Monkey King not to get him angry but has good intentions for Monkey.

Monkey has progressed and changed throughout his heroic journey. It was the obstacles and risks he took that were necessary for him to be the “Monkey Savior”. This can be seen when Monkey raises his hand when he says he shall go through the curtain in the quote where it says “If any of us were bold enough to pierce that curtain, get to where the water comes from and return unharmed, we would make him our king! “ Three times the call went out, when suddenly one of them leapt from among the throng…”. It is Monkey king determination and bravery that led him to keep going forward.  Throughout his journey monkey showed “warrior like qualities” that lead him to get the title that he earned among his monkey peers. Monkey best fits the point of letting go in the heroic journey stage. This can be seen when Monkey run aways from Tripitaka just to get tea and Monkey says “Doesn’t it occur to you that I may hungry and thirsty too.’’ Monkey King just went off like that because Tripitaka talked to him sharply. Tripitaka is the helper and plays the role of the big brother that guides and gives the discipline necessary for  Monkey to become Monkey king. With the help of Tripitaka Monkey let goes of his childish acts and leads him closer to his goal. Tripitaka attempts to show monkey pain to discipline  him  when he chanted a spell that  made Monkey in pain and purple. He wanted Monkey not to be troublesome. With the help of Tripitaka Monkey  gained wisdom and focus necessary to complete his heroic journey.

-Gagandeep Kaur

It is not monkey’s awareness of the problem of life or his braveness which helps him to destroy the difficulties that confront him, and all those triumphs he has won that makes him a heroic model. But his refusal to call, or in other words, his confusion and his mistakes that truly help to build up a complete character, to draw us a more realistic image of hero(although he seems to be super unreal). Wu Chengen doesn’t try to set up an image of perfectness thorough out the novel, and moreover, he seems to deliberately assign imperfectness to those character who, in most readers’ mind, should born to be perfect, such as Wu-kong and all those gods in the heaven. As for monkey, the idea of going back to Mountain of Flower and Fruit has come to his mind many times in the whole novel. For example, after Tripitaka criticizing him for killing the robbers, he jumped onto his clouds and went a hundred and eight thousand leagues away(p.23). The story of Zhangliang enlightened monkey this time and helped him to pass through for this time. However, in the future, the contradiction between him and Trpitaka, Guan-yin and everyone else still exists, and there will be many refusal to call  waiting for him to overcome.

Zeyu Kang.

Tripitaka throughout the story is constantly being put up against new trials. In fact, this whole journey with Monkey, Pigsy, etc. has been a trial for all of them. One of the trials that Tripitaka is currently going through is action. Tripitaka throughout the story has been failing to perform actions, what I mean by this is he gives up easily or doesn’t think of alternatives to get things done. While on the other hand Monkey is the complete opposite, he acts too much, sometimes he doesn’t think, he just does what he is feeling at the moment. An example would be near the beginning of the journey where Tripitaka and Monkey just teamed up and they face their first obstacle a tiger. In the text, it says “Tripitaka was terrified, but Monkey seemed delighted” this is a perfect example of the complete opposite that Tripitaka and Monkey are, like Ying and Yang. Another trial for Tripitaka is to lead his disciples on the right path, currently, Monkey is too outgoing, Pigsy has too much perversion causes trouble, etc. Even with all this said you can see that can see that part of Tripitaka is rubbing off on Monkey and part of Monkey is rubbing off on Tripitaka. Together they help each other grow. An example of this can be found when Pigsy’s village leader Mr. Kao, first saw Monkey, he said that he didn’t look like someone the village could rely on, this is how Monkey responded “You’ve evidently learnt very little wisdom. If you judge people by their appearances, you’ll always be wrong.” This is especially important because it goes to show that he has matured a little, not getting mad at Mr. Kao and he learned this line from Tripitaka. Another example of Tripitaka personality rubbing on Monkey is during the King’s death. Tripitaka asked Monkey to go retrieve the life-restoring elixir and he goes and gets it, but instead of stealing it like he did last time this time he asked Lao Tzu if he could have some. This goes to show that Monkey has grown in some way.

Denny Huang.

The characters Monkey and Tripitaka both fit into the ‘helpers’ category of the heroic
journey model. Both characters are receiving help from each other in different ways.
In the beginning of chapter 2, monkey is trapped in a stoned box and needed the help of
Tripitaka to get free. “You only have to want me to be out and I shall be out” quoted
Monkey. Tripitaka was the only one capable of setting monkey free. In return for setting
Monkey free, Monkey was to help Tripitaka in his journey to collect scriptures from
India. “Get me out of here and I will help in your journey to the west” quoted Monkey.
After Monkey was set free he assisted Tapitaka on his journey to collect scriptures.
Monkey truly saved Tripitaka from danger when robbers attempted to rob Tripitaka and
Monkey. Monkey used his powers to kill the armed robbers using only a pin.

-William Dayan

It can be said that Tripitaka, the priest whom is sent to India to fetch scriptures, could fit into the ‘Threshold: Point of letting go’ stage of the heroic model.  This stage can be considered a point where the hero is reaching a moment of giving up in their journey. They have endured as much as they can and are at the brink of defeat.  Tripitaka fits into this stage because many times during his quest he is faced with an obstacle he seems to think is unpassable and loses his will to continue.  “They climbed the bank, and finding Tripitaka they told him of their predicament. Tripitaka burst into tears. “We shall never get across,” he sobbed.”(40). In this point of his quest he is faced with the task of crossing a seemingly uncrossable river, and after Monkey and Pigsy fail to ‘convince’ the monster to help them after trying only once, he loses all hope.  This scene was not the only time Tripitaka seemed to have lost all hope, earlier on in the chapter a similar event occurred.  “”Well suppose it has been eaten,” said Tripitaka, “how am I to travel? It’s a great deal too far to walk.” And as he spoke his tears began to fall like rain. “Don’t make such an object of yourself,” shouted Monkey, infuriated by his exhibition of despair.”(24).  Just as it was in the other scenario Tripitaka lost all hope and quite literally burst into tears, in other words he was at the point of letting go.

-Sabera Qazi

Within the story Journey to the West Pigsy could be said to have been at the first stage of the heroic journey model, the ‘Ordinary World’ stage.  In this stage the hero, in this case Pigsy, is living a content life which is relatively safe however something seems to not be working. According to old Mr. Kao, he claimed that “To have a monster as a son-in-law in the house doesn’t work very well. It’s definitely discreditable to the house,”(Pg29).  It seems that some type of “ogre” has taken up residence at the Kao farm, however from Pigsy’s point of view he has been nothing but a blessing to them.  “Monkey suddenly began to sigh, murmuring “Was there ever such an unhappy girl as I?” “What are you grumbling about?” said the monster. “Since I came here, I’ve cost you something in food and drink, that I own. But I’ve more than earned what I have got. Haven’t I cleaned the ground and drained ditches, carried bricks and tiles, built walls, plough fields, planted grain, and improved the farm out of all knowing?  You’ve got good clothes to wear and all the food you need. What’s all this childish nonsense about being unhappy?”(Pg32).  When Monkey tricks Pigsy into talking to him it can be seen that if it were not for Pigsy’s appearance and his magic then he would be able to live on the farm and be accepted into the family with no qualms.  In this case Pigsy is living quite the ordinary life however because of his faults it isn’t working out for everyone there.  According to the heroic journey model he is in the ‘Ordinary World’ stage and is waiting for it to be shaken up by some event.  In this case it is Monkey with his cudgel.

-Brian Baigorria