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The Ramayana Ashir Malik
In Narayan’s tale, “The Ramayana”, there are many depictions of good and evil with a variety of characters mentioned. I will be discussing about Rama (Good), Mahabali (Evil), and Viswamithra (Both) as they all represent a certain aspect of divinity. Rama, of course, will be represented as a good character while Mahabali will be the complete opposite. Viswamithra is essentially good, but his views and actions can be described as dubious, which is why I picked another character that’s more along the lines of neutrality to give a deeper understanding of what good and evil might mean. Rama is the son of emperor Dasaratha and his wife Kausayla. Although Dasaratha had many other children, Rama seemed to have some utter significance especially to Viswamithra who takes him on epic adventures to fight against evil. His significance is
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“Mahabali seized the earth and heaven and brought them under his subjection” (Narayan, 13). Vishnu, who is Rama’s immortal form without him knowing, was sent as Vamana (Dwarf) to deceive and destroy the evil Mahabali. “Vishnu took birth in a Brahmin family as a person of tiny proportions; within this diminutive personality was packed a great deal of power and learning” (Narayan, 13-14). As evil as Mahabali was, Vamana was at ease when he greeted Bali. instead of tormenting and killing Vamana, Bali invited him into his palace thinking that his intentions were to just appraise and envy him. As he’s complimenting his valor and ambition, he asks for a simple favor and that was to attain some land from him. It just shows that Vishnu himself has an ulterior motive to stop Bali from gaining more “evil”, per se although Bali himself doesn’t know what he’s dealing with. This makes it an act of manipulation from Vishnu, but for a good cause. Bali himself has committed many acts of evil, so it’s essentially karma that gets
Using the above definition of hero and heroism, this essay attempts to assess three famous heroic characters portrayed in arguably the three greatest literary epics known to humankind, Achilles of Ancient Greece, Sundiata Keita of Ancient Mali and Rama of Ayodhya in what is today Modern India. With references to Stanley Lombardo’s translation of Homer’s Iliad, D.T. Niane’s Sundiata and R.K. Narayan’s translation of Valmiki’s Ramayana, this essay seeks to compare and contrast the attributes of these heroes, the morals associated with their heroism and their reasons for engaging in battle.
"From the Ramayana." Prentice Hall Literature. Trans. R. K. Narayan. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004. 190-98. Print.
“Ramayana.” The Language of Literature Ed. Arthur N. Applebee, et al. Boston: McDougal Littell, 1983. 130-140. Print.
Professor’s Comment: This student was very wise not to summarize Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. The student’s primary intention was to describe the ethical themes that can be found in the book. The first part of this essay describes Tolkien's view on the nature of good and evil, while the second part deals with his ethics of individuals. Excellent work!
When people realize that good and evil are just points of view that are placed on other people and actions, it is possible to transcend these superficial roles. Since it is people who create the meaning of evil, it cannot be said that people are evil, or are born evil, because not only is that a perspective that is assumed onto others, which will change with different cultures, societies, and eras, but the very same acts may appear to be both good and evil, depending on the perspective in which the acts are seen. Ultimately, it is the individual’s responsibility to decide for himself the effects of his actions on himself and others.
In Khaled Hosseini’s novel “The Kite Runner,” he illustrates a fine line between what is defined as morally good and evil. During their lives as kids, Amir and Hassan had always been close, but there had always been one problem. Amir was the son of a rich and powerful Pashtun man who was almost always given everything he wanted, while Hassan was a Hazara boy who had spent his life serving Amir and his family with his father. Although the two of them seemed to always be inseparable when they played games or flew kites, there was always the defining factor of who they really are, a servant and his master.
“There are relatively few ways to do good, but countless ways to do evil, which can hence have a greater impact on our lives, and the lives of others beings capable of suffering,” written by Plato. His words could be used the same way on how we characterize the differences between good and evil, affecting how we view them. Fairy tales and other media have their own ways of telling a story, but illustrating evil and good characters are roughly the same concept, for evil has a wide range of ideas and good has a general pile of characteristics.
In my opinion, what is considered “good” and what is considered “evil” is almost entirely subjective, though heavily shaped and molded by the society in which an individual lives. The established rules and norms to which every society adheres tend to be cultural and will obviously differ between respective cultures accordingly. One culture’s interpretation of “good” can very well be another culture’s interpretation of “evil” and so on. This is even true between individuals within the confines of the same society or culture—obviously not everyone thinks the same or holds the general rules and norms of their culture in high esteem. Another important influence on the way in which people perceive and regard what is “good” and what is “evil” is
To begin our comparisons, we must first look at each character and recognize their separate journeys. Through summarization of the characters and their story, we will begin to see Rama's role and Sita's role. By this process, I will demonstrate how they correlate, differ and combine to form the Ramayana. Rama, the hero of the Ramayana, is a god known as Vishnu who has been reincarnated and sent to earth in mortal form. Rama must take an archetypal journey known as the "quest." During the quest, a hero must conquer obstacles to save the kingdom (Guerin et.al.154). Rama's obstacle is Ravana, an evil monster who is slowly taking over heaven and earth. Because Ravana never asked for protection from a human being, he can only be destroyed by a human being and this makes Rama's need for success especially important (Narayan 5). a the beginning of the narrative, Rama is forced into exile from his kingdom into the forest for 14 years. This exile begins his quest.
There are over 330 million deities in the Hindu religion, which may seem like a daunting number at first, but myths help with understanding that the many are the same. Valmiki’s Ramayana, one of Hinduism’s two great epics, holds great value in Hindu literature, religion, and society. Vishnu’s avatar, Rama, is sent down to defeat the demon king of Lanka, Ravana, who has received a boon which allows him to be invisible to all beings except humans. Rama, being a human avatar, is able to see and slay the demon, who has become a “cruel, proud and invincible tyrant” (Bose Summary, 100). In these series of events, he upholds his varna dharma over his individual dharma. This myth illustrates the importance of dharma and is used in secular and religious
As children, we hear many stories about the interactions between good and evil. Since each story or fable have different characters, the description of evil and good are different from one another. The good character will have different characteristic compared to evil one.
Wicked, dishonorable, corrupt, villainous, malicious, and vicious all have one thing in common: they define evil. A person or a group of people that display these qualities are often defined as evil beings or creatures. Two people that have many of these characteristics developed within them are Iago from Shakespeare’s Othello and Lucifer from the Bible. Both Iago and Lucifer are developed with many “evil” qualities woven intricately into their character development. The representation of each “evil” characteristic gives them something they have in common, allowing the description and portrayal of both Iago and Lucifer in literature show the audience they share common “evil” characteristics and that they lead to chaos and downfall.
The theme for Beowulf seems to portray a fight between good and evil which will cause problems within the society. The characters in Beowulf are Beowulf, Grendel, his Mother, and dragon . Beowulf tells a story of a epic hero who travels the sea to kill a savage monster named Grendel and his mother in order to help King Hrothgar and his people. The theme of this essay will depict different battles between Beowulf and the beasts in order to restore peace amongst the people.
Here, some critical questions strike one’s mind. Haven't we passed biased plot-making? Haven't we decided that the "innocent" device of depicting "evil bad guys" as disgusting, malevolent, and one-sided is inaccurate, unjust as well as immoral? The trichotomy of the good, the bad and the ugly certainly exists in Tahmima Anam's subject matter, but in her novel, A Golden Age, realistic characters and human villains do not. It is worthwhile to mention that in her effort, she certainly hit the bull’s eye.
In The Ramayana by R. K. Narayan, Rama is the prince of Kosala who was once a god named Vishnu that was reincarnated and sent to earth as a mortal. Rama was the successor of Kosala as decided by Rama’s father King Dasaratha. Although Rama should have been the one to take the throne Rama is instead banished because of Dasaratha’s favorite wife, Kaikeyi, wishes that her son, Bhataha, take the throne and for Rama to be sent into exile. Dasaratha’s agrees due to promises he owed Kaikeyi so Rama is exiled with his wife, Sita, and his brother, Lakshmana. Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana all go through many challenges during the 14 years Rama is exiled from Kosala. During the 14 years they are in exile Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana all prove to be heroes in their own way. A hero is someone who shows courage, such as putting people 's lives