Analysis of The Monkey by Wu Ch'eng-en
This historical and Chinese novel Journey to the West, which is also known as the Monkey, is the most popular book in East Asia. Originally written by Wu Ch’eng-en in the sixteenth century, which consisted of one hundred chapters but was traditionally cut-down to various lengths to suit different audiences. Then was translated into the words of David Kherdian who wrote the book that was chosen for our class. David Kherdian only based the Monkey on two complete translations, which takes a more traditional approach, including many more of the original episodes, in an abbreviated form. Monkey who is the main character is sent on a journey where he encounters lots of problems but through this time he makes many friends and faces many enemies.
The characters that Monkey must face represent universal qualities of human nature. Husuantsang represents “everyman” the ordinary nature of all human beings. Pigsy symbolizes uncontrollable sensuality and pure appetite while also representing energy when needed on the spiritual path and Sandy who Chinese commentators identify with the qualities of sincerity or whole heartiness. These are Monkeys companions in the Journey to the West. Then there is Monkey who has the “monkey mind” which must be tamed by discipline before the spiritual journey can begin. Monkey and his companions face many demons and monsters along the way can be seen as projections of the mind. Monkey is set forth on the spiritual path.
Monkey than goes on to search for his immortality than is lead to getting weapons where he turns the weapons into a hatpin which helps lead him to his immortality. Throughout the novel. Keeps trying to find the Western paradise he faces many obstacles he ends up going back where he started and try for a second time. Where the second time he than he succeeds in the Journey to the West and has faced many obstacles in trying to get there.
While reading Saint Monkey, there were several parts that reminded me of “Trilobites.” Saint Monkey tells the story of Audrey and Caroline living in a small town wanting to become jazz singers out of their hometown. When Audrey’s dad died is what really made me connect this story to “Trilobites.” One of the main parts of “Trilobites” is when Collie’s dad died and how it affects the rest of the story. One should realize how Saint Monkey and “Trilobites,” are similar through the characters and conflicts and how conflicts throughout the stories affect the characters and what writing style the author chooses to use.
The author puts the three monkey symbolism because that he can show how can be a relationship with different people. The symbolism is what the author put in the history about a old guy and a young boy and girl. Mr. Pignati, John, and Lorraine are the symbolism of the three monkeys. The three monkey symbolism is only in
In the book Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls, Jay lives near monkeys that will make him rich if he catches them. The book took place in the Cherokee Ozarks of Oklahoma in the 19th century. The protagonist of the book is Jay Berry, a 14-year-old boy who is very arrogant but changes as the book ends. The monkeys are obviously the antagonist of the novel. The monkeys are extremely intelligent creatures, especially Jumbo, the smart leader of the pack. The conflict of the story is man vs. nature. In the novel the Summer of the Monkeys, the importance of overcoming fears through its development of the plot and theme.
Kherdian, David, and Cheng'en Wu. Monkey: A Journey to the West : a Retelling of the Chinese Folk Novel. Boston: Shambhala, 2005. Print.
Characterized by a strong devotion to the protection of the natural world, the main characters of the novel all share emotions of anger and passion with Abbey. Like Abbey, The Monkey Wrench Gang is realizes their freedom is directly tied to the survival of wilderness. They realize that, “We can have wilderness without freedom. We can have wilderness without human life at all; but we cannot have freedom without wilderness.” (xvi, Abbey)
The Signifying Monkey is an embodiment of the poor man’s values and dreams: He is weak and only has his speaking skills (slang ‘mouthpiece’) to survive on, and he uses it to play the powers of the jungle against one another. The same way a pimp survives on his ‘mouthpiece’ by using fast talk, sweet talk, jive, and jaw-blockin’.
At the bottom of the rung, rests the monkey who is lower than all of the other characters in the painting both socially and evolutionarily. He is like the serfs on a feudal manner who are expected to do the bidding of their master and unable to leave. The monkey’s lack of clothing and ignorance thereof also contributes to his subordination, thereby making him less powerful than humans. The lack of clothing is similar to the condition of Adam and Eve before they ate the apple. Their eating the apple allowed them to realize their nakedness, thus elevating them to an unignorant state. His contentment towards this disposition further exemplifies the blissful nature of his ignorance.
The first destination on this journey is learning the formula of Earthly Conclusions. In page 25, after misinterpreting the information of the Patriarch regarding on how to become an immortal he learns of the Three Calamities that will surely disprove his immortality. The Three Calamities are three natural disasters: lighting, fire, and wind. While these may sound like one can prepare for them, the Three Calamities cannot be overcome by simply using mortal safety procedures. To account for this, the Patriarch gives in to teaching Monkey seventy-two transformations (the Earthly Conclusions) that allows him to perform various tasks and assume any transformation. Learning these transformations are essential since later in the folk novel it serves as a beneficial aid in his intellectual journey. Also, Monkey acquires another aid that helps him on his other journal, his beloved cudgel. In Chapter 3, Monkey considers obtaining a weapon that will help him with his ruling similar to the weapons that previous kings used. He travels to the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea and is taken to the magic iron that pounded the Milky Way flat that weighed thirteen thousand five hundred pounds. Monkey was easily able to pick it up and eventually he used his magic to make it become as small as an embroidery needle that he wore safely and
In life, people experience different situations and live different realities. It is not illogical to say that the different journeys in life sometimes give us different ways of viewing the world. This was evident upon a closer examination and analysis of Wu Cheng’en’s “The Journey to the West”, and Mary Shelly “Frankenstein”, where the two main characters of the book, a Monkey and a creature, each have a different way of viewing life. The monkey see’s life as a journey that should be explored, while the creature has no way of exploring and sees life as something he cannot enjoy. In the end, what can be taken away from the works of literature is that no matter the journey taken, it is important to remember that one’s subjectivity, built on our experiences, determines reality.
While reading The Monkey Wrench Gang, many images appear in one?s mind. The uses of Edward Abbey?s skill of developing characters through language, appearance, actions and opinions make this novel more enjoyable to read. The shaping of each character persuades the reader to believe that, "Oh my desert, yours is the only death I cannot bear."
In modern society, the birth of an infant is a highly demanding time during a woman’s lifetime. The infant is need of diligent care, feeding, and teaching to reach full adulthood and self-dependence. However, for human’s fellow primates in the wild, their infants are subjected to dangers from intergroup violence, starvation, or environmental dangers that their mother can not always protect them from. For the ancestral hominids and primates, the act of grandmothering, attending to the needs of child other than your own, became an essential behavior for the evolution of the modern human and other primates. I predict that the act of grandmothering permitted the expansion of individual lifespans after fertility for female primates and their relative
The fall of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, fell to North Vietnamese force on 30 April 201. This event marked the end of the Vietnam War. On this day Vietnam encounters the largest exodus of immigrants as Vietnam governed by the communist regime. Lan Cao in her novel Monkey Bridge reflects the struggle of the Vietnamese Americans immigrants in America. Lan Cao was born in Vietnam in 1961 and moved to live in America when she was thirteen years old as a result of the Vietnam War. Her novel Monkey Bridge published in 1997, it is a semi-autobiographical story of a mother and her daughter who leave Vietnam and settled in the United States. It considers to be the first novel by a Vietnamese American about the war experience. Monkey Bridge has two narrators. Mai one and a half generation Vietnamese American teenager, who run off to America when Saigon falls in 1975, and her mother, Thanh, who manages to join her daughter a few months later. Mai aims to help her mother to overcome her past. On the other hand, Thanh fells that by keeping her daughter away from the truth of their shameful history, she can protect her from having the same pain and sorrow that she once had. Thanh’s inability to achieve reconciliation with her past and her inability to assimilate in the new world leads her to commit suicide, leaving a message for her daughter to tell her the truth about her past.
“A thing was crawling out the forest. It came darkly, uncertainly. The shrill screaming that rose before the beast was like a pain.” This so-called beast that emerged from the forest was Simon, one of the boys who was stranded on the island. After he emerged from the forest, Simon discovered what the “pig’s head on a stick” represented, his untimely demise and tribal chaos. This was also when the real Lord of the Flies that was stalking the boys on the island reared its ugly head.
Imagine a group of young boys who have just crash-landed on a deserted tropical island with no adults or supervision. William Golding showed in his ground breaking novel Lord of the Flies, what may happen in just those circumstances. In his very complicated and diverse novel Golding brings out many ideas and uses many literary devices. Above all others though comes symbolism of three main important objects being the conch, fire, and "Piggy's" eyeglasses. Through each of these three symbols Golding shows how the boys adapt and change throughout the novel. These symbols also help to show each of the boy's ideals on a variety of elements from human nature to society and its controls. All three of these symbols also change and are one of the most important elements of the story.
Monkey King, also known as Sun Wukong, which is a main character in the Chinese classical novel Journey to the West. Monkey King can be found in many stories and adaptions. The novel Journey to the West or Monkey King tells of a simian’s revolt against Heaven, of its defeat by the Buddha, and of its later being recruited as pilgrim to protect the monk Tripitaka on its quest for scriptures in India (Lai, 1994). So far, Monkey King has become one of the most enduring Chinese literary characters, it has a colorful cultural history and varied background. Monkey King is also considered by some scholars to be influenced by both the Hindu deity Hanuman from the Ramayana and elements of Chinese folklore (Subbaraman, 2002). The original Chinese novel Journey to the West is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It published in the 16th century during the Ming Dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng’en (Babara S, 1994). The achievement of the novel has drawn widespread attention, various reasons support its popularity. This easy will analyse the varied background, cultural history, social environment of Monkey King, the novel Journey to the West and its author Wu Cheng’en. Furthermore why this novel for many years by the world's attention. It is obvious that the historical reasons of this extraordinary achievement are diverse.