"The Journey to the West" uses imagery as a way to complement the theme of ambition seen throughout Sun Wukong's journey. Sun Wukong was born into the world through the unusual means of being born from a stone egg as a stone monkey. Subodhi said that Sun Wukong must have been
"created by Heaven and Earth," so it isn't surprising that he would have such great ambitions seeing as how he was born with such great advantages compared to the other living creatures he associates with (435). In the beginning of "The Journey to the West," the stone monkey and his monkey friends reach the waterfall that served as the source of the mountain stream they bathed in. At the source, they saw "a column of rising white rainbows" and "a thousand fathoms of dancing waves" (425). This beautiful sight that the monkeys behold cause them to say "Marvelous water! Marvelous water!" and "If any of us had the ability to penetrate the curtain and find out where the water comes from without hurting himself, we would honor him as our king" (426). Being anything but an ordinary monkey, the stone monkey sees this as an opportunity to become something greater than himself. He believed this to be the day for his "fame" to "spread wide" and his "fortune" to "arrive" since he thinks he is "fated to live in this place, sent by a king to his godly place" (426). He's set his sights high under the belief that he's been sent to this godly place by a king. It seems only fitting that he'd have countless white rainbows and dancing waves as the backdrop for the day that he'd become declared the "Handsome Monkey King" since a being created by heaven deserves the best of sights to behold. (428). Even after finding a new, grand home for himself and his monkey friends, he still managed to become distressed with worries about his future. The other monkeys even laughed, reminding him about how great their current state is. "Such independence and comfort are immeasurable blessings. Why, then, does he worry about the future?" (428). The monkeys made a great point. Their lives seemed as great as they could possibly be in the eyes of an average individual. But of course, the stone monkey is ambitious and can't be pleased with anything less than the best. He sought greater things and decided to learn how to be "young forever" (429). From there, he went on his journey, found Subodhi, became his pupil, and received the name "Sun Wukong." The religion of Daoism seemed to have influenced "The Journey to the West" since there were several mentions of Daoism throughout. "Those I meet, if not immortals, would be Daoists" (432). "We do not know what fruit of Daoist cultivation he succeeded in attaining afterward, let's listen to the explanation in the next chapter" (436). I'm under the impression that Sun Wukong proceeds to learn Daoist traditions and practices which further shape who he becomes, however I haven't read any further to be entirely sure.
Hi Sabian, reading your analysis gave me a better insight on the Journey to the West. I actually never thought about the stone monkey’s ambition at all. I focused more on his search for immortality that I did not notice the theme of ambition, and it makes so much sense throughout the monkey’s journey. You state that he “sees this as an opportunity to become something greater than himself”, and you are definitely right. The stone monkey’s character was determined to finds ways to improve himself and reach goals that the others simply dismissed as impossible or worthless. This makes me wonder what if the stone king never decided to pursue his ambitions and stayed in the comfortable present state, would his life have been so different? There is so much more to the story that I have to read, but after reading your analysis I have gained a different perspective on the story. Very great post, it was very detailed and I look forward to reading more.
ReplyDeleteHi Sabian,
ReplyDeleteI really like your use of quotes to give a better visual into your imagery and ambition themes. It really gave me a better understanding. Why did the monkey decide to be "young forever"? Did this help him not worry about the future as much? Does his journey on becoming "young forever" tie into him being ambitious? If not, then what if you left that part out to keep just your theme of ambition and imagery more clear? I also wanted to know why you talked about Daoism at the end; I was a little confused on how it related to ambition and imagery, or if you were solely bringing up a different idea. Lastly, what if you used less quotes so that you could elaborate more on your ideas and a few quotes at hand, instead of having too many quotes drown out your main idea of your analysis? Overall really good analysis and it helped me imagine the story and I haven't even read it!
Hi Sabian,
ReplyDeleteThis story was filled with all sorts of themes to unpack. I found that your analysis on narrowing in down to more of a main theme made it easier to understand. I would have to agree with you on the unusual nature of a stone egg giving way to a stone monkey that comes to life. What is interesting is that monkeys don't hatch from eggs typically. Also, stone doesn't typically come to life. I'm curious as to what your thoughts would, if you included them in this analysis, on such things. You do a great job referring to the text as you make your analysis on the story. I enjoyed how you kept to the theme of ambition The monkey never seems to be fulfilled where he is at in the story. After reading your analysis, I find that it is much easier to summarize this story if you follow that theme. Great job Sabian, I look forward to more great writing.
ReplyDeleteHi Saban, thank you for your hard work!! I really like your use of quotes to give a better visual into your imagery and ambition themes. It really gave me a better understanding. I also agree with you on unusual nature of a stone egg. I look forward to reading more of your great writings.