Siddhartha Snd the Monkey God

Similar to the two preceding novels, the Monkey God sets on a journey to not find love or wisdom, but how to respect and to be mature. This is an ancient Chinese tale about the gods, heaven, and hell. The Monkey God has no parents as he was born from a rock on a stormy night. Possessing special abilities such as martial arts and magic, he traveled from Earth to the heavens at will. This, besides from the fact that he causes problems up in heaven, angered the gods.

On one occasion, he encountered Buddha in heaven. Buddha, being all wise and powerful, tricked the Monkey God into a bet. Losing, the Monkey God was thrown back down onto Earth with a mountain crushed upon him. Having an eternal life span, the Monkey God had to wait till the day he would be released by his master. A Buddhist monk travels across the mountain on a journey to receive an ancient scripture from the temple to the west.

Releasing the Monkey God, their fate soon met as they will later be master and student. Being disrespectful and immature, the Monkey God would never help the Buddhist monk. But another one of the gods put a helmet on the Monkey God’s head, which will cause him great pain when the Buddhist monk recites a verse.

Thus the Monkey God was forced to accompany the Buddhist monk on his journey, as it was full of dangers and harsh terrain. By contrast to the other two works, the Monkey God was forced to seek this journey with his master.

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But the rest is very similar. Encountering evil enemies who wanted to eat the flesh of his master, the Monkey God used his powers to defeat his foes and save his master. Soon the master taught his discipline the importance of respect and maturity. Denying it at first, the Monkey God soon understood what his master meant. Also learning the importance of friendship, the Monkey God and his master got out of many situations from help of other friendly gods and fellow human beings. When the harsh journey that lasted over several years was met, the Buddhist monk got his scripture and was further enlightened and the Monkey God’s human side triumph over his monkey side. Though a very fictional story, it is another good example of a hero’s quest.

Although different on their objectives and problems, all three characters represent a classic story about seeking something they desire. But each does not complete their task alone, each had a companion to share their problems and help them through. A symbol that everyone needs someone sometimes.