Week 3 Storytelling - Spiteful Betrayal

A young boy grew up in a village where becoming a warrior is what was customary of his village. The village had various schools that taught the ways of the warrior so they could protect their village.  His older brother was always the top of his class. Passing every test with ease. All the fellow villagers knew his brother as a prodigy, every instructor praised him and he was always in the top of his class. Soon the older brother began working side by side with the officials of the village in order to provide elite protection strategies against neighboring enemies. As the young boy grew up he adored his older brother. The young boy was always the top of the class however, he could never compare to his brother. This made the young boy angry. As he became older his brother’s continued success drove him to extreme measures. The young boy had grown cold in age with spite in his heart. Although he would protect the village, his ways were extreme and harsh. When the young boy became of full age as a warrior he was given the task to help strategize a defense against a neighboring village with his brother. The young, now spiteful man had devised an ultimate defense plan however it came with dire costs and risk.  When the young spiteful man presented the plan to his brother and fellow consorts, nobody agreed but his brother. The idea was a suicide mission, however it was the best insurance of victory. The plan implied that the brother would lose his life in the defense however it was the most necessary actions to be taken. Nobody agreed, except the young spiteful man’s brother. The next night when the company would set out for scouting, the older brother was nowhere to be seen. The younger brother knew that his brother had already executed the plan himself without any help. The younger brother knew he could have came up with a better plan however he sent his brother into death without a hesitant thought. The spite had consumed him to make an extremely rash decision, however it was much too late. 

Authors Note: I based this story on the prompt from week 3 about Vali and Sugriva. The main theme is over the controversial betrayal of Sugriva when he left his brother in the cave. It was an extremely tough decision but overall was for the better. I left a lot of the details about older brother’s intentions behind giving up his own life to open to interpretation. Similar to how I felt when trying to figure out Sugriva’s justification. Did the younger brother's spite push his brother to give up his own life, or did the older brother do it on behalf of the village? 

Betrayal between two short story characters

Week 3 - Reading Diary B

The part where Rama is allowed to build a bridge with the help of his comrades and other animals reminds me of when Noah is building his ark in the Bible. Finally a full out war begins between Rama and Ravana's parties. Rama defeats Kumbakarna and Mahodara. His brother Lakshmana defeats Indrajit, Ravana's son. Eventually Rama and Ravana engage in a multi day battle that ends with Rama sending his Brahmastra into Ravana's heart. Rama returns to Ayodha after 14 years of exile to reclaim his rightful place from a very gracious Bharata who is about to commit suicide if Rama does not show up.

Week 3 - Reading Diary A

I'm not surprised at all that Ravana succeeded in kidnapping Sita. It was the most natural way for the plot to go. It was also very obvious that Jatayu would not save Sita in order for the plot to proceed further. So far the surprise factor has not been too high in this book. Maybe because I already know bits and pieces of the story from the past. Finally Hanuman makes a notable appearance in the story although I don't understand the whole theme behind Hanuman initially disguising himself to Rama. Hanuman is a very popular Hindu deity and one that I have seen pictures of a lot since I was a kid. I understand that Sugriva had to seal the cave in order to contain the demon, however he did it so easily considering his brother was inside. This causes a giant feud between the two brothers which ends with Sugriva fleeing to a mountain his brother's accursed self cannot go. Vali takes Sugriva's wife and son as well. Rama feels bad for Sugriva and helps him kill Vali by hiding in a tree and shooting Vali with an arrow. As time passes, Sugriva does not make do on his promise to build an army to find Sita. Lakshmana goes to visit Sugriva and he realizes the error of his drunken stupor and apologies to Rama. Sugriva eventually amasses a large army to help search for Sita. Hanuman and Angada