Week 5: Reading Diary A

Bharata Returns:

·       Why would Kaikeyi expect Bharata to delight in the news that his father banished his brother, then died from the pain that it caused him?!

·       I liked how much more dialogue there was in regard to Kaikeyi’s actions. The emotions that each character experienced were much more thoroughly developed. I also liked how Manthara actually received some of the blame.

The Sandal:

·       Regardless of what good is to come from Rama’s exile, I definitely do not agree with Bharadwaja’s statement that Kaikeyi has done no wrong. She banished somebody who treated her like his mother, consequently killing her husband in the process. She did all of this with no knowledge about what might happen to Rama in the next 14 years.

·       I thought that the sandals being able to identify injustice was an interesting addition. In a way, they brought a piece of Rama’s character to the thrown because he would never make an unjust decision.

Dandaka Forest:

·       I liked the story about Agastya. I do not remember reading about him in the previous version. I also liked how he alludes to the tale of the golden deer while asking Rama to stay with him. I wonder if this story will appear in this version of The Ramayana.

·       It’s really nice to have additional stories with new characters, but sometimes they don’t seem to make any contribution to the overall story.

·       I liked that Lakshmana was not so brutal when he attack Surpanakha. He was also polite when he first spoke to her, but chose to attack her as punishment for going after Sita.