Despite the differences between the two, I still really enjoyed the second portion of the story. Some of the chapters that I really enjoyed was Ravana's Death and Mandodari's Lament. In spite of the depressing topic these chapters cover -- death. I though it was really interesting it kind of marked the beginning of Rama's reign.
In "Ravana's Death" the story begins with Rama and Ravana fighting. Soon enough Rama defeats Ravana and becomes the king of Lanka. The chapter ends with a rhyming poem. I thought it was different to include a poem -- different but enjoyable. The poem was very detailed. Its choice of words allowed me to imagine the setting. It really created the atmosphere.
Unlike Ravana, in "Mandodari's Lament" not everyone was too happy about the death of Ravana. For instance Ravana's cheif wife Mandodari was devastated. Reading this chapter I could just tell how devastated Mandodari is based on what she says. For instance, she goes on saying that happy days are done. This suggest that she has no hope of getting over Ravana.
Another thing that enjoyed about this reading was the pictures. The pictures are always very colorful and they are always very detailed. This really helps me as a reader to imagine the setting and the atmosphere. For instance in the picture of Ravana's death below, from just looking at it I can tell that the atmosphere is depressing. I can tell because of the very detailed expression of the people in the picture.
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| (Ravana fallen) |
Your reading diaries definitely helped me get a better idea of these texts! Like you, I was particularly struck by the description of the aftermath of Ravana's death. Throughout most of our readings, he has been depicted as the bad guy. With all of his chasing after SIta, I didn't even stop to consider his wife! Her emotions brought a lot of depth to a previously one-dimensional reaction that I had to reading about his defeat.
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