Reading Notes: Ramayana, Part B

(Sita Longs for the Golden Deer: Wikimedia Commons)

I like how Surpanakha immediately fell in love with Rama. It just shows how amazing Rama truly was since everyone, including the sister of Ravana, loved and admired him.

I found it funny how they first attacked Rama with fourteen demons but then increase it to fourteen thousand demons. If I retell this part I will probably include a ridiculously high number of demons to attack Rama.

The battle between Rama and the demons could be made longer and more epic so the reader could truly appreciate Rama’s superiority in combat.

I could make Maricha change into something else like a really nice car instead of a golden deer to make the story more modern.

The scene where Ravana talks to Sita caught my attention because it seems like Sita is bragging about Rama’s power and then Ravana retaliates and tries to build up his own reputation. This could be made more comical by making them keep exchanging words on how the other is better.

I don’t like how much Rama grieves for Sita. I know that he loves her, but I would rather see him being bloodthirsty and destroying everything in his path to get her back.

I found it funny how Ravana is trying to hit on Sita but he can’t do anything about it since Brahma cursed him a long time ago.

Instead of all of these different animals, I could retell it by replacing them with military items like planes and stuff like that to go find Sita.

Once again, Ravana trying to get with Sita is a part that could be retold in a more comical way.

The part where Rama gets mad and starts basically attacking the ocean was funny to me. It shows how badly he wants to see Sita, but at the same time he is shooting arrows at a body of water. I know that it isn’t exactly just a body of water, but not knowing the god of the ocean would react to this makes it funny in retrospect.

If I retell the part of the war beginning I will be sure to include epic battle scenes and possibly some gruesome descriptions.

I found it interesting how Ravana cried for his son since he is a demon. There are many instances in this story that give Ravana human emotions that you wouldn’t normally associate with demons or evil spirits.

The way that Rama defeats Ravana wasn’t as climactic as I expected. I will probably make it more intense if I retell this part.

I thought it was kind of messed up how Rama basically accused Sita of sleeping with Ravana. I don’t like how this scene progressed so I will leave it out.

The ending was completely unexpected and I was not a fan of it. I will change the ending to make it more of a happier ending because I feel like how that’s how the story should’ve ended. 

Bibliography: Ramayana by Donald A. Mackenzie