The Divine Archer, Part B

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 These reading notes are over Part B of The Divine Archer which is written by F.J. Gould.

Plot Notes:

  •  An important detail I noticed in Gould's story was how we, the readers, meet Vibishan relatively early within the story. During Hanuman's first visit to Lanka, he found Vibishan by seeing the name Rama on a building. Vibishan is clear that he's not supportive of Ravana or Lanka, and he wishes to serve Rama and Ayodhya. These details foreshadow how important Vibishan will be in the impending battle, as he leaves Ravana to support Rama within the epic battle. Vibishan plays an essential role, and the foreshadowing was really interesting.
  • I never realized how Hanuman was able to set Lanka on fire until I read Gould's book. It highlights how creative and clever Hanuman is and how brutish and ignorant Ravana can be. By manipulating his size and tricking the soldiers, Hanuman was able to set Lanka on fire and begin the prophecy that will eventually lead to Ravana's demise.

Style Notes:

  •  I noticed a lot more dialogue in the second part of the story, which demonstrates how important dialogue was in driving the narrative forward. While this dialogue may not be accurate to the original Ramayana, I think it's an important source of creative liberty for the authors.

Storytelling Notes: 

  • After reading through Part A and Part B of The Divine Archer, I think I'd be most interested in re-telling the story of how Rama took Shiva's bow and snapped it. I want to focus on Rama's interaction with the angry hermit and use the dialogue to highlight how patient and wise Rama is. His greatness was able to calm the hermit and make him praise his power, and Gould's re-telling describes of how powerful this action was. It'd be a nice story to tell, and it provides enough creative liberties to make it unique.

A 16th century depiction of Vibishana. Source: Wikipedia

 

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