Hello, Mr. McDonnell and whoever else may read this. This week for my blog post number 2, I am going to be writing about my reaction to the Hindu story, Ramayana. After reading Ramayana, A few things came to mind. First of all, the story has to do with dignity and respect a lot. Rama, the prince/ king/ hero of the story, overcomes many obstacles throughout the writing. He helps a townsperson fight off demons, he accepts his banishment and leaves town for 13 years, and on his last year, he must save his wife, Sita, from another demon who kidnapped her. Hanuman, a Monkey who helps Rama search for Sita, successfully finds her, but Sita refuses to be saved by him, saying that her husband must save her. She is putting her safety below her husband’s honor, which was a dangerous gamble. This is a good representation of how women are viewed and used in this story, and in many stories. The wives and daughters and any other women in the story are supposed to have unwavering loyalty to their husbands, staying by their side, supporting them, and doing whatever else they have to do to make sure their husband’s reach success. They are also like possessions to many of the men in the story. The demon kidnaps Sita because of her beauty, and she is like a prize to him. This reminds me of the story of Persephone. Persephone is kidnapped by Hades and kept as a trophy. Getting back to Ramayana, I am wondering why Sita would not even try to escape before her husband arrived to save her. Even if there wasn’t much of a chance she would escape, she may as well try. Sitting and waiting clearly didn’t do her any good. Another thing that I want to mention is how the King’s wife was not even an option for succeeding the crown. I assume this story takes place thousands of years ago, and back then (even in much earlier years, like the late 1900s) women weren’t given any positions of power. The throne goes right to the son of the king, and that is that. Another thing I noticed about the story is an evil stepmother. So many stories have an evil stepmother, like cinderella. I wonder why stepmothers are the targets of so much hate and pinned down as a bad guys in all the movies? Not only this but it’s not usually the stepdad, just the stepmom. I can’t think of a direct correlation to anything as to why it would always be the step mom, but it certainly is strange. In Ramayana, the evil stepmom is power-hungry and sees Rama as a threat that she needs to eliminate. Her way of eliminating him is exiling him. This backfires on her because Rama’s brother, Lakshmana,  keeps the throne empty until he returns, saving it for him. Rama returns home after his 14-year exile and is surprised to see that his brother has waited for him all this time. After that, they all live happily ever after. The end.

For my first blog post, I’m just gonna write about my general thoughts on the class so far. Right now, I think Religions and Revolutions is one of my favorite classes. I have always been a humanities guy, so English and history were my preferred subjects over the sciences, so that’s why I find this class so interesting. I also really like how we do a lot of open discussions, where everyone can share their thoughts, instead of everyone doing individual work all class. The assignment where we thought of words that associate with Religion, systems, and belief was especially engaging to me. Although I didn’t talk all too much, I really liked how it was structured. Everyone shouting out answers, giving their insight and opinions captured everything that I put down in the past assignment where we were asked to write what makes a strong community. Right now, the homework load is not too much and feels very appropriate. I know that it will definitely pick up more as the year progresses, and that’s expected. I think I’ll be able to handle it and I feel comfortable asking you questions if I need to. As of right now, I don’t really have any suggestions for the class. I am enjoying the class and am excited to do some bigger projects. If given the opportunity to work on a larger project with a group or by myself, I would choose the group, even if it’s just one more person. I know we can’t do all group projects but I do like them more. I also really like our class. Most of the kids I didn’t even know before last week, but they’re all super nice and everyone seems fun. Compared to my history class last year, I think I like this one a little more so far because we get to focus on specific things throughout history, instead of a broader look at historical events. And while we look at specific things in this class, we still cover different types of things if that makes sense. Like the cosmic calendar and the cave writing. They’re not really related, but it was still interesting to go over them.

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