It is interesting to juxtapose stories from different cultures and times to observe the varying conclusions drawn from very similar circumstances. These conclusions serve as a mirror of the values held dear by the different cultures and help us understand how we view the same world from different places. Here is an exercise in this endeavor.
Ramayana
The ancient Indian epic by Valmiki is centered around the abduction of Rama's wife Sita by Ravana of Lanka. The word "Ramayana" mean Rama's Journey. It narrates the tale of Rama's search for his wife. In this search Rama is aided by his brother Lakshmana and disciple Hanuman. The posse set out to ascertain the abductor's identity and then make the journey to Lanka to confront and defeat Ravana. On rescuing Sita, Rama asks his wife to prove her chastity after which he accepts her.
The Searcher
sThe Searchers is a 1956 western movie starring John Wayne and directed by John Ford. The story is about Ethan Edwards whose young niece Debbie is abducted in a Comanche raid by Scar. Ethan then wanders the American West along with his kin Martin Pawley for years to find Debbie . On finding her, they kill Scar and after initially trying to kill the now Comanche-raised Debbie, Ethan has a change of heart and accepts her.
Commonalities
The common threads running through them are of violation, abduction, retribution and redemption. The stories are primarily told through the eyes of the wronged man and not the woman who was the target of the act. Both Ravana and Scar are seen as savages, one as a demon king of Lanka and other a wild Native-American Comanche chief. The abductor in both stories have a back story which explains their actions and project them in a new light of moral ambiguity. In a more primal sense, they depict an innate fear of dispossession. Finally towards the end, the main characters of Rama and Ethan are shown up to be less than impeccable and fighting demons of their own.
Contrasts
Given the similar situations encountered, the tales do diverge in many aspects. Sita never accepts her fate and believes that her husband will come to her rescue while Debbie is forced to live her new life as one of Scar's wives. Rama is portrayed as someone who can do no wrong yet on succeeding in his quest he doubts his wife. Rama's behavior though is regarded as somewhat understandable by both the characters in the story and the audience at large. Whereas in The Searchers, Ethan is an outlaw and the motives of Ethan's search turn from finding his niece to killing her within a few years with the realization that she must have turned more Comanche and less "civilized". His fellow searcher, Martin does not approve of Ethan's intentions and this disapproval is reflected by the audience. Therefore we see Ethan as a character more true to his beliefs irrespective of others' approval as opposed to Rama.
Another point of contrast is the climactic transformation. Rama has historically been seen as an avataar of God, hence all character flaws have been brushed aside. Throughout Ramayana, even when asking Sita to prove her chastity Rama does not doubt his own actions. Whereas Ethan with his sure intention of killing, when finally facing his now Comanche niece has a change of heart. Ethan goes from a man who is sure of his action to a man doing the right thing - an antithesis of Rama's Dharma.
Interesting Readings:
1. Review of The Searchers : http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20011125/REVIEWS08/111250301/1023
2. Read the Plot of The Searchers here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Searchers_%28film%29
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramayana
5. "Epic Proportions" by Ethan Gidsdorf : Contemporary themes and interpretations of Epics
5 comments:
Interesting Anology.. :)
I would say the situations are different for Ethin and Rama here.
Rama is seen here in the stature of a king of a big empire where as in the case of Ethin, he is just an ordinary person. So, Rama including his whole family are in the broad limelight of the people and I would rather support Rama's actions in this regard. Ethin, on the other hand has the freedom to stand on his opinion.
Nice Comparision dude.. I guess only few people have seen the movie(that includes me too !!)
Man… Epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata or The Holy Bible……What I think is that they can be interpreted in whichever way one wants. To be more precise, the subject of these epics, in part or in totality can be translated (or misinterpreted – a simple thing to do) to suit some particular theme just like the one you chose in your blog. The same can be done to any situation, all one needs to do is he has to relate (or misinterpret) the stuff which can be found in these epics and successfully justify their adherence to that theme . The only thing one needs to do is to find some convincing stories or situations which will justify his imagination.
Correct me if I am wrong, all I can say as a person with limited knowledge of the content of the epics mentioned above is that these are no one stop solutions to the problems people face but are more like “if else” statements which will return different values for different datasets and the results may vary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@ Chandu: With regard to him being a husband, I dont think Rama's role as king had any part to play in his actions. While Ethan being a blatant bigot had less reason to change.
@ Rohit: The Searchers is considered to be the greatest of westerns..so ppl should try and watch it somehow.
@ Vikram: When considering the theme of involuntary abduction of a woman by an outsider as seen in The Searchers (as opposed to Helen of Troy).. I guess Ramayana is THE story that comes to mind to compare or contrast. I understand that epics can be interpreted according to convenience, but here I am only comparing apples with apples!
himachal apples with californian apples I guess.
Anyways interesting analogy.
great work buddy
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