Reading Notes: The Divine Archer, Part B

The second half of The Divine Archer continues the trend of the first to present a story that is short and to the point. This telling of the Ramayana has far less exposition and description. Instead, its main goal is to retell the story while maintaining the key plot points. It does dispense with some of the nuance found in R.K. Narayan's version of the Ramayana. One point at which this is quite clear is after Rama kills Bali. In the other version I read he was decried for killing Bali from the shadows instead of facing him. He dispelled these thoughts though and the reader believed more in the righteousness of Rama because of it. In The Divine Archer Rama's actions are never questioned and thus his character is not developed as much as in the other version. Another point at which Rama's actions were not questioned was when he required Sita to undergo a trial of fire. In the first version I read Rama was criticized for applying different standards to Sita as he did to other people.

In some places the brevity of the Divine Archer is a refreshing change from the first version I read. It cuts out parts which are inconsequential, and do not serve a prominent narrative purpose. These are often examples of pointless conflict which arise for seemingly no reason. The most prominent example occurs when Rama, Sita, and Lakshman all returned to Ayodhya. In R.K. Narayan's version they have to make it back in time, otherwise Bharata will immolate himself. In this version that does not happen. and it makes the end of the story far better. The Divine Archer also focuses far less on the Monkeys, and instead it focuses far more on the Battle with Ravana. This is the right choice in order to reduce the length of the story. The monkey part of the story is far less important than the battle with Ravana.

The Divine Archer. Source



Bibliography
F. J. Gould. The Divine Archer. Link


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