Week 4 Reading Diary Wednesday: Part B

I am continuing my reading diary of the Divine Archer.

•     Hanuman is heading towards Lanka in order to find Sita before Rama attacks. I enjoyed how they described the monkey’s powers as magical because he is able to jump over the serpent Surasa.
•       As Hanuman makes his was to Sita, he notices Ravana making advances towards Sita (similarly to the Public Edition of the Ramayana). I do find it strange that Hanuman is described as having magical powers and is sneaky enough to get to Sita, but is caught after he talks to her. Maybe the rakshasis have more power than Hanuman and were able to detect him.
•     When Hanuman is caught, he has his tail set on fire. This causes the entire city of Lanka on fire except the house Sita is located.

Source: Hanuman's Tail on Fire

•       I find it interesting that they added many of the demons in trying to persuade Ravana to return Sita. Ravana is too prideful and thinks he is untouchable though, a tragic flaw in my opinion. 
•      I do find it interesting that Rama shoots Ravana’s crown off in this take on the Ramayana. He should have just killed Ravana if he could have hit his crown off. However, in the Public Edition, Rama is criticized for not fighting Vali but simply sneak attacking him. I felt this author wanted Rama to be more of a hero and attack the enemy head on.
•       I did enjoy the description of Rama defeating the brother of Ravana. I felt it was great diction that his, “soul went up to the shining gods”. The battle was quick and Rama defeated the demon king Ravana.
•      Sita and Rama are reunited, however, she has to be tested for fidelity. Even though she proved she was, people in the kingdom talk about her in such a way that Rama exiles her. I was really hoping in this edition that Rama would not banish Sita. I feel that there was no point in all of these battles and deaths for them not to be together, especially when she proved she had not cheated on Rama. I hope to either write about this in this week’s storytelling or read about this in another weekly reading.