Thursday, September 24, 2015

Essay: Jataka Tale Wisdom & Tragedy



The crow and male leader from this week's stories sought wisdom. The male leader was curious about which plants his crew could and could not eat so he watched all of his men throughout their journey to keep them safe. The crow pursued wisdom by trying to do something outside of his abilities because of his pride. The crow decided to dive into the water to get fish to feed his wife rather than let the king crow do all the work. The male leader saw a man dead that was not from his crew on the ground. The leader saw his men almost eat some of the same fruit and stopped them just in time. So, he succeeded in saving his fellow crew. The crow failed pursuing wisdom though. The crow thought he'd just be able to go in the water from watching the king crow so many times. He thought from seeing the king crow's technique he had learned all he needed to. The crow dove into the water and did not come back up. He was sucked down and drowned. The crow's wife was sad and the king crow had to explain the whole situation. So, even though these two characters are similar in that they pursue wisdom, they clearly have different endings. 

Also, these characters experienced great tragedy. The Crow died and it was sad because of his reasoning for flying into the water. He just wanted to impress his wife and provide for her. He wanted all good things, but pride got the best of him. The male leader walked upon a dead man who ate fruit that he might of been able to save if they were there a bit sooner. Its a bittersweet moment, because although the men are all safe now, it came at a high price. 

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