Reading Notes: Narayan's Ramayana, Section D

Hanuman (Pixabay)

- There was not one particular story chunk that stood out to me that I would like to retell. More than anything, I wanted to rewrite the entire thing and fix what I saw as extreme inconsistencies. I absolutely love the story. It's a great tale and I can see why it has stood the test of time. However, as a modern reader, one who is somewhat well versed in the literary and narrative principles that have evolved in the many years since the first telling of the Ramayana, I can't help but see things that I want to 'fix' so that they conform to my ideas of a good story/narrative.
- The Ramayana in general, and section D in particular, is a continuous episode of deus ex machina on crack. The army is trying to figure out a way to cross the water and get to Lanka, conveniently enough it just now comes out that Hanuman had all of these powers that he didn't know about. Rama needs to get back to Ayodhya within a day all of a sudden, oh look at this Pushpak Vimana that has just conveniently been lying around, but was never mentioned before. Rama is weirdly, and out of character, questioning Sita's honor, well I'm sure a fire god will show up to fix that problem. I modern storytelling, a deus ex machina style solution is to be avoided at (almost) any cost. In the Ramayana, it seems as thought problems crop up solely for the excuse to introduce one. Logically, I understand that the divine is a major purpose of the story, so of course any and all opportunity to present it would be welcome. But, I still want to fix it.
- The other irk is what I see as an inconsistency. Throughout the Ramayana, Rama has been referenced as an incarnation of Vishnu. Then, during the battle, Ravana thinks that he couldn't possibly be Vishnu, because Ravana would be protected against him. After the battle is won, Rama is told that he is, in fact, not Vishnu but the Supreme God, of which Vishnu is only a piece. Then, later, he's Vishnu again.


Bibliography: Ramayana by Narayan. Web Source.