`Monkey King`,or known to the Chinese as `Journey to West`,written by Wu Cheng-en

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Journey to the West ' by Cheng-en Cheng-en : Change in the Character of Monkey

The Chinese literary classic Journey to the West , in line with its title , had in a sense introduced Chinese literature to the west . This particular story is definitely a good representative of Chinese culture as Chinese mythology and folklore was interspersed in the plot Furthermore , the design of the whole story , including the plot and characters , is generally accepted as good literature . Much of the success of the story

is banking on the character of Monkey ' He is the most noticeable and entertaining of all the characters . The narrative had been centrifugal to the character of Monkey along with the changes in his personality and his relationships with his allies

In the first part of the story , Monkey was introduced as the creature who single handedly defeated the 100 ,000-man army of the heavens . He was a very mischievous and power-hungry individual as he was even described as .the bully and cheat (Cheng-en 139 . He was also characterized as playful and oftentimes childish . As a retaliation for his actions the officials of the heaves had asked Buddha to punish Monkey . Buddha had favored the heaves and had punished Monkey and placing a mountain on top of him

The punishment is described by the book as bitter punishment ' where the heroic spirit must now come to an end (Cheng-en 139 ) It is just fortunate for Monkey that he had met Sanzang who had said .I 'm willing to help you (Cheng-en 322 ) By asking Buddha , Sanzang was able to free the monkey from his half a millennium punishment . Sanzang 's liberation of Monkey is something that the hero should be thankful of He was obliged by Buddha to go with Sanzang in his journey

As the story goes , the reader would notice that Monkey still goes by his old ways . He was still showing-off his power and was still mischievous In chapter 13 , Sanzang had casted over him the headband spell which would chastise Monkey if he acts in an undisciplined manner (Cheng-en 342

The readers would be anticipating if Monkey would change to a pleasant personality . But they would notice that Monkey would still be resilient to change his ways . He would still be aggressive and mischievous , even with the presence of Sanzang 's headband . He would still be quarrelling with Sanzang and their other allies . He would still dive head first to a dangerous battle . He was still the same old boastful and bullying monkey

But interestingly , as the plot develops , Monkey would do just fine in his duty as the protector of Sanzang . He would even be less boastful and annoying to their group . Even when they were fighting for the magical fan , at this point it seems that Monkey is giving importance to his allies and their safety , especially for Sanzang . He had even retreated when they were being defeated - something that is very unlikely for...