I have been under siege in Lanka for weeks now. Rama has come to Lanka in order to destroy me. There has been talk that the gods have sent this mortal, Rama, to destroy me because they do not possess the power to do so themselves. I am beginning to fear for my life my dear son. Rama has brought many forces and the tide of this great war is surely turning in his favor. I am not sure how much longer we can hold out, so I implore you to come to Lanka as quickly as you can to stave off this attack. Your prowess as a warrior and leader is much need in these dire times.
Sincerely, Ravana
Dear Father,
I have heard rumors that you stole Rama's wife, Sita, and are holding her captive in Lanka. Rama is just in his quest for retribution. A prince-warrior such as myself should not become entangled in matters such as these. This is a situation you have brought on yourself.
Sincerely, Indrajit
Dear Indrajit,
The rumors are true that I took Sita from Rama. I only did this because she is the fairest woman I have ever laid eyes on and she deserves to be with a king as great as I. If you do not come to Lanka and assist in this war, there will no longer be a Lanka to recognize your divine claim as a prince. I have seen you challenge gods on much weaker grounds. Why will you not help your own flesh and blood in his time of need?
Sincerely, Ravana
Dear Father,
My answer remains the same. I cannot be entangled in the matters of another's tarnished honor. You must find a way to make do with your forces at hand.
Sincerely, Indrajit
Dear Indrajit,
If you promise to come to my aid, I will step down as king of Lanka and relinquish my throne to you. There is no hope now left for Lanka besides the power that you posses. I hope you see this is truly how dire the war has become.
Sincerely, Ravana
Dear Father,
If your words are true then your plea for aid will be recognized and I will leave at once for Lanka. I only ask that it be me to challenge this legendary Rama in combat. It has been so long since I have had a challenge!
Sincerely, Indrajit
Image Source: Indrajit talking with Ravana (Left)
Sita in Lanka's gardens (Right)
Author's Note:
I chose to write in a series of letters this week. I have never used this style before so I thought I would give it a try. This story comes from the story of Ravana's Court in the PDE Ramayana. In this story Ravana's court tries to persuade him to give back Sita in order to stop the war with Rama and Sugriva. I thought it would be fun to have Ravana have a secret correspondence with his son, Indrajit. I found Indrajit to be a fascinating character because he was said to have beaten a few gods in his battles. I wanted to make Indrajit a sort of noble warrior that would not stop Rama in his just cause of retrieving Sita. I then showed Indrajit's rakshasa side by having him change his mind once he was offered power over Lanka.
Bibliography:
PDE Ramayana
Will,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this incarnation of the story. I liked how you made Indrajit into a person who respected honor and integrity. I thought it was kinda funny that Ravana became more and more desperate through his letters. Good job.
I forgot that these had to be at least 60 words (even though it is right there in the assignment) thus I am including this to go with my last forty.
ReplyDeleteI think there could have been a bit more of a character arc here. Wouldn't it have been interesting to have Ravana get angry with Indrajit or maybe indignation that he wouldn't help his own flesh and blood? Also rather than coming off as aloof and can not be bothered it would be good to have Indrajit angry with Ravana for his actions. In all it seems like the letters were less passionate then they could have been
Wow! What a great read. I love the way you used letters between Ravana and Indrajit to create the plot of the story. I might use this style for me next storytelling because I enjoyed reading it so much. It is also cool that the reader is able to see both Ravana and Indrajit's perspective. I think that gives the story a lot of depth.
ReplyDelete-Sara
William,
ReplyDeleteThis is the first of this type of writing that I have read this semester, and I thought it was very well done, especially for your first try. I also liked your twist where Indrajit switched sides a second time in the conflict between Rama and Ravana. Thanks for sharing this story. I look forward to reading more.
Andrew
Hi again William,
ReplyDeleteI really like the way your wrote this story. It reminds me of a story I read in one of my classes before where it was all letters and from one person. It requires you to think a lot more. I do like that you allow two perspectives. It makes the story more complex and provides a range of depth that would not have been there if there was only one perspective. Great job! Looking forward to more of your stories.
Good job with this story! My favorite stories to read are the ones that make you feel differently about a character than you did reading the original story. I did not like Indrajit very much when reading the Ramayana, but in your story I can sympathies with him a little bit. Who can say no to a fathers dying wishes?
ReplyDeleteWilliam,
ReplyDeleteI have to say that the way you wrote your story and the layout of your page captivated my attention from the beginning. I think that the fact that you used letters makes the story incredibly more relatable and easy to read than a regular story is. I think that the letters also make the characters seem more real as you can see the story unfolding from their point of view! Great job!
Your approach with the letters was definitely unique. I have not seen that style used by any of the other writers in our class. The idea of a letter correspondence between two characters while a war is taking place adds an element of drama and sentimentality to the story that is not seen in the original narrative. What do you think about making the letters fewer but greater in length? I hope that you can share another unique idea with us next week as well.
ReplyDeleteHello again, Will!
ReplyDeleteI really like the storytelling style you chose for this story! I have only seen a couple of other people use the letter format, and I think it works really well with the section of the Ramayana you used as inspiration. Your Author’s Note did a wonderful job of explaining both the ways in which your retelling differed from the original and your reasoning for portraying Indrajit the way you did. Your writing flowed smoothly, and your word choice was excellent. Nicely done!
Will, again, I am very impressed with your storytelling abilities. You seem to always choose the perfect style to tell each story. The letter format was a good choice because it broke down the story into little sections that are easier to read. The characters come to life within each letter. Great job!
ReplyDelete