Week 7 Story: Karna's Final Thoughts
"They say that when you are dying, your life flashes before your eyes. When I look back, I can't help but laugh. Why does fate hate me so?"
"Me and you, Arjuna, have the same royal blood flowing through our veins yet because of the caste system I was raised in, I was seen as your inferior. When exactly did the thought of wanting to be your equal consume me?"
"If I had to pick, I would say it started with Drona. I don't know if you remember, but I approached Drona to tutor me in warfare as well. He refused me though, all because I was from a lower caste. And then you came along. You were always his favorite. Even though our skills were equal, I was ignored while you were celebrated. That was probably my first realization at how cruel this system was. This point was further driven into me during the swayamwara."
"Before I was even able to show off my skills, I was refused simply because of my social standing. Then you appeared, and they were instantly enamored even though you haven't shown any of your archery skills yet. It was then that I swore to defeat you. I needed to prove to the world that I was your equal. No, that I was better than you."
"Even now, I am shunned by fate: my curse by Parashurama that made me forget the magic words to the weapon, the Brahmin's curse that stated that I would be killed when I was at my most helpless state, and my promise with Kunti to not use the same celestial weapon twice against you. The one benefit that I had, my armor and earrings, were taken away by Indra. What obstacles did you face Arjuna? I can guess though, I bet you have faced zero hardships on this journey to defeat me."
"In all honesty, I don't hate you Arjuna. Similar to me, you were a product of the system; I can't hate you for something that you don't have control over. What I wanted was to prove to myself that I can overcome you. That I can overcome this system. That I can overcome fate. Alas, it does not seem to be possible. Life truly is cruel."
Author's Note: I always thought Karna was a sad character. Everything bad that happened to him was all because of the caste system he was raised up in. He was Arjuna's equal but because Arjuna was raised in a royal family, he was seen as better than Karna. I wanted to illustrate a little more of why Karna was so angry.
Karna's wheel gets stuck
"Me and you, Arjuna, have the same royal blood flowing through our veins yet because of the caste system I was raised in, I was seen as your inferior. When exactly did the thought of wanting to be your equal consume me?"
"If I had to pick, I would say it started with Drona. I don't know if you remember, but I approached Drona to tutor me in warfare as well. He refused me though, all because I was from a lower caste. And then you came along. You were always his favorite. Even though our skills were equal, I was ignored while you were celebrated. That was probably my first realization at how cruel this system was. This point was further driven into me during the swayamwara."
"Before I was even able to show off my skills, I was refused simply because of my social standing. Then you appeared, and they were instantly enamored even though you haven't shown any of your archery skills yet. It was then that I swore to defeat you. I needed to prove to the world that I was your equal. No, that I was better than you."
"Even now, I am shunned by fate: my curse by Parashurama that made me forget the magic words to the weapon, the Brahmin's curse that stated that I would be killed when I was at my most helpless state, and my promise with Kunti to not use the same celestial weapon twice against you. The one benefit that I had, my armor and earrings, were taken away by Indra. What obstacles did you face Arjuna? I can guess though, I bet you have faced zero hardships on this journey to defeat me."
"In all honesty, I don't hate you Arjuna. Similar to me, you were a product of the system; I can't hate you for something that you don't have control over. What I wanted was to prove to myself that I can overcome you. That I can overcome this system. That I can overcome fate. Alas, it does not seem to be possible. Life truly is cruel."
Author's Note: I always thought Karna was a sad character. Everything bad that happened to him was all because of the caste system he was raised up in. He was Arjuna's equal but because Arjuna was raised in a royal family, he was seen as better than Karna. I wanted to illustrate a little more of why Karna was so angry.
HI Anthony,
ReplyDeleteYes, preach! I agree with how you feel about Karna's lot within the story. It made me mad that Kunthi and Krishna did not tell Karna who his parents were until they were trying to stop him from supporting Duryodhana. Of course he sided with Duryodhana. He was the only person who showed Karna the respect that he should have earned when he matched Arjuna blow by blow. Where did you get the term swayamwara? The closest term I found to it is swayamvara- the courtship ceremony held for a princess to choose a husband. Since this is a monologue, you don't need the quotation marks. I really like how you handled Karna's character and would love to see you build on to this. You could use it as a vehicle to articulate the different levels of the caste system or connect it to Karna's support for Duryodhana or how epically Kunthi failed her sons by keeping Karna a secret even after he showed up to the arms demonstration.
Nice work. Thanks for sharing!
-Eden
Hi Anthony! I think Karna's story-line is truly tragic - if this was Shakespeare and Karna was the main character, we would definitely consider the play to be a tragedy. You did a good job of showing how he feels Arjuna is overrated. It strikes me like a sports fan complaining about how other teams have been helped along but their favorite team got unfair treatment. That's the caste system I suppose
ReplyDeleteAnthony,
ReplyDeleteLooks like everyone agrees that Karna has a really sad, and unfair storyline! I like the approach you took with this story, but I was a bit confused with how you opened it. I couldn't figure out who the "me" was supposed to be! After I reread it, I figured out Karna was talking to Arjuna. Maybe if you started by addressing Arjuna more directly, it would make it clear Karna is talking to him, like "Oh, Arjuna...." You made me wonder how Arjuna would respond to Karna! Would he be a jerk? Or would he be sympathetic and kind?
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteI really like how you matched the original story's details and method of writing. I was able to figure out what part of our readings you were talking about and it really interested me because I felt like I was reading a much better and modern version of it! I also liked your own details added to it, as it made it much more unique. I think the way you implemented imagery into your piece was really unique as well, as I felt that, in the original piece, there was not much of that. Karna's wheel getting stuck being shown in an image that you provided also helped me picture the situation a lot better. A job well done!
Hi Anthony!
ReplyDeleteI love your inspiration for this unique story. You used powerful language and phrases when taking a unique point of view and perspective. Karna has experienced a lot of hardship and situations that seem unfair to anyone looking in form the outside. For the author's note, I would consider adding more context into how you are writing this story. This will help the reader easily identify the perspective and character from which you are speaking from. Great work!