Again, Rama’s relationship with his brothers really resonated with me. I particularly liked the part where Bharata and Rama argued about who would be king, each trying to persuade the other of his right to the throne. I like the author’s explanation of it: “In a world where we are accustomed to rivalries over possession, authority, and borders, and people clashing over the issue, ‘Ours,’ or ‘Mine, not yours,’ it is rather strange to find two people debating whose kingdom is not, and asserting: ‘Yours, not mine’” (80). Lakshmana, too, is so devoted to Rama that he followed him into exile and swore to be his personal bodyguard. There is no rivalry between any of the brothers. They only fight to be more supportive of each other. As far as I have read in other texts (which, admittedly, is not much to boast about), this is very unique between brothers.
Although I think I will retell a story from Reading A for this week, it would definitely be interesting to further explore the story of the golden deer. Maricha recounts for Ravana the first time he used this tactic to attack Rama, but it might be neat to retell it with more detail, particularly how it affects his character development. After his failure, he tried to lead a good and moral life, which is quite a drastic change from his earlier behavior and deeds. That would make for a good story, I think.
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