Conflict, Research Paper Example

Certainly conflict within the Ramayana and the Book of Job may be seen quite clearly.  Mixing elements of conflict in personal, societal, and supernatural levels, the two religious texts display a wide spectrum of intricate conflict.  The conflicts expressed in these two texts test the limits of the characters expressed in the stories.

Ramayana

The Ramayana expresses a great deal of conflict that may be seen in this text.  One such example, which will serve as the present focus, sees the conflict surrounding the banishment of Sita.  This story in the Uttara Kanda sees the banishment of Sita as one clear example of conflict in the Ramayana.

Rama reluctantly banishes Sita in order to fulfill his responsibilities as a king.  Rama is forced to banish his wife after subjects do not believe Sita is fit to fulfill her duties, due to her captivity in Ravana’s city.  Sita going to Rishi Valmiki’s ashram as Rama banishes Sita, even as she is pregnant.

The unjust banishment of Sita exposes a level of conflict found in the Ramayana.  As Bose explains, this is an irreconcilable state in the text (38).  However, Bose also explains that “the poem gives Rama every justification for his harsh treatment of his wife” (38).  The main emphasis here is one Rama’s duty as a king.  Simply stated, he is a king first and a husband second.  Thus, his obligations towards his kingdom are placed before anything else, allowing him to be seen in a proper masculine light.

It should be noted that this is not believed by all.  Some believe that Sita’s banishment is not part of the original Valmiki Ramayana.  The followers of Sri Vaishnavism and others, thus do not accept the story surrounding the banishment of Sita to be authentic, and thus do not regard the text as true.

Nevertheless, the text gives a definite conflict found in the Ramayana.  The situation clearly mixes the forces of society, marriage, and elements within the two main characters to create a dangerous web of conflict.  The conflict does not end with the banishment, in fact, which only adds to the conflict in the story.

Book of Job

The Book of Job mixes in a great deal of conflict that is quite obvious.  Testing Job’s capacity to endure, the book sees many levels of conflict centered on the trials of Job.  Unlike the Ramayana, the text takes on more of a supernatural basis, although there are certainly levels of conflict within the characters, like the Ramayana.

The situation is centered on Satan wanting to accuse Job before God in heaven.  God grants Satan permission to test Job’s loyalty and faith, as Satan believes that Job serves God only in regards to his protection.  Job through his trials questions God and his trials, yet finds his ability to trust in God.  Beyond where he was previously, Job is restored to happiness, prosperity, and full health.

The text brings into question the goodness of God.  This element is seen within the Old Testament and its authors (Heaton, 159).  However, this is not the point of the text, to which Wills clarifies: “Here the author’s goal is to give a complete story of Job and his patient endurance” (242).  Thus the goal becomes central to the inner conflict of Job, and not the goodness of God, which is of course an important factor.

The conflict of Job is of course seen most prominently on a supernatural level.  Tested by Satan himself, he is forced to dig deep to be able to respond and to demonstrate his faithfulness to God.  This is where his patient endurance is ultimately found, in God.

Conflict is also seen within the human characters in the Book of Job.  While it is out of the scope of this examination to get into the details, the speeches of Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Elihu serve to complicate, or, in Elihu’s speech, comfort the character of Job.  Clearly adding to the personal conflict within Job, these certainly add to the levels of conflict that are seen within the Book of Job.

Significance

With exception to the struggle against nature, these two religious texts elaborate onto all of the types of conflict that are seen in literature.  In the Ramayana, there is a significant struggle against society provoking the banishment of Sita, and Rama struggles against other people, society, and himself in this decision.  Job struggles against his will and fate, Satan himself, and against others in society in response to his trials.

These two texts prominently display conflict within these narratives.  Interestingly, they blend together many dynamics of conflict from different angles as described previously.  The struggles between the characters in the religious narratives and for the purpose of the reader and the religious followers make use of conflict.  Conflict is seen in these passages as indicative of the characters, and in the case of the Bible, certainly as an example for those who struggle as did Job.

Works Cited

Bose, Mandakranta. The Ramayana Revisited. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Print.

Heaton, E. W. The School Tradition of the Old Testament – The Bampton Lectures for 1994. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. Print.

Wills, Lawrence. Ancient Jewish Novels – An  Anthology. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.