Journey to the West - Redemption

Journey to the West is another story deep in the topic of redemption. Ask I spoke about in my journey entry, I believe that redemption is known as a sacrifice made by one individual such as in my case of the beliefs I was raised with was Jesus sacrificing himself so that those who choose to follow him can  live a peaceful eternal life. Journey to the West, is a book filled with journals and folktales that follows different disciples throughout their journies.

Throughout the chapters we read in Journey to the West, we see many examples of redemption within a character, the Monkey.  The Monkey is seen in several different situations throughout the texts seeking redemption. One of the most memorable parts of how the Monkey seeks redemption, is when Monkey begged on his knees for foregiveness. "When I wrecked the Heavenly Palace," he said, "I put myself in a very dangerous position, and the Buddha crashed me under the Double Boundary Mountain.” (Wu Ch’eng-en, Journey to the West)


Another source of redemption for the Monkey is when he feels guilt and remorse for murdering a young woman for food. He finds himself feeling remorse and asking for forgivesness, “I never will," said Monkey, "never again." He helped his master mount the horse and led the way forward.” (Wu Ch’eng-en, Journey to the West) He promised to never do such a thing again in an act of remorse and the need for redemption. “A team of horses cannot overtake a word that has left the mouth.”  (Wu Ch'eng-en, Journey to the West)

The chapters read throughout this story have shown. Character asking for redemption and forgiveness more than once, much like how we as Christians or religious followers find ourselves constantly falling short of what our religious leaders we follow are. Much like the character we follow throughout his journies we find ourselves giving into temptations that are forbidden by our religions, yet asking for forgiveness in order to still be accepted by the higher power when all is said and done.