Sir Gawain and Numerology

                Since I don’t consider myself a nerd or geek or whatever I had no idea that Sir Gawain was an Arthurian legend. I don’t really like Arthurian legends for the simple fact that my father loves Merlin and crap like that, and he would hog the living room T.V watching it. I don’t know why but they bore me.  And it seems Sir Gawain is no different. There are so many things about the story that really irritate me. The fact that Arthur didn’t want to eat until he saw something interesting happen was really childish to me.  Who does that, starves his people until they excite him enough to eat? And then the Green Knight showing up is to pose a challenge was so odd.  I don’t understand why Gawain would agree to the Green Knight’s challenge, it seemed so fishy to me but I guess he wanted to prove himself.  The little twist at the end was entertaining. I think it was good for the story for the Green Knight to be Bertilak. And the whole time everyone was assuming the Green Knight was the villain but in reality he wasn’t and the villain of the story was someone who wanted even important enough to be mentioned that often. This kind of threw me off.

                 We all wanted to know if Sir Gawain should be considered a superhero or not. I don’t think he should be considered one because he is normal guy who decided to do something heroic. He even said himself that he is the weakest knight at the round table.  He really isn’t a superhero because he has no powers, his costume is questionable, he has values and a cause but those alone don’t make him superhero material.  But I will say that Gawain is a Super hero because he wants to protect the honor of his land and defend his King and Queen and he agrees to do something stupid to prove himself worthy.

                We discussed Numerology and how it played out in the story.  I didn’t know that the study of numbers was so important to people and how they live their lives until we discussed it in class.  But I looked up numerology and people really think by calculating numbers they can choose the right paths in life.  I still don’t understand the importance of numerology in Sir Gawain besides the five knightly virtues and the other five 5’s but I know it is significant.

Word Count: 417

Daoism and Kung Fu Panda

         Daoism is a religion that’s sole purpose to me is to have its followers thinking.  It’s very hard to read a passage from a Daoist text and not question the meaning. But still I think Daoism is interesting. The fact that Daoism can’t really be explained is appealing. The Daoist culture is hard to understand period. If we were to read a passage out of the Dao De Jing or any other Daoist text we try really hard to understand it. But to me nothing is ever “clear” in Daoism and I do not think it is meant to be. I think Daoists don’t want people to question anything but just to simply go with the flow of things.  Maybe we are meant to live without wondering since what is cant be explained.  But at the same time I guess Daoism is something you see every day and know but can’t describe or explain. Well at least that is what I take from the text and the background on Daoism. When I try to explain Daoism I feel like I don’t make any sense and maybe that’s the whole point. I worked on the presentation on Daoism and I still barely understand it and while I was working on it I was really regretting my decision to present it. But nonetheless, Daoism still grasps my attention; I think the practices of Daoism are pretty cool. Daoism influences our culture quite a bit. When we see the yin yang symbol we are all recognize it. I think the yin yang symbol is one of the simplest characteristics about Daoism to understand. There has to be a balance with all things one is negative and the other is positive, such as light and dark or good and evil.  

            Kung Fu Panda really grasped some of the practices of Daoism. In the movie, Po had to believe in himself to develop all the powers he needed to defeat Tai Lung.  Another important practice of Daoism is health; people who practice Daoism want to live for a long time. They practice meditation, dieting, regulating their chi and exercising to achieve this goal. Po had to have his body in order to be able to do Kung Fu and fulfill his duties as the Dragon Warrior. Po had to think really hard and channel his lust for food to help him master Kung Fu.  Throughout the movie there were a lot of Daoist quotes.  For example, when Master Oogway is talking to master Shifu and telling him that he cannot control the peach tree, make it bloom another fruit or even bear fruit before its time. He is basically telling Shifu that he cannot control the nature of things and that he cannot change faith, Po is destined to be the Dragon Warrior. That being said I believe he is playing into the Daoist belief that you do not question things but go with the flow and make do with what you are given.  

Word Count: 500