The Legend of the White Serpent - Book Report/Review Example

These characteristic and other humane traits present in the story through different symbols are what made 'The Legend of the White Serpent' an enduring tale throughout time. It is a story which can be interpreted in several ways and these ways are often opposites. This paper is the analysis of the character of Toyo-o from different perspectives. According to Ka Wong, 'The Legend of the White Serpent' is a story which is much more than a fantasy; rather it is a story that reflects "the world in which people see themselves.

" In other words, the characters such as Toyo-o, the White Serpent Manago and the priest are symbols of real people or their characteristics. For each of us, we have our own White Serpent which we must over come, and our own priest guiding us in our journey to be better people. Hence, the story of Toyo-o is a true mirror of what is happening in the life of an ordinary man with the same ambitions as he had. The story is about a white serpent, Manago, who falls in love with a man, Toyo-o and dearly paid for that love with her life, in other word the story is about a woman of every man's dream: "She is a man's dream, an angel and a femme fatale, a woman who is strong yet fragile, tame yet wild, and, above all, totally devoted to her man" (Wong), every man, that is, as represented by the character of Toyo-o - vulnerable when it comes to a woman of his dreams, can go on without her, but yet incomplete.

Going to the basic, every man as portrayed by Toyo-o is obsessed with sex and death (Hughes 59): as according to the monk, the White Serpent has "put you under its spell because you are good looking . . . . You must never yield to temptation and lust" (Akinari). OR "But you, yourself, owning to a lack of courage and spirit, fell victim to their temporary form. From now on if you act like a man and try to attain a more tranquil heart you will not need to depend on my power in order to get rid of such evil spirits.

With all your might make your heart peaceful" (Akinari). Of course, Toyo-o need to be good looking, otherwise the story of the Legend of the White Serpent would not have been a true reflection of the real world. A temptress like the White Serpent will not waste a single moment on a man who is not good looking. To be the perfect protagonist, Toyo-o must be able to attract the attention of the beautiful White Serpent. Let us go back to the vulnerability of Toyo-o and his reluctance to vanquish the White Serpent, a usual storyline of a man wronged by the love of his life, yet not willing to betray that love as it was betrayed by the woman.

Hughes says that Toyo-o is nave and blind of his love of the White Serpent, hence when "[e]ventually disabused of the illusion, Toyo-o vows not to destroy the demon but to avoid her. Yet when she returns, he embraces her, and again it is revealed that she is not human. Only after she returns a second time, possessing the body of his new wife and killing a priest, does Toyo-o commit to extinguishing the white serpent, and thereby containing his own lust." This is perhaps the theme of the Jasei no In - unless man is presented with a very compelling reason, in the Legend of the White Serpent the murder of the priest, to betray the love of his life, it will never happen.

It is also an allusion that woman finds it easier to betray her love. Analyzing the story from a different