Before I started reading this book I did not think I would like it. As soon as I started reading it I felt relieved that I was actually interested in it. Themes that are throughout the book by Herbert Mason are friendship and arrogance. King Gilgamesh felt that Enkidu completed him and was like a brother to him. "Gilgamesh wept bitterly for his friend. He felt himself now singled out for loss apart from anyone else. The word Enkidu roamed through every thought" (Mason, pg. 53). After the death of his brother, Gilgamesh goes into mourning. In the beginning of the book, Gilgamesh suffered the consequences his arrogance led to. Gilgamesh killed Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven. The reason that he goes through with the task is that he thinks that he is undefeatable and that he could do anything that he wants. He went through the hardship of losing a friend. The reason that he went through with that is because that he was careless. His arrogance led him on a journey that he wasn't quite prepared for, and on the way he lost a good friend. …show more content…
He goes great lengths to bring back his friend to life. His journey finally takes him to Urshanabi’s. While being in Urshanabi’s presence Gilgamesh gets a spark of hope of bringing his friend back, but then Urshanabi’s shatters any hope that Gilgamesh has by saying “The stone images are destroyed, if you had been as reverent with them as with your friend, they might have helped you cross” (Mason, pg. 69). He gets his hopes up. Then they are destroyed, only to be brought up again. Gilgamesh thinks he is very close to bringing back Enkidu, but it is destroyed when a serpent eats the flower from the floor of the river. This plant was much more than hope to Gilgamesh. It was the key to bringing back his friend from death. When the serpent ate the flower, Gilgamesh is devastated. Everything he worked so hard for is taken from him right in that