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Journey To The West: Spiritual Vs. Secular Relationships

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Ashley Levasseur Dr. Girard English 202 5 February 2017 Spiritual vs. Secular Relationships The difference between spiritual and secular relationships is quite apparent. The spiritual are more on the religious side where as the secular tend to be less in to religious activities. In Journey to the West, Wu Cheng'en uses a mixture of different narratives as well as religious allegory. This story shows the difference between the spiritual and the secular among the different characters throughout the whole journey. Throughout Journey to the West, many characters are introduced. The main character, The Monkey King, also known as Su Wukong was born out of a stone. The Monkey King’s entire journey is based on him reaching self-enlightenment and immortality. Wukong can be both spiritual and secular. He is spiritual because he is going after …show more content…

The Monkey King asks the woodcutter to join him on his journey because he cannot believe that the woodcutter is not immortal. The woodcutter has had a rough life which The Monkey King does not quite understand especially when the woodcutter tells him that he cannot come on the journey with him. When the woodcutter tells The Monkey King how his mother is ill and that he must stay and take care of her, The Monkey King still asks him for his help to go the correct way to continue his journey. The woodcutter could substantially be both part of a spiritual and secular relationship in this story. The woodcutter would partake in the spiritual side because in a way he believes that there could be a way to gain immortality, but he also is on the secular side because he chooses to stay back and take care of his mother instead of going on a journey where there is no guarantee that one could receive immortality. While both The Monkey King and the woodcutter both are involved in spiritual and secular relationships in this story, their reasoning’s are

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