In the book, Journey to the West, the character Monkey interacts with many other types of beings including humans, animals, and supernatural beings. Monkey himself is an animal, but he does gain things that celestials may commonly have like enlightenment, immortality, and holy weapons. These things along with his persuasiveness and boldness do make him seem superior to animals and humans, but he is still, at most, an equal to some celestials. He has proven his superiority over humans and animals and he acts if they are below him. Meanwhile, he has no proof of being superior to the celestials. Yet he approaches them boldly and with disrespect.
Monkey encounters and interacts with people of all skill sets, from holy priests to average townsfolk. One of Monkey’s most important and longest sustained relationships with a human is his bond with Tripitaka, a holy priest. Though Monkey seems to have a strong dedication to Tripitaka it is more due to his want to protect and help Tripitaka rather than his want to be humbled as a disciple, which was his purpose as stated by the Bodhisattva Kuan-Yin and himself (84 and 130). Monkey is constantly protecting
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Towards the end of the book whenever he needs Kuan-Yin’s help to defeat a great king that holds Tripitaka's body hostage under the water, he waltzes right into Kuan-Yin’s grove after being told to wait once (274). He comes in kowtowing and paying compliments but she still asks him to leave (274). His presence is not beyond her judgment call to make him wait, and after being told by her to go, he leaves. He paid no heed to her initial warning to wait because he was impatient and thought that their previous engagements made him more deserving to break her rules for emergencies. That was simply untrue, and he was humbled enough that he “dared not disobey” her desire a second