The major theme of “The Monkey King” is the importance of humility, and the traditional moral of “pride comes before the fall”. This is evidenced by the increasing ego of Wu-k’ung Sun, the King of the monkeys, as his knowledge is furthered in the story. Wu-k’ung Sun becomes prideful and makes foolish decisions because of this. Wu-k’ung Sun does not show any gratitude when given a post in Heaven, and wants to constantly show how powerful he is. However, when Wu-k’ung Sun fights God Erh-lang, Sun is forced to surrender and run away.
The most entertaining event in “The Monkey King” was the battle between Wu-k’ung Sun and God Erh-lang. This fight sequence was very suspenseful and entertaining as each character changed into various animals and objects to try to fool the other person. In this part of the story, it was hard to tell what would happen next, which was very intriguing. My favorite character in this story was Wu-k’ung Sun. Although he shows a complete lack of humble behavior, his actions are entertaining. Wu-k’ung Sun is constantly seeking immortality and higher recognition for his talents and knowledge.
For example, he became the Monkey King, and once that he had that title for a time, he wanted to achieve a new title. He is never satisfied, and it is entertaining to see what he is going to try next.4. The most surprising event in “The Monkey King” is when Wu-k’ung Sun leaps out of the furnace and continues to fight against the gods and generals. After being held in a furnace for days, the last thing that I expected was for Wu-k’ung Sun to have survived the attempts to burn him, and then have the energy to leap out of the furnace and start fighting against all of the gods and generals of Heaven.
