And the moral of the story is…

One idea that struck me the most during this reading was the moral of the story. I couldn’t really figure it out. Was it revenge? Was there no moral? I also started to wonder then what the purpose was for stories like these during the time. Did they write them for simple entertainment or to teach a lesson? Did they use them as cautionary tales or ways to promote values such a bravery and courage? I tend to like to know the motives behind writings such as these which is why I found this one so interesting. Because either way you look at it, each character committed some sort of crime so it’s hard to think of any of them as a hero or protagonist. And although each were hurt in some way, they each chose revenge and violence as their reaction and solution leading to mixed emotions about all of them.

One thought on “And the moral of the story is…

  1. Rather than a revenge tale I saw the lai as more of a carma situation. Only because I see revenge as more a planned action and Yonec did not know the truth until the very end. Although the wife was planning the revenge of the son for his father’s death, the son could have been avenging the cause of his mother’s sudden death rather than the death of his father that he was just finding out about.
    I absolutely agree that the take-away from this story is a little difficult to define but I believe its some thing like wrongs doings will be avenged in one way or another. As you said, no one is really a hero here but if there had to be one I would say the son because he killed for his mothers sorrow rather than selfish reasons. Hopefully we can clarify in class today.

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