Blog Assignment 2

Tyler Skelton

blog 2

The short story “Mumon” is a spiritually inspiring tale about the offspring of a captive pack of fourteen red wolves and one wolf’s journey through nature in his attempt to survive extinction and relearn how to howl. Mumon is the protagonist of the story and after his release he travels across great distances while experiencing terrible hunger as well as remorse for the animals he kills when he learns to hunt. Mumon learns that he should not feel shame for doing what is necessary to survive in nature until he is eventually shot and killed by a scared farmer. In his death he experiences a bizarre ritual and Mumon himself becomes the howl which he and his pack sought to learn, and by doing so saved his kin from extinction. From my interpretation of this story the writer is explaining how if what you truly want is to be achieved the pursuer must be able to experience the hardships that come before, be it crossing a desert, catching a deer,  or studying for an exam without taking any shortcuts. 

The most inspiring story I ever experienced when I was younger came when I was watching an episode of my favorite 1984 animated action series known as “Dragon Ball Z”. In the episode, the protagonist Goku, his son, and many other characters had been battling it out with a powerful monster that possessed all of their collective abilities, known as Cell. When Goku’s son Gohan eventually gains the upper hand on Cell, he becomes arrogant slowly beating the villain out of revenge for the thousands of people he’s killed instead of quickly finishing the fight. This gives Cell the time needed to overcharge his body with energy in attempt to destroy himself and the entire world with him. Gohan pounds the ground in defeat, frustrated knowing his hesitance might have very well doomed them all. With only seconds left Goku realized what needed to be done said his brave goodbyes to his shocked friends and son before using his newly learned Instant Transmission technique that allowed him to teleport across great distances and space along with anyone he was touching. Goku used his newfound technique to take Cell and himself to a (mostly) uninhabited and distant planet so that his Cell’s self-destruction would not harm anyone on Earth. I was deeply inspired by the sacrifice this fictional character made not because he was a hero and I expected him to save the day but because he gave his life to protect his friends and family from a giant explosion which in no small part influenced my tremendous enthusiasm. This story was also influential to me because I learned from a couple characters such as; Gohan and Cell, who allowed their pride and confidence in their abilities to become too great which costs them both dearly. I enjoyed this series because of the memorable characters and many inspiring episodes such as this one that glorified heroes who trained hard, fought for what was right, and sacrificed the one for the many.