The Eventual Triumph of Justice (Essay Sample)

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: The Eventual Triumph of Justice The essence of the message carried in any literary work is captured using three primary literary tools. The elements include the thematic composition of the text, the plot, and the interactions of the characters therein, all deliberately and artistically manipulated by the author to bring out the message the best way they know how. Additionally, it is notable that any literary works are inspired by their environment of origin, since literature plays the role of mirroring the goings on in society. Journey to the West by Wu Ch'Eng-En and Tartuffe by Moliere are classical works that are noted for their authors’ use the "deus ex machina" character to bring out their respective messages ultimately. The works both have endings that are unpredictable until one has read them. Despite their similarities and differences explored in this essay, the authors of both works use the endings to bring out the theme of good versus evil and the eventual victory of justice. There is a striking similarity concerning the plot in Tartuffe and The Journey to the West. The events in both books follow the activities and lives of two characters that are similar in wile and cunning. In Tartuffe, the title character proves extremely cunning. Tartuffe poses as a pious man who manages to win the blind trust of his benefactor, Orgon. Formerly a vagrant, Tartuffe manages to secure not only shelter but also a state of importance with his host. Orgon’s family realize that Tartuffe is not as pious as he claims to be, setting up a trap to prove the same to Orgon but Tartuffe manages to come out unscathed. Instead of being punished, Tartuffe receives custody of all of Orgon’s possessions as punishment the distrustful family. This is the end goal of Tartuffe’s schemes and it appears at that point that the evil he represents has triumphed. Similarly, Monkey is the representation of evil, albeit of a different kind, in The Journey to the West. In his journey to India, the adventurous travails of the monkey leave behind a trail of destruction. He learns the art of the Tao that makes him immortal and seemingly indestructible. For instance, he murders the demon responsible the death of his "little ones”; meddles in the court of the death by deleting his name, along with those of the monkeys that he could find, from the Registers of Death; and rebels in Heaven by attending the Peach Banquet uninvited. He had forcefully gained enough power to defeat even the heavenly powers. At this point, Monkey seems invincible. However, it emerges that all the initial events of this book were the author’s deliberate action, gearing up for the deus ex machina’s role in the ending, just as Moliere does with Tartuffe. In both literary works, the authors bring unexpected endings. Having set up the antagonists to seem virtually invincible, the authors bring their conclusions in unexpected ways. In The Journey to the West, the Monkey always craved and fought for power, which acquired in the course of the story but he suffers loss with the introduction of Buddha in the story. The setup of the story is such that events going on in the lives of two unrelated people: the Monkey and the Monk Xuanzang would converge to reveal the influence of Buddha throughout the story. Once the Buddha comes into the story, he aids the heavenly powers and it is only then that they subdue Monkey. The subduing of the Monkey sets the scene for his transformation from the evil person he was to a virtuous character who becomes the disciple of Xuanzang. The transformation is the symbolism for justice. In the same way, the theme of evil advances throughout a big part of Moliere’s play, represented by the consecutive victories of the wily and pretentious Tartuffe. He managed to pit a patron against all the other family’s members and gained the victory of all the possessions he had intended, and the secret box of Orgon. However, his victory streak ends just when he thought no one could defeat him. The King orders his arrest and revokes his claim to Orgon’s property. Towards the end, it emerges that Orgon was hapless against Tartuffe since the latter had incriminating evidence against him. Nonetheless, his prior relationship causes the king to take action that, in return, reveals that the pious Tartuffe had a long criminal history that involved changing names to evade the law. The chickens finally come home to roost, and he is off to prison. Both texts contain the victory of justice, but there is a stark difference in the actual manifestation of justice. In the story, the Monkey undergoes a transformation for the better towards the end of the book but he remains free, while in the play, Tartuffe is cast into jail. These differences are a reflection of the contrasting societies in which the authors lived. Journey to the West is inspired by the beliefs and practices of the Oriental society around which it was conceived and developed. The intervening power in the book, for instance, is the Buddha. This situation signifies the predominant Taoism faith in Wu Ch'Eng-En’s native China. The author’s society knew Buddha to be all-powerful, and the spiritual inclination inspires the victory led by the God of the people CITATION Ste00 \l 1033 (Little and Eichman). Additionally, ju...