Princess Mononoke

The feeling of fear and sadness is further portrayed by the crying of the village women, ". . . a woman's anguish pierced the still, early morning, followed by yet a duet of wails, and then a full chorus of cries." Clearly, these women intuitively or otherwise , know of wrenching torment awaiting the village. The somber mood continues with the procession of religious officials making their way to the same destination as the wailing women. In contrast, however, the religious principales have assumed a formation of some sort; "marching in six files, two abreast," ceremoniously fulfilling their obligation as if all hope had already eroded.

The first few weeks of class our coursework was based around the book titled Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity by David N. Entwistle. The author takes us on a journey of learning the history of Christianity and psychology integration by exploring his philosophical views and the development of the five models of integration. Entwistle (2010) encourages his readers to consider the integration of both Christianity and psychology and provides us with various times when integration has either been accepted or rejected and researches the dilemmas behind the acceptance and rejection of the two. Entwistle (2010) opens the book explaining the intense topic of science and religion describing the two as a modern debate, yet he says that it is imperative to know that “although these questions have modern overtones, they reflect ancient undercurrents” (p. 8).

“In the Forest of Gombe” by Jane Goodall describes her own perspective of the correlation between religions and science through her experiences in the forest at Gombe where she finds comforting to recover from the loss of her husband. Developed several new concepts regarding life, Goodall comes up with the idea of the coexistence of science and religion. Agreeing with Goodall, however, the windows that Goodall sees through have no drawbacks.

Deep within the forest, destiny brings two young Native American lovers closer together after a series of unforeseen tragedies, but not without the help of nature and the animals within the woods. In the novel, The Translation of Dr. Apelles, specifically within the storyline related to Bimaadiz and Eta, animal imagery for the pair are associated with the hope and love for their relationship while animals for the other villagers relate to violence, these animals are a plot device that drive the storyline ensuring that Bimaadiz and Eta remain a couple and eventually marry. Animal symbolism associated with the hope for and love within Bimaadiz and Eta’s relationship is seen in their interactions with wolves, deer, moose, and a pack of dogs. Contrastingly, other villages interactions with these animals symbolize violence and oftentimes death.

Motivated by the failure of nature to provide adequately, unrest arose in the village and, “like a poisonous mushroom … born only when the time and place are ready,” the primary human antagonist, Dark Dealer, emerged and made secret plans to overthrow the village government (McNickle, 163). This great uneasiness among the people and the emergence of a negative character with unclear plans forced the chief of the village, known later as the Holy One, to separate from his people and to live in isolation while he worked on a plan to fix his battered nation (McNickle, 52-53). The Dark Dealer then launched his attack on the people, taking advantage of their temporary weakness in an attempt to increase his power and, possibly, restore prosperity to the land through his new leadership (McNickle,

The village beauty was always strong willed and audacious. She was what many other women aspired to be. In fact, even the notorious, masculine Okonkwo wanted her in her youth- but he couldn’t pay her bride price. This woman was so ambitious that she fled her first husband to live with Okonkwo after he beat the infamous Cat. Ekwefi became Okonkwo’s second wife due to her ambition, and this began her journey through life with him. However, when a new culture spread its plague upon the traditions of Umuofia, her life changed dramatically. The village beauty had seemed to lose everything, but the people she lost and things she had to go through seemed to only make her stronger. Because of this, the new culture being introduced to Umuofia impacts Ekwefi in a positive way.

. The Umuofia clan has an elaborate religious system largely based on their natural environment. Surrounded by dense, dark woods, the forest is both respected and feared as a chief god, the Evil Forest. The earth goddess is also revered and feared; as farmers, the Umuofia rely completely on the produce of the land and are subject to drought and flooding. The earth goddess is seen as in control of the weather and productivity of the land, so much of the clan’s social structure is set around not displeasing the earth goddess. Fear of offending the earth goddess motivates the punishment for many crimes, such as Okonkwo’s seven-year exile for killing a clansman. Achebe’s descriptions of the isolation of the Umuofia people and their complete dependence

Their raid showed the aunt, on a smaller scale, what she did to the village. The cycle becomes broken because of the aunt. The villagers needed to try to fix the break, so they attacked her. They feel a need to restore harmony in the

The Samurai is very angry at some parts, but in others he softly in love with a fair girl and his attitude is gentle. The girl, Sayoko, is sweet, but small part she plays, for she was only for a little while, but according to the Samurai, she was everything. The Tiger who kills Sayoko is vicious and swift. Once the tiger kills his fiancé , the Samurai is filled with revenge and wants the creature dead. The warrior found tiger, he aimed wrong. Shockingly, the arrow went into a large rock! The villagers were

The term “Mononoke” is a Japanese word for a spirit or monster. Associating these traits with women is considered unusual from the typical gender roles. Common traits associated with the ideal of femininity include sensitivity, passiveness, dependence, and emotional. Usual traits associated with masculinity are courage, independence, assertive, and confidence. Many of the women and girls highlighted in the Japanese movie Princess Mononoke deviate from typical gender norms. The female characters are in positions of power and are determined and aggressive. Princess Mononoke features many instances in which the female characters deviate from gender roles by being leaders and fighters.

When the villagers are gathered for Sabbath, young Lena sees a plane fly overhead, followed by an explosion. The villagers’ fears that war was on the horizon have come true, and they become panicked by the thought of death. A stranger washes up on the shore of the river, and she suggests that they begin their world

“Where was I, the girl or woman called Orleanna, as we traveled those roads and crossed the lines again and again? Swallowed by Nathan’s mission, body and soul” (Kingsolver 198), Orleanna Price reflects, looking back on her marriage to an emotionally abusive, religious zealot. Her entire being and life, as well as her children’s lives, are swallowed by the power of his barbed words and extreme beliefs. Over the course of The Poisonwood Bible, Orleanna struggles to free herself and her daughters from the power of her rage-filled and fanatical husband, and she is finally able to do so after she experiences the loss of her daughter. “I married a man who could never love me…

Only to be met by one lone tribal. He said,” weapons mine, give now and deaths will be quick.” As he drew his bow and aimed at Lilith, I grabbed the bag, and then handed it to Lilith. As she walks towards the tribal, a lone tear rolls down her ash and dirt covered face. When Lilith is feet away from the tribal, she throws the bag at him and when he’s disoriented, I tackle him. While I wrestled with him, Lilith steals his bow from him and hits him in the head with it, knocking him unconscious. While Lilith tied up the tribal, I went searching for the horse, which wasn’t far from the meadow. I mounted the horse, grabbed a thick, knotted piece of mane and then I rode back to the rubble of my once great home. Upon my arrival, our captive had just started to awake. After a few fits of terror, I ask him where his village is and if there is any weapons. After his unwillingness to cooperate, I shoot right next to his ear. I yell,” the next shot is going in your leg if you don’t tell me, and I assure you, your death will be slow and painful if you don’t tell me where your village’s weapons are.” He’s quivering and crying because he and I both know that I would go through with it. I move so close to his face that I could smell his hot, smelly breath. I say one word, “speak.” With shame in his eyes, he tells me the village is not far from the meadow, and that there is one weapon, the chief’s fist of thunder. He says the weapon is

Another theme that is explored in this story deals with the idea of scapegoat. Many ancient civilizations used to perform a ritual where a human and animal were sacrificed to god in a hope that it removes the evil of the entire society. Sacrificing the person or animal was supposed to bring prosperity and happiness to the society. The same concept is used in this story. Every year, an innocent person is stoned to death by the villagers in a hope that it will flourish the crops. They don’t care who that person is. The whole village immediately turns against that person who picks the paper with a black spot on it. Even children aren’t spared. The year when

When dwelling into the explorations about science and religion, one can find it quite amusing. "If science and religion are to continue to coexist it seems opposed to the conditions of modern thought to admit that this result can be brought about by the so-called