Everybody Loses... Not even a participation trophy for Gilgamesh.
Cody Ercizer
Enkidu, dead; Gilgamesh, dead; The fisherman's boat, dead. This whole book is an interesting adventure with many twists and turns, that is, until the last few chapters. Then it's just the depressing story of how a bunch of people wasted their time to only end up shamed, dead, or shamed and dead. Am I the only one who thinks this epic would have been better off open ended with a cliffhanger instead of the stupid ending they decided to go with? The entrance into the forest was so interesting! The character development of Gilgamesh was very enjoyable to read and discuss. But the last few chapters left me so dissatisfied I wanted to "pull a Will" and burn the book.
Does Gilgamesh complete his quest for immortality and avenge the death of Enkidu by becoming one in the same with the god's? Find out next time in the next issue of... The Epic of Gilgamesh! The ending was such a wasted opportunity. I'd like to see someone take inspiration from this story and retell it in their own way, but with a good ending, and possibly a continuation of the story being told over multiple books. Just an idea. But whatever happens, we still know one thing.. Gilgamesh lost his magic plant to a random snake, and that's how the story ends.
I commented on Katie and Spencer's :)
Enkidu, dead; Gilgamesh, dead; The fisherman's boat, dead. This whole book is an interesting adventure with many twists and turns, that is, until the last few chapters. Then it's just the depressing story of how a bunch of people wasted their time to only end up shamed, dead, or shamed and dead. Am I the only one who thinks this epic would have been better off open ended with a cliffhanger instead of the stupid ending they decided to go with? The entrance into the forest was so interesting! The character development of Gilgamesh was very enjoyable to read and discuss. But the last few chapters left me so dissatisfied I wanted to "pull a Will" and burn the book.
Does Gilgamesh complete his quest for immortality and avenge the death of Enkidu by becoming one in the same with the god's? Find out next time in the next issue of... The Epic of Gilgamesh! The ending was such a wasted opportunity. I'd like to see someone take inspiration from this story and retell it in their own way, but with a good ending, and possibly a continuation of the story being told over multiple books. Just an idea. But whatever happens, we still know one thing.. Gilgamesh lost his magic plant to a random snake, and that's how the story ends.
I commented on Katie and Spencer's :)
Woah now, burning is saved for extreme cases!
ReplyDeleteHah, but I really think a modern adaption would have the same ending: Gilgamesh can’t gain eternal life, so he heads home and becomes a better ruler who actually cares about his people. I want a deeper look at WHY, however. Every post this week has some completely different train of thought behind what lesson Gilgamesh took away from this and why it brought such a tremendous change in him; the ambiguity of the end is well and good for the purposing of classroom philosophizing, but not quite to much for the integrity of the work as a story. Don’t change the ending, make the meaning more apparent. That would give us something tangible without losing what makes the work special.
Haha, though it doesn't complete the hero's journey like we want it to, I think that Gilgamesh gains something even more valuable than eternal life could offer: perspective. I feel as though the ending was also a message to the reader that we live on through the way we impact because life is in fact limited by death, something we cannot avoid and must be at peace with in order to live.
ReplyDeleteWow I'm actually laughing! I agree that the buildup of this story ultimately leads to a very depressing end, but I can kind of understand why the author would choose to do such a thing. I think a lot of the time we expect for everything to end all roses and daisies but the fact of the matter is that sometimes life doesn't have happy endings. I do think that a cliffhanger would have been a great ending, but the fulfillment we would seek in a sequel would probably not be met.
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