I am born to be something more.
When I was little, I would love to
go with my father when he would visit King Draupad. My father was a great
charioteer, and King Draupad would only go into battle with my father as his
driver. Even though my father was not born of noble birth, King Draupad always
treated him and my family as equals. I would watch them leave for battle and
could not hold back my excitement. One day I would leave for battle and return
victorious just like them.
We were allowed to visit the
capitol anytime. But when my father was away in battles with King Draupad, my
mother and me stayed at the capitol. During our time at the capitol, I would
play with the prince and princess. It was a simple time. As children, we did
not know about birth rights and ranking. But as I got older, I learned that
even though the prince and princess treated me like a friend, I was still
beneath. I was still a servant.
When the prince began to train in
weaponry to become a skillful warrior, I would watch from a distance envious.
My parents had already told me that I would be trained to be a skillful
charioteer. It would be my honor to be the charioteer for the prince who would
one day be king. But in my soul, I could feel that I was meant for more than
being a charioteer to a king. I was meant to be a warrior.
My charioteer training began. But I
would keep a watchful eye on the prince's training. That way whenever I got the
chance, I could practice weaponry to become a skillful warrior. The prince
would even come over and spar with me. Even though we both knew what place we
had to take when we were old enough the prince knew I wanted more. The years
passed and my training continued until today.
Today I heard that King
Dhrita-rashtra plans to have a tournament so that his sons and nephews can
showcase their warrior skills. There is a warrior that everyone marvels at his
ability, Prince Arjun. I know that if I
can show that I am a greater warrior than he is, I will have to be accepted as
a warrior. All I have to do is beat Arjun in front of everyone, and everyone
will know that I am more than a charioteer.
******
Author's Notes: This story is meant to be a prequel to Karna's life before he goes off to challenge Arjun in the tournament in the Mahabharata by R.K. Narayan and The Five Tall Sons of Pandu by Richard Wilson. Even though Karan is actually of royal birth, he does not know that he is related to the Pandu brothers until the end of the story. In both of the stories, we learn that Karna is raised by a charioteer, but we do not learn any more about his childhood. I pictured that even though Karna respected and honored his adopted father profession, it was not the life he wanted. He felt like he was born to be more. (Which he actually was but did not know it.) So, I combined the childhood of Karna with the childhood of a prince and princess. This way he could see how a prince lived and started becoming envious of being a warrior from a young age. I wanted to show that he was determined to become the best. So that when he learned about Arjun being the greatest warrior he felt that the only way he could feel better about himself was to defeat Arjun. I hope you have enjoyed my story and would love to hear feedback!
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Image: The coronation of Karna to be a king. Source: Wikipedia
Ashley, I thought your story was very well done, there have not been many prequel stories in this class, so it was a nice touch and definitely something refreshing to read. The envy you instill in Karna is a good character flaw to present, it provides a motivation for him, as well as something that could potentially hold him back. Overall, I thought it was a good story and I look forward to reading more of your work
ReplyDeleteWow Ashley, I really enjoyed this! I think you did a fantastic job characterizing Karna. This was written really well, and I love that it's a backstory for Karna. His character interested me while reading the Mahabharata. I'm not sure if you are working on a Portfolio or Storybook, but I'd love to see you extend this enough to read your version of Karna's attempt to claim warriorhood.
ReplyDeleteHello Ashley! I loved reading this story you have written! Karna has a good backstory and motivation to become more than what is in his destiny. The envy of Arjuna that Karna is feeling will help him succeed in what he wants to do. Maybe mentioning his name in the story would help readers who have not read the original story. I had to read the author's note to see who you were writing about. Great job and keep it up!
ReplyDeleteHey Ashely! I loved reading your story! Karna is a amazing character that you have flushed out very well. Backstroy for character like Karna was a excellent choice for a story book. Prequel style of story writing was very interesting as well. Great work and keep up the good work. I will look forward to reading more stories from you.
ReplyDeleteHi Ashley great job on your story! I really like how you told the story from Karna's perspective because I feel like he is an overlooked character in the Mahabharata stories. Making Karna have a reason for trying to beat Arjun is really interesting and a great way to rewrite the story. I look forward to reading more of your stories.
ReplyDeleteAshley, I liked that you gave us a prequel to Karna, explaining more about where he came from and the origins of his birth. Furthermore, I liked that he has a motive as to why he wants to beat Arjuna, as this really adds depth to his character. I also liked his flaw of envy, it really gives him a driving reason to go forward as well as something that could hold him back in the future. I hope to see this story in your project later in the course.
ReplyDelete