Study Guide questions for Monkey by Wu Ch'eng-en, trans. Arthur Waley

For any of the questions below, try to find several good examples and passages to discuss together. Please make sure that you give everyone in your peer group a chance to speak to at least a part of a question or topic. This work does count toward your participation grade! (4 people maximum per group)

1. Given that all religions have some validity, provided that the believer is sincere and devoted in his belief, what characters show sincerity and devotion, and why do they do it? When do they show piety in any of its forms, including filial piety? When do characters show a lack of piety or sincerity or devotion?

2. If one can grasp the meaning of life only through great struggles, endurance, much suffering, and the life-long pursuit of learning, in what ways does Monkey show endurance through struggle and suffering? Is he forever learning, and if so, what is he learning?

3. Human nature can be seen not only seriously but also comically. What episodes show the comic aspects of humans or other beings or creatures? When is Monkey a comic character? When does Monkey show human frailties and failings? Is anyone else a comic character? If so, when and how?

4. Given that poetic justice means that characters get what they deserve in the end, what are some of the examples where characters face consequences for crimes and broken promises etc? Does the universe of Monkey seem to function in a way that is fair, ultimately?

5. Bureaucracy and government officials are parodied or satirized in Heaven and in the land of the dead (the World of Darkness) in Monkey, often for comic effect. Find examples of characters encountering bureaucrats in otherworldly places, and discuss the points being made. For example, do you think the author is sometimes making points about government officials?

6. Monkey as a king of the monkeys has some things in common with Gilgamesh as a king, e.g. a desire for immortality. When they are good kings, what virtues do they show? Is one of them better than the other? When they are not good kings, what failings do they share? Who has the greatest flaws as a king?

7. Given that situational irony means that things are not as they should be, in what episodes do you see examples of situational irony? Given that cosmic irony means that the universe is rigged in a way that goes against what sentient beings would wish for, are there examples of cosmic irony in the novel so far?