I found myself frustrated much more with Kaikeyi's actions in Bucks retelling of the Ramayana. Kaikeyi was initially excited at the decision to crown Rama king even when Manthara was trying to convince her otherwise. With so much love and excitement for Rama it was incredibly selfish of Kaikeyi to decide it was better for herself that Rama was exiled and Bharata be king. Her actions in the anger room seemed even more dramatic and deceptive, and only Rama saw that it wasn't her true nature to act as she did (pages 68-70).
Once Rama was exiled he made his way into the forest and was met by Guha. I don't recall Guha being in Narayan's retelling of the Ramayana, but he is a character that I grew to like a lot. He seems extremely manly, as the lord of the wild trees who can't be conquered by anyone. Yet he is calm, kind and full of joy even as a rugged man of the forest! He comforted Lakshmana, drank wine with him, and told him stories of how he came to be king of the forest. I enjoyed reading of Guha and his conflict with the brahamans, his encounter with death and rescue by Shiva (pages 89-94).
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| Guha washing Rama's feet |
I have also enjoyed all of the added details in Buck’s version of this story. And that he brought in Guha to be such a pivotal character during this section of The Ramayana. I also found myself disliking Kaikeyi more in this version than the other, especially because she was so happy to have Rama be crowned as king until Manthara stepped in and convinced her otherwise. She personally also annoyed me when she tried to get Dasaratha to teach her to speak like the animals even though it would kill him.
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