JaredKatz

Mrs.Hope
Reading
4November2015
AnalysisofTheBoldBeggar
TheBoldBeggar,isastoryinthehistoricalreligioustextsofBuddhism.Ina
simplifiedversionwrittenbyR.RDiwakar,thesimpleplotlinebutimportantthemesembodies
Buddhism,andmorespecificallytheEightfoldpath.Inthestory,abrahmachari(beggar),asksa
groupofRishis(peoplesearchingforenlightenment)forasparemeal.TheRishisdenythe
beggar,duetothefactthatthefoodwasforasacrificetoadeitytheywereworshipping.Since
thegodresembleslife,theneedymanconvincesthescholarsthatthegodisinhimtoo.
Therefore,denyingthemanfoodcanbeconsidereddenyingthegodfood.Thisexemplifiesthat
peopleshouldhelponeanother,andthatitwillbringthemclosertogod.Theauthorusesliterary
devices,style,aswellasnarrativeelementstoprovehowbeingnicetooneanotherleadstovast
successandmerriment.

LiterarydevicesinTheBoldBeggarallowthetexttobemorerelatabletoeverydaylife
andallowforthethemetobeexpressedclearlywhilecaptivatingtheaudience.Particularly,
dialoguehadasubstantialeffectonmakingthestorysoappallingwhileproducingavalid
meaning.DialogueinTheBoldBeggarisnotonlyintriguing,butelaboratesonthemes.
Diwakarutilizesdialoguetosetupthesceneinthestory.Dialogueamongstcharactersprovides
charactersfeelingstowardseachother,theauthorsthoughtsonthecharacters,aswellaswhar
thecharactersbelievedofthemselves.Forexample,throughtheRishistonesandwordchoicein

theirdialogue,wecaninfertheyfeltthemerebrahmachariwasnotworththeirtimeandfood.
Whenthescholarsscowled,Youaretellingusnothingnew,(Diwakar1)theyfeltthebeggar
waslowlyandunintelligent.ThesamepieceofdialogueisalsousedtocharacterizetheRishis.
TheauthorusesthedialogueasatooltoconveythattheRishisarecondescending,andfelt
selfcentered.Meanwhile,dialogueattheendofthestoryalsoshowsthatthecharactersare
dynamic,andtheirtraitsaremodifiedthroughoutthetextandbytheendtheRishisexclaim
Yes,youspeakthetruth.(Diwakar1)provingthattheycanbecomeacceptingofothers.
Characterizationisalsoshownthroughnarrativeelementstheauthoruses,Thisincludes
thepointofviewoftheauthor,aswellasotherstorytellingchoicesDiwakardecided.Tostart,
Diwakartakesadvantageofa3rdpersonpointofview.Thisisdonetomakethetextseemas
unbiasedaspossibletowardsaspecificgroup.Ifitwaswritteninfirstpersonfromthebeggars
perspective,thenthetextwouldmaketheRishisseemrude,unknowledgableandcruel.If
writtenfromtheRishiseye,thenthebeggarwouldbeintrusiveandbrash.However,the3rd
personallowsanunbiasedpiecewitheachsidesmoralsbeingwellinterpreted.Thisisimportant
becauseitenhancesthethemesofBuddhism,whichthisisareligioustextfor.Itsignifiesthe
themeofbeingkindtoeveryone,nomatterwhatpositiontheyhaveinthesocialhierarchy.
BuddhismteachesthateveryonecanbecomeonewithBrahma(aBuddhistGod)iftheyarea
kindpersonintheirlifetime.Bynotdiscriminatingacertainpersoninthetext,Diwakarproves
thismessage.
Also,the3rdpersonpointofviewboldensbothhiddenmeaningsfoundinthetext.The
firstmessageisfoundfromthebrahmacharipointofview.Heteachesusthatifwehave
knowledgethatothersaretryingtoseek,thenweshouldassisttheminobtainingthesegoals.The

beggardoesthisinthetextwhenthesagesarelookingforenlightenment.Concludingthestory,
Theyrealizedthattheywereobsessedwiththeformwhileitwasthespiritthatreallymattered.
Inthisexcerpt,hehelpsthesagesbyteachingthemhowtobecomebetterpeople,whichbrings
themclosertotheirgoal.TheybecomebetterpeoplebyknowingnowthatbeingclosertoGod
requiresthemtobeclosertoothers.Meanwhile,theotherlessonisshownthroughtheRishis
eye.Theydonatetotheneedy,andfeedthehungrymanameal.Thisisalsoakeymessage
Diwakardepicts,andisfundamentalinBuddhismaswell.TheEightfoldPath,areligiousguide
forBuddhists,reinforcestheneedtobekindtoothers,especiallythosewhoarelessfortunate.
Diwakarutilizesdialogueandnarrativeelementstoshapehispieceandformulatehis
messagestocoincidewithBuddhistideals.Heexpresseshowsharinginformationtohelpothers
canleadtogreatrewards,andbykindnesstoeverydaypeoplebringsyoucloserto
enlightenment.Byhavingthecharactersinteractwithoneanother,theyareefficientlyportrayed.
Thisallowsthereadertobetterunderstandmotives,whichmakesthestorylessconfusing.Also,
multiplethemesareabletobehighlightedbecauseofthechosenpointofview.Becauseitwas
3rdperson,whateachcharacterlearnedwasmoreidentifiable.Theauthorsdisposalofliterary
andnarrativeelementsweresignificanttoconveyingthemesinTheBoldBeggar

diligently.