- The ape seems like kind of a bully, but he is going on a quest to fulfill a desire that most people have- to beat death.
-It is interesting that there are so many ways to fulfillment- through the sciences or through magic or repose. I agree with that, that one can be fulfilled and find purpose and their true calling in a variety of ways. It is crazy that the master would know all of them, but maybe that is why he has all of the disciples.
-I would like to make a modern version of the monkey king, maybe a single mom moves to a new city with her children and is attempting to establish herself in a career and finds a mentor who knows everything. She would have to have some huge goal- to start her own business perhaps? And all of the apes that it talks about in this story could be her children. And the weapon that the monkey seeks out could be the perfect piece of real estate for her new business.
-Maybe dragging back to the underworld could be her getting a call that she has to go home, and maybe she cuts ties with someone she knew back then - the children's father who does not contribute anything? There are so many overarching themes in this story that I can play with.
-The monkey king is boastful and impulsive, and my modern mom can be that way as well. Maybe she has a smart mouth that gets her in trouble and causes her mentor to have to fire her from her job, but that is the push she needs to start her own business. Maybe I will set it in tokyo.
Story source: "The Ape Sun Wu Kung" in The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).
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