Chi Li Slays the Serpent

Sylvia Lopez

English Literature 25

Professor Lennon

February 17, 2017

Chi Li Slays the Serpent

In the book, World Mythology the author, Rosenberg shares a short story called “Chi Li Slays the Serpent.” In this story, we learn that the people in a place called Chiang Lo County have always been afraid of the monstrous Yung serpent. Each year, the county officials found a maiden whose sacrifice would not be a great loss to her community. Chi Li who was the youngest of six daughters, volunteered to be the tenth year’s sacrifice despite both of her parents disagreeing with her decision. The act of heroism is seen through two specific qualities that Chi Li carries. She is selfless and courageous. This is seen through various examples from the text.

The first quality that Chi Li has is selflessness. She puts her family above herself. For example, on page 332, Chi Li speaks to her parents about her decision and indeed, they do not agree. She goes on to explain how a daughter serves no good and only prevents the family from being wealthy, especially coming from a family of six daughters because having a daughter means there is much more to spend. She says to her parents, “And since my life can do nothing for you, I would like my death to improve your lives in some way.” She strongly believes that her sacrificing herself will improve the economic status of their family.

In addition, another quality that defines her heroism is that she is courageous. The text says, “...there, Chi Li prepared to do further battle with the Yung serpent if that proved to be necessary…” Through this sentence, one can see that she not only volunteered to be sacrificed but also continued to do what she could to slay the serpent. Furthermore, Chi Li says, “The monster conquered you because you were too timid to put up a fight! How pitiful!.” She says this because at this point in the story, the serpent has already died and she proceeds to enter his cave where she finds the skulls and bones of the serpent’s nine sacrificial victims. Her response after seeing the skulls and bones meant that unlike those nine maidens, she was not timid to fight the monstrous serpent. In fact, it was her courage that made her the hero.

In conclusion, in the short story that Rosenberg shares, we see that Chi Li is selfless and courageous. Having these qualities made her the hero. Other people may say that she is smart and a trickster due to the strategy that she used when she killed the serpent. This story has various examples of the qualities that defined Chi Li’s heroism such as the part where she spoke to her parents about sacrificing herself and later on in the story, after the serpent dies, when she entered the serpent’s cave and found the skulls and bones of those nine maidens who had already sacrificed themselves but never had the courage to try and defeat him. Her heroism traveled to the king of Yueh where she married him and now, as the king’s wife, she was able to bring her family into the royal palace where they all became wealthy.