An Analysis of Robert Ji-Song Kus Leda Essay -- Leda Essays

An Analysis of Robert Ji-Song Ku's Leda      Ã‚  Ã‚   In Robert Ji-Song Ku's short story "Leda," the main character, Sorin, leads a life of imitation. He applies himself to his graduate studies in comparative literature a little too readily: he compares not just text to text; he also compares his life to text, to "works of literature" (Wong 281). If his life does not match that of at least one literary character on several levels of interpretation, whether emotional, physical, or mental, he changes his behavior so that it will. For example, he begins to "smoke and drink - heavily...simply because every one of Hemingway's heroes did it. For a while I drank only vodka martinis in public because I read that James Bond drank it exclusively ... I ... also smoked [his] particular brand of cigarettes" (280). In "Leda," the two influential "oeuvres" (280) are Junichiro Tanizaki's The Bridge of Dreams, a "haunting retelling of the Oedipal myth" (281), and the story of Leda, in Greek mythology. Both have extensive influence on Sorin, and their influences intertwine in his behavior to the extent that it is difficult to separate and identify each.    "Leda" is primarily an Oedipal tale thanks to the influence of Bridge, but, as Sorin "frequently finds himself doing things, saying things, and make certain choices [because] ... some of the most intriguing characters in books have done the same," he mixes Oedipus with Zeus, Castor and Pollux to produce the character he becomes when interacting with Leda, his lover. Oedipus, of course, is the Greek dramatic character who, when he discovers he has married his mother and has had children with her, gouges his eyes out. Zeus is the philandering Greek father of the gods who, according to Greek l... ...or having lived his life vicariously.    Works Cited "Castor and Polydeuces." Microsoft Encarta Online. 27 February 1999 http://encarta.msn.com/index/conciseindex/54/05444000.htm. "Cheju Island." 17 February 1999 http://www.chejuinfo.net/index_e.html. Criss, P. J. "Leda." 17 February 1999 http://www.cybercom.com/~grandpa/ledax.html. Hefner, Alan G. "Zeus." The Encyclopedia Mythica. 27 February 1999 http://www.pantheon.org/mythica/articles/z/zeus.html. "Leda and the Constellation Cygnus." Department of Engineering, University of Michigan. 17 February 1999 http://windows.ivv.nasa.gov/mythology/cygnus.html. Webb, Ruth H. "Leda." 17 February 1999 http://www.princeton.edu/~rhwebb/leda.html. Wong, Shawn, ed. Asian American Literature: A Brief Introduction and Anthology. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers, 1996.