Where the Mountain Meets the Moon: The End

Naturally, the story has an ultimately happy ending (ultimately because every problem was solved even though Minli only asked for help with one). Minli returns to her parents with a stone that turns out to be a dragon's pearl, worth more than the Emperor's entire fortune, Dragon is now able to fly (thanks to the Old Man of the Moon), and the Fruitless Mountain is now the Fruitful Mountain.

Minli has completed her Coming-of-Age journey rather successfully, having matured by the end of the novel. She was able to develop herself more as she met new people with new ways of thinking. And when she finally finds the Old Man of the Moon, she realizes that she's thankful for her life and the way she's living it. Why did she need to change her fortune? She was happy and had friends and family who loved her. What more could she ask for in life? So she decided to help her dragon friend instead, finding out that there was a ball constantly holding him down. Afterwards, she returned to her village and (yes, I am implying that karma had a part in this...the good kind) discovered she was carrying a stone which turned out to be one of the most valuable objects that could be found, and saw that the mountain had turned green and was no longer a fruitless mountain. These occurrences could have served as rewards for Minli's good-hearted, selfless nature.

All in all, the book was quite entertaining and enjoyable, and taught a valuable life lesson as well: be thankful for what you have, and appreciative of what you may receive.

-thedoctormoreau.blogspot.com

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon: The Old Man of the Moon- God?

I'm aware that religious elements are not mentioned throughout the book, but there have been some forms of symbolism pertaining to religion. One of the examples would be the highly reputable Old Man of the Moon. Who is this seemingly impossible to find, mysterious man with great abilities?

First of all, the man is a huge legend. Everyone in the village and beyond knows of his existence; however, he is only believed to be a character in a story. Some people believe he exists and can be found, others do not. He is said to be able to grant some of the most powerful wishes, including gifting the impoverished with exceeding wealth, which is the objective of Minli's journey.
 Unfortunately, we are unable to see the true extent of the special abilities of the old man, since Minli opted to ask about the flight abilities of the dragon (to which he gave a rather sensible solution) rather than her own situation.

The Old Man of the Moon could be compared to (or affiliated with)
God because of the following shared traits: mysteriousness, special abilities, and being legendary. Their abilities have only been demonstrated in written documents, rather than in the public reality. Also, there is no proof of either's existence, as many people doubted Minli's ability to find the Old Man of the Moon, just like many people would doubt someone's ability to meet God in person (...and still be alive).

Although there were no blatant religious connections within the text, there were still analogies that could be made. While reading this novel, I managed to only find the one mentioned, but I'm wondering if there may be other symbols hidden throughout the rest of the text...

-thedoctormoreau.blogspot.com