Ryan+and+Josh+-+Banquo

**Banquo's Relation to Bermese Freedom Hero Aung San**
Shakespeare's Macbeth inspires images of death and revenge from characters who must battle against tyranny and evil that sprouts from one man's ambition. [|Banquo], who feels the brunt of Macbeth's plot to rule all of Scotland actually found himself in a very similar situation and becomes Macbeth's foil. Brave, cautious, and intelligent, Banquo uses reasoning and cool collective thinking to handle the [|Wyrd sisters]. Unlike Macbeth, who chooses to throw caution to the wind and explore the possiblities of the witch's predictions, Banquo sees the evil in their words and instead chooses to wait. Throughout history there have been many leaders who chose to wait, who exercise caution and exhibit a level of intelligence that shows the persons commitment to civilry. However, very few find themselves in Banquo's position, caught between the love for his counrty and the evil that presses down upon him. Aung San, may be the most qualified person in history who exhibits the traits that Banquo has shown.

[|Aung San] was born in central Burma in 1915. He was well educated and was passionate as his family had been in the resistance movement against the British occupation. He attended Rangoon University and lead several organizations during his educational studies there. He also devloped an acute sense on nationalism which spurred his work with the [|Dobama Asi-ayone] as the secretary-general. He began to began to politically fight for support and made deals with Japenese forces in hopes of overthrowing the puppet government. He later chose to break off the deal with the Japanese and instead to use some forces that remained loyal to him from the attempted takeover to stage a political war. He rose in power through the ranks and eventually found himself as the chairmen of the Burma Executive council as a sort of prime minister figure. From his seat on the executive council, Aung San was able to negotiate an agreement that gave the Burmese their independence. However, before he was able to see the country he loved gain independence, he was assasinated by his political rival. He was soon hailed as a national hero because he was able to give the people their independence. He was given his own national holiday, Arzarni Day.  There are mutiple similarities between Banquo and Aung San that would support the idea that the two are closely linked. Perhaps the most overt similarity between the two Generals was the unfortunate deaths of each. In the play, Banquo was murdered by Macbeth in the form of the two murders (later three) when Banquo became too much of a threat to his campaign to rule Scotland. Believing that Banquo would take fate into his own hands as he had, Macbeth convinced the murders of the wrongdoings of Banquo and they agree to kill him. The murders then intercept Banquo with his son Fleance and manage to kill Banquo, but his son manages to escape. It is assumed after the conclusion of the play that Fleance eventually becomes King which fulfills the witch's prophecy. Banquo's murder clearly relates to the assasination of Aung San in that both were killed by a rival who was closely related to a position of power. In Banquo's case, Macbeth, who was king, murdered him because he was viewed as a threat. In Aung San's he was assasinated by U Saw, a former prime minister. Another relationship in the death's of the two men are the fact that both had progeny who survived them and took on the deceased mission or dreams. In Banquo's case, his son Fleance is believed to have acended to the throne and have been a king. Aung San's son and daughter both survived him, and [|his daughter] became a freedom advocate and could have risen to the position of prime minister had the current government not placed her under house arrest.

Another point where Banquo shows his relation to Aung San occurs at the beginning of the play when Macbeth and Banquo meet the three witches and are told of their prophecy. Banquo suggest that caution should be exercised when they interpret the witches predictions. He says to Macbeth, "The instruments of darknes tell us truths, / Win us with honest trifles, to betray 's / In deepest consequences." (1.3.136-38). This quote shows Banquo's skepticism over whether the witch's predictions will yield more profit and success than harmful consequences. Aung San showed a level of similar skepticism and intelligence when he began to rethink his approach to Burmese independence when his beliefs in the ability of the Japanese to bring freedom to the people and the country began to falter. He saw the poor treatment of the Burmese military forces by the Japanese and their habits of taking control of local area governments they were able to defeat. Aung San saw the hopes of his free country failing if the Japanese were to succeed and decided his best choice was to switch to the British cause and push for indepence a more honorable and successful way. Like Banquo, Aung San's choice kept him out of trouble for some amount of time because each chose a path that did not involve death or destruction.

A third point which relates the real life Aung San and his fictcious counterpart Banquo was the idea that the image of Banquo appears after he is dead. Macbeth, out of guilt, sees Banquo's ghost at a Banquet where he is haunted and petrified by this apparition. People begin to realize the insanity of Macbeth and that a tyrant has replaced their beloved [|Duncan]. Because Macbeth exposes his own dealings with darkness during the banquet, it helps to perpetuate the causes of those who chose to fight Macbeth and try to rescue the country from his wrath. Aung San is comparable to Banquo's ghost in the fact that his legend has outsurvived his body and keeps future generations vigilant of what he was able to accomplish for the people he pledge his life to try to free. His potrait still has its place in many homes in the country and he has many parks and markets labeled after him. His holiday also serves and a ghost of some sort which remind those that there will always be hope for the apressed and his image will show those who oppress that leaders like him will always exsist.

Banquo may have not had the largest role in Shakespeare's Macbeth, but he certainly held an important one. He served as a reminder to Macbeth that he chose the road to destruction and that a more honorable path exsisted. He tried to tell his friend of the danger but his warning fell on deaf ears. Aung San, despite being in a different set of circumstances, is uniquely related to Banquo in parts of his physical life as well as his character traits. Shakespeare could have never known that his character would match to people in a historical context, but he was able to predict human character enough so that it was capable of being match with someone such as Aung San. This truely shows Shakespeare's brilliance and his character's potential to have real world counterparts.