The dialogue between Rama and his subjects regarding whether or not they should allow Vibishana into their camp is very clearly one sided until Rama hears the opinion of his close advisor Hanuman. Everyone else is of the conviction that Vibishana should not be allowed into camp because he cannot be trusted as a result of his abandonment of his brother and the argument that his profession of virtue is a disguise. To emphasize his opinion of Vibishana and to attempt to gain the agreement of Rama, Sugreeva said, “In spite of all his noble speech, this person is really an asura.”
After hearing Hanumans judgement of Vibishana, we are witness to another moment when Rama professes his duties and reiterates his opinion on right and wrong. Similar to when Rama argued with Vali regarding the awareness of right and wrong that accompanies knowledge, regardless of race, he reiterates this certainty when he says, “...it is our first duty to protect. Even if I am defeated because I have taken him at his word, I would not mind it; I shall still have done the right thing. On the other hand, if I am victorious in war by rejecting him, to me that victory would not be worth having” (132). This statement exemplifies the character of Rama so well. He believes in always acting in an honorable and fair fashion. This is displayed many times throughout the story, but a memorable instance is when Ravana and Rama were in battle. Ravana fell into a faint and, although Rama could have shot his bow and ended the battle while Ravana rested, he refused to continue the battle and allowed Ravana to rest.
An out of character moment I noted was when Rama was standing by the ocean, frustrated because he and his army needed to cross it but had no resources to do so, and he threatened to shoot his all-powerful arrows into the sea, threatening the sea god. Although the sea god eventually helped Rama and his army cross, it was simply out of character for him to allow his anger to get the best of him. For someone with as much virtue as he, I would have thought he would simply offer a sacrifice to the sea god or something of honor.
Held in accordance with the aftermath of Vali’s death, when Rama killed Ravana it appeared that Ravanas negative matter fluttered off of his body and he was left with a noble and pristine figure. Later on, Rama mentioned that he wanted his spirit to reach heaven and ordered a formal funeral for his adversary. This just proved, once again, that Rama is a nice guy and cares about the afterlives of his enemies as much as his friends.
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