A knight, cowboy, and a samurai were not just fighters, but also warriors that followed an unwritten code of conduct. A Japanese warrior who follows a code of chivalry is a Samurai. The origin of “The Tales of the Heike” was believed to be written down by priests as a collection of stories. The text is a reflection of the conflict between two clans the Genji and the Heike. The Heike clan holds all the power at the beginning, but by the final blow the Genji clan defeats the Heike clan. The story not only shows the struggle between the two clans, but also represents the code of Bushido that a Samurai followed in life. The text “The Tales of the Heike” gives examples of a Samurai that abides to “The Bushido Code: The Eight Virtues of the Samurai.” Four of those virtues practiced in the text are rectitude, benevolence, loyalty, courage. …show more content…
A samurai within the text named Atsumori reflects this virtue in his last moments of life. Atsumori and Kumagae are fighting, and Kumagae has pinned Atsumori down getting ready to strike. Kumagae tries to get Atsumori to tell him his name and to tell him that he will make sure prayers for his salvation are said, but Atsumori replies, “‘Just take my head and be quick about it!’” (1302). Atsumori embodies rectitude with him sticking by his way of conduct instead of choosing to see if he could get Kumagae to let him go and he chooses to die knowing that his time to die was now. Taira no Tadanori also shows great courage as he gives up his passion of poetry to go and fight in battle. Taira returned to the capital one last time to the capital “although where he had been in the meantime is uncertain.” (1294). He had been in a place of uncertainty before he knew what the right thing to do was to go fight and give up his passion of poetry. Taira and Atsumori reflect the virtue of deciding one’s way without wavering following the code of a