Anita Diamant’s novel The Red Tent is a Midrash revolved around the biblical passage of Genesis 34: Dinah and the Shechemites. In this story Anita Diamant gives a voice to Simeon and Levi’s sister, Dinah, who is known as the woman who was raped then later loved by Shechem. After Shechem’s injustice of Dinah, Shechem and his city were slaughtered by Simeon and Levi. Both bible passages and the novel The Red Tent provide some similar and some different characteristic traits for Simeon and Levi which in turn allows the readers to take away and learn more from the Midrash story. The readers are able to further involve themselves in the relevance of Dinah’s voice and story. Even though Simeon and Levi are separate individuals, for the purpose of this character analysis, I will be treating Simeon and Levi’s character aspects as of one character. Because the character of Simeon and Levi in the bible were described as cruel but nevertheless righteous whereas in Anita Diamant’s novel, The Red Tent, they are cruel, unrighteous and deceitful; the differences and similarities of their characters are easily brought forth which in turn enabled Anita Diamant to provide Dinah’s story with more relevance and implication.
In the Testament of the Patriarchs, Simeon and Levi are characterized as strong and fearless with a zeal for cruelty, yet they were considered righteous in their vengeance on Shechem. Simeon and Levi have high ambitions and they strived for perfection. “Moreover, I became strong exceedingly; I shrank from no achievement, nor was I afraid of ought” (Simeon 2:3). They were characterized as men with high values on status and leadership who often acted on their emotions rather than reasoning. The decisions made by Simeon and Levi in ...
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...were characterized as cruel, violent, rash and emotional yet righteous in their fight against Shechem and his city. In The Red Tent, Simeon and Levi are again depicted as cruel, violent and unreasonable yet their actions in against Shechem were not deemed righteous and therefore the brothers were considered sinful. The characteristic traits of Simeon and Levi in biblical passages and in the novel, The Red Tent, have many similarities as well as differences. Through pointing out these differences in their characteristic aspects, the readers are able to take more away from novels purpose of giving Dinah a voice and story. It would be interesting to see Anita Diamant write a Midrash pertaining to the enslavement of Joseph. I wonder how she would portray Simeon and Levi’s characters in Joseph’s interpretation and whether they would have righteous characteristics or not.
... as well as that of Micaela and Miriam. To remember is to retain power and identity. To forget is to lose power and be subject to imposed identities. By using the agency of memory, slaves were able to preserve personal histories, ancestral tradition and a sense of communal power. Erzulie’s Skirt helps to explore modes of resistance to oppression, how religion plays a part in resistance and identity preservation, and how past and present journeys are connected. The loss and renewal of faith, the physical abuse and the mental oppression experienced by Miriam and Micaela directly imitate the same injustices felt by those who suffered across the Middle Passage, providing evidence for the idea that the brothel is a metaphor for a slave ship and supporting that the purpose of literature is to maintain the interconnectedness of lives despite the distance of time and space.
In the short story “Araby,” James Joyce uses religious and biblical allusions to portray a young narrator’s feelings about a girl. Through these allusions, readers gather an image of the narrator’s adoration of his friend’s, Mangan’s, sister. James Joyce’s allusions to the Bible and religion relate to the idolized image the narrator has of a girl.
Firstly, through Joseph’s memories and thoughts, conflict is revealed by him remembering his experiences with his son. Joseph recalls the first time he went camping overnight in the woods with David. That evening, Joseph knew his son was awake, “but was not sure whether [he] had been happy or just tired. He could not ask him, even then.” Joseph always had troubles talking to his son, but hoped that his actions had made an impact on his son, leaving him a time to remember and enjoy; a time he was happy. Joseph knew his son was bright, “proud of the many new things [he] could read and understand,” but worried that would lead him to going away. Joseph remembered the day David went off to
The ritual of the sotah from the book of Numbers is a fascinating passage to read in the Hebrew Bible. For one thing, this ritual deals with the idea of a man being able to bring his wife to trial, even if he has no evidence against her. While such an instance might be seen as negative treatment of women, others might explain it as the Israelites’ constant concern over the idea of impurity. Another interesting aspect of the sotah rite is that it is the only example of an ordeal similar to those practiced in other cultures of the Ancient Near East. While other ordeals are told mostly in story form, Num. 5:11-31 is the only instance in which the actual process of an ordeal is laid out point by point. Finally, the ritual merits attention due to its continued practice even after the Temple was destroyed, as is depicted in the Talmud. These reasons and more are evidence as to why this small 20 verse passage has been subject to such scrutiny and study over the course of the years.
The initial incident occurs when Simon and Levi, two of Dinah's oldest brothers, enter the city of Shechem and murder all of the resident men, including Dinah's beloved husband, Shalem. Cursing her entire family, a pregnant Dinah is taken to Egypt by Shalem's mother, Re-nefer.
Once Joseph arrived in Egypt, he endured much hardship, false accusations, and was quickly forgotten to those who he helped there. However, God used him in mighty ways and allowed him to move up the “corporate latter” several times to various positions regardless of opposition. Jesus too underwent
In the opening lines of the tale there is a compulsion, representing internal conflict, indicated on the part of both the protagonist and his wife Faith:
... proved to be just as difficult for them to endure. In Birthing a Slave we can see the brutal physical side that slave women are facing during this time, but we can also see the psychological horrors that they are facing hand in hand with it. Similarly, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl gives a clear image of the trials of mental abuse that slave women are facing. With sexual abuse and fear of losing their children, slave women are being psychologically tortured and unable to achieve fulfillment in their lives. Jacobs’s account of the mental and psychological difficulties that women slaves face can best be described when she explains her feelings when having a daughter, “Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women. Superadded to the burden common to all, they have wrongs, and sufferings, and mortifications peculiarly their own” (119).
Cofer, Jordan. "The "All-Demanding Eyes": Following The Old Testament And New Testament Allusions In Flannery O'connor's "Parker's Back." Flannery O'connor Review 6.(2008): 30-39. Literary Reference Center. Web. 19 Feb. 2012.
In The Bible, the story of Joseph is a tale about a seventeen year old young man who was the oldest of his fathers' sons. He was also his father's favorite son. Joseph often had dreams which showed him as being a savior for his people. For this reason, he was sold into slavery by his own envious brothers. Joseph went on to make a better life for himself in Egypt, but it was not long before he was thrown into prison after being
James Joyce's use of religious imagery and religious symbols in "Araby" is compelling. That the story is concerned somehow with religion is obvious, but the particulars are vague, and its message becomes all the more interesting when Joyce begins to mingle romantic attraction with divine love. "Araby" is a story about both wordly love and religious devotion, and its weird mix of symbols and images details the relationship--sometimes peaceful, sometimes tumultuos--between the two. In this essay, I will examine a few key moments in the story and argue that Joyce's narrator is ultimately unable to resolve the differences between them.
Dinah is born into a society where all women are expected to put their feelings aside to conform to and satisfy the man and his children. She is trapped from the very beginning in a chauvinistic and male-dominated worl...
The “Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams shows a family facing economic and social hardships due to the father abandoning them. The father’s absence forces the rest of the family to fill roles that they wouldn’t be obliged to face if the father remained. The mother, Amanda, is a strong single mother who pushes her kids to be economically self-sustaining individuals. Amanda tries to impose her desires for her kids in a very direct and controlling manner which causes them to dislike her initiatives. The son, Tom, is the breadwinner for the family, however is dissatisfied with his situation due to his increased responsibilities. The daughter, Laura, is handicapped and dropped out of business school. Each member of the family is limited by their ability to grow out of their negative habits, however, it is likely that these habits or characteristics came from the family situation and the roles that each member was forced to fill.
...e Biblical story weighs heavily on Joseph’s divine dream interpreting ability and the story it provides, focusing on the theme of God caring for His people and fulfilling his divine plan. The Qur’an appreciates this but sees it as a means to the end of the spread of faith to non-believers. The Christian and Jewish version of Joseph’s trials serves a greater literary purpose than the Qur’an’s version, advancing belief by showing God’s abilities and the way they may be manifested in others in order to fulfill his divine plan. However, the Qur’an expands upon the Biblical version by including additional plot points and explicitly portraying Joseph’s goals and how they align with Islamic theology. The accounts differ in functionality, but both are crucial to the holistic understanding of the story of Joseph and some of the fundamental differences between the religions.
Austenfeld, Anne Marie. “The Revelatory Narrative Circle in Barbara Kingsolver’s the Poisonwood Bible.” Journal of Narrative Theory: JNT 36.2 (2006): 293–306. ProQuest. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.