There are many well-known stories in the bible, with a seemingly endless amount of tales and morals hidden in the text. Out of all seventy three books in the bible, I find that one of the most interesting stories is Jonah and the Fish, or more accurately, “Jonah Tries to Run Away From God” (Jonah 1). This story is about Jonah, a prophet, who was ordered by God to go to Nineveh help them stop their wicked activities that God had noticed. Instead, Jonah he went and boarded a ship sailing to Tarshish, to flee from God. Afterwards, God created a fierce storm, which caused Jonah’s shipmates to get rid of their cargo and wake up Jonah, who fell asleep. They decided to cast lots — which was a way to answer a question, like flipping a coin — and
it was revealed that it was Jonahs fault that there was a storm. The shipmates were afraid and wished for the storm to end, so Jonah told them to throw him into the sea as a sacrifice for his misdeed. In the end, God sent a large fish to swallow him, and Jonah was in the fish’s stomach for three days and nights. Though this story seems very dramatic, there can be some lessons learnt from it; to begin, it shows that although there may be a way to get out of doing something that you might not want to do, there is always a consequence. This story showed a good example of karma, because Jonah tried to flee from God, but in the end, he paid for his actions. This can relate to my life because sometimes I find myself becoming lazy and not wanting to do something. To elaborate, when I have homework, I usually try to do it right away, but on the weekends, I tend to put it off until its very last minute. This does not work out in the end because it tends to be very rushed. In addition, I can relate to this story because of the message behind it. No, I cannot relate to Jonah being swallowed up by a large fish, but I can relate to his internal struggle about going to Nineveh and sacrificing himself for the greater good of other people, and trying to escape from responsibilities, which are the main messages. To conclude, the story of Jonah and the Fish is very complex, but after carefully studying the text, there are many morals to be learnt about it!
Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp is an essay written by Joy Williams, about the overwhelming complacency that todays culture shows towards nature.Williams argues in a very satirical way, that todays culture has all but completely lost touch with what nature really is, and that unless we as a nation change our morals regarding the role that nature plays in human existence, we may very well be witnessing the dawn of our own destruction.
On the first day the man on watch was sniffing the air and he declared that the whale must be near and Captain Ahab was frantic with excitement, constantly changing their course slightly during the day. Finally they spotted the white whale, and they left the ship into a small boat to hunt him. Moby Dick then wrecked their boat, but luckily nobody died.
In our culture today, people constantly put themselves down by criticizing their own appearance, wishing they could be better. They persistently tell themselves that they are not pretty enough, skinny enough, strong enough, or smart enough to fit in. The dishwasher in “Poor Fish” written by Alberto Moravia thought the same thing of himself. He kept finding ways to express how grotesque he was, but Ida kept on persisting that nothing was wrong with him. In the story, the dishwasher and Ida play different roles and represent different character types; however, despite their differences, they both play a vital role throughout the story.
In the book, Your Inner Fish, by Neil Shubin he presents the notion of evolution and how we can trace parts that make up the human body back to jellyfish, worms, and even fish. The book not only discusses how we arose to be what we are today, but also the implications our ancestors had on our current body plan. In this essay, I will demonstrate that I have digested the entirety of Shubin’s book by convincing you (dear reader) that everything in our bodies is based on simple changes to already existing systems. To make this case, I will use the evidence of limb development in a vast array of organisms, the four arches found in the embryological stage of development, the structures inside our noses, and how our ears have come about all due to modifications.
Blackfish is a 2013 documentary attempting to elevate public awareness regarding the orca that are being kept in maritime amusement parks, specifically SeaWorld, and the inherent danger of their captivity. The film is effective because it raises a set of important ethical questions for the viewer while presenting with a necessary fact-based style of documentation that does not evoke gratuitous scenes of abuse in order to inspire sympathy, unlike some of the other films that are intended to raise awareness about animal abuse.
Family therapy is often needed when families go through transitions such as separations between parents and divorce. According to research, “the power of family therapy derives from bringing parents and children together to transform their interactions” (Nichols, & Davis, p.18), as problems need to be addressed at their source. The children who are the most vulnerable, when parents decide to separate, exhibit symptoms which are exaggerations of their parent’s problems (Nichols, & Davis, p.18). Frank and Walt Berkman are the examples of how children cope and adapt to the stressors of family separations such as marital separations and
Mark Twain once stated, “You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus” (Brainy Quote). Despite the imaginative challenges children are faced with in reality, they are able to cope with the advantage of time and mental resilience. Stephen King in his essay, "My Creature from the Black Lagoon" from the Wake Tech English 111 Reader, compared the idea of imaginative strength in children and in that of adults to see who would better fit the horror genre audience. Stephen King recalls one particular time from his past that sends shivers down even the hardest of spines.
Their prayers not helping, the sailors cast lot to try to determine who it was that had made God so angry. So they mixed a number of small stones together, as was the custom, and when they cast the lots it fell on Jonah. They must not have know who Jonah was for when the lot fell on him they excitedly inquired of him, why this was happening, what was his occupation, where he had come from and what was his nationality. Jonah knew God had caught up with him! So Jonah confessed that he was a Hebrew and a prophet, of the true God who made the heavens, sea and land. He further explained he was running from
Near the beginning of Moby Dick, Father Mapple reminds Pequod sailors of the biblical prophet Jonah and his unique encounter with a whale. The whale, known as a Leviathan in the Bible, swallows Jonah because Jonah refuses to obey God's command to preach to a wicked group of people. Father Mapple in his sermon says, "If we obey God, we must disobey ourselves; and it is in this disobeying ourselves, wherein the hardness of obeying God consists" (47). Once Jonah admits his sinfulness and follows his maker, the whale frees Jonah. Father Mapple says that obeying God can be difficult and might not seem logical to the person listening.
A poem without any complications can force an author to say more with much less. Although that may sound quite cliché, it rings true when one examines “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop. Elizabeth’s Bishop’s poem is on an exceedingly straightforward topic about the act of catching a fish. However, her ability to utilize thematic elements such as figurative language, imagery and tone allows for “The Fish” to be about something greater. These three elements weave themselves together to create a work of art that goes beyond its simple subject.
On an opposite note, Jonah was a man whom God called upon to become a prophet. Jonah refused because he didn't desire a life of servitude. Knowing that he had committed an ultimate sin, Jonah fled to the ocean, risking hundreds of crew members' lives, believing that God would not be able to follow. In the sea, Jonah was swallowed by God in the form of a whale In the whale's belly, he repented and prayed for forgiveness. He was spit up by the whale upon dry land and all was forgiven.
The book of Jonah is an adventurous story of a prophet chosen by God to go preach denouncement to a heathen nation. With the exception of stating that Jonah is the son of Amittai, the book itself fails to reveal any background information. Nevertheless, a plorthea of scholars have attempted to provide us with some insight to the, who, when, where, and what of the book. This paper will utilize four scholarly commentaries in a quest to determine the author or authors of the book, the time when it was written, the original audience it spoke to, the occasion, the historical, social and cultural context in which it was written. It will also address the historical, social and cultural context of the book and that of the pericope of 3:1 – 10.
That there are various perspectives to the white whale as symbol is a result of the value which Melville
Cynics often scoff at the book of Jonah, and even Christian scholars wrestle with the unbelievable events recorded in the book. But the point of the book isn’t to say this stuff happens all the time, it’s meant to be unbelievably miraculous because God is revealing something unbelievably massive about Himself and the payload for that revelation is in these final verses. God confronts Jonah – and us – with a final question.
The poor people was unable to pay the tax, the colonizers forced the people to sign the agreements of indentured labourers. The people