In the book of Genesis, two characters – Sarah (Sarai) and Hagar – support different, yet significant roles. There is an interesting connection between Sarah and Hagar and their lives are interconnected as evident in Genesis 16.
Hagar represented women who were either excluded or rejected by society. She was taken in as a servant from Egypt into the tribe of Abraham. However, Hagar was never wholly accepted into the tribe of Abraham. She served as a servant to Abraham’s wife Sarah (Sarai). Sarah, on the other hand, represented the free women of society. She was revered by Pharaoh’s officials in Egypt, and they welcomed her into Pharaoh’s palace. She was considered very attractive by the Egyptians. If the Egyptians discovered Sarah was Abraham’s wife, this would lead to his demise, making Sarah an eligible widow. For this reason, Sarah was often introduced as Abraham’s sister. Sarah seemed
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to have everything working in her favor, but there was one exception. The primary role of a great tribal leader’s wife was to bare children.
Unfortunately, Sarah was unable to bare children for many years. She even assigned blame, asserting, “The Lord has kept me from having children (Genesis 16:1).” God had promised Sarah she would bear children but Sarah grew impatient, as she often did. Now, Sarah turned to her Egyptian servant, Hagar. Sarah rendered Hagar to Abraham so that she could bear his child. Abraham consented to his wife’s wishes and later Ishmael was born. [The Book does not mention whether Hagar consented to this arrangement or not.] Now, both Sarah and Hagar were connected to Abraham. After Hagar conceives a child with Abraham, Sarah holds a certain level of antipathy towards her servant. Sarah feels that her servant holds her to a lower esteem because she cannot conceive, and Sarah starts to feels insignificant. In return, Sarah treats her servant harshly until finally Hagar flees from her. While in exile, an angel proposed that Hagar return to Sarah and Abraham and be subservient; in return, blessings would be bestowed upon
her. In some instances throughout the Book Genesis, Sarah and Hagar are dependent upon one another. At other times, there is apparent rivalry and strife between them. In Genesis 21:1, Sarah finally gives birth to a son, Isaac. A while after Hagar returns to Abraham and Sarah conflict arises once again, as Sarah turns bitter towards Hagar. Conflict is often invoked by the perceived right to bear an heir for the tribal leader – Abraham. Eventually, Sarah and her son, Isaac, are sent away.
Hagar was the Egyptian slave of Sarai(Sarah), who was given to Sarai’s husband Abram(Abraham) in order for him to have children. Once Hagar had served her purpose she and her son were cast out of the community and left to fend for themselves in the desert with only a little food and water provided by Abram so he would not feel bad about banishing them. Hagar Dead was used in a similar fashion by Milkman, and then promptly thrown out once Milkman grew tired of her. Also, similar to Abram’s gift of food and water before casting them out, Milkman gave Hagar Dead the gift of a thank you note, “Thank you for all you have meant to me” (99) it said, so Milkman wouldn't feel bad about ending their relationship. The rest of biblical Hagar’s narrative mirrors that of Hagar Dead’s as well. Stranded in the desert, the biblical Hagar and her son began to die of hunger and thirst, but when God heard their cries he opened up their eyes to a well they hadn't noticed before and they both were saved. After Milkman left Hagar Dead, she began to starve. Not in a literal sense, but in the sense that she needed love. Hagar Dead’s sustenance is love, which she shows the reader in the beginning of the novel by saying“some of my days were hungry ones”(48) which Pilate clarifies with “...She don't mean food”(49). Without Milkman’s love to sustain her, of course she began to
Females in both texts, Gilgamesh and Genesis/Exodus, are not talked about very much at all and I think that in its self says a lot. When women are brought up they are either being used or doing something great. Even though they are only talked about a few times, when they actually are talked about it makes an impact on the story. Women are put into this story to make a difference to one of the other characters in the story.
journey to the land of Eden. Alexandra is similar to both Noah and Moses. Alexandra went
In regards to narrative perspective, Ruth May and Rachel both take completely opposite directions in their stories. However, there are a few similarities. Right after Ruth May dies, Rachel is contemplating on how to tell her mom. At this time, Rachel says “the whole world would change then, and nothing would ever be all right again” (Kingsolver 366). This is probably the time that Rachel is the most objective because she doesn’t know how to feel about everything that is going on. However, her being the oldest of the Price daughters, she feels as though she has this weight to carry in order to break the news to Orleanna. At the end of the novel, the voice of dead Ruth May in her message to Orleanna says “you are afraid you might forget, but
As human beings, we are designed to belive in something. Although the belief in a higher power or religion is diverse, many theologies share common themes. “The Epic of Gilgamesh” and the Hebrew book of “Genesis” are seemingly polar opposites. Christianity, demonstrated in Genesis, is monotheistic, and the Hebrews base their faith on their relationship with God. On the other hand, Sumerian philosophy, found in Gilgamesh, is polytheistic, and the Sumerian people base their theology on fear. Ancient polytheistic literature forms an archetypical pattern of the mortals trying desperately to please the gods. A mortal’s entire existence rests in the hands of the sometimes childish gods. In spite of this, these two stories
The purpose of the creation story is not central to the Bible but serves as a prologue to the historical drama, which are the central concerns of the Bible. The narrative focus in the Bible is on the story that begins with Noah and is centered on the exodus from Egypt. The central event in the Bible is the creation of the covenant and the giving of laws and commandments. Although the creation of the world in Genesis I and the pronouncement of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 are two completely different accounts in the Bible, there lies a similar theme between them: God creates an orderly and hierarchical universe, both natural and moral.
Although Hagar flaunts her pregnancy with Abraham in the face of Sarah who is barren, Sarah is ultimately responsible for generating trouble in Abraham’s household. Through Sarah’s decision to give Hagar to Abraham, Sarah’s jealousy and anger towards Hagar’s reaction to conception, and also Sarah’s harsh treatment of Hagar, we are able to understand why Sarah is truly the one accountable for the negative circumstances throughout her relationship with Hagar.
Sethe has a strong maternal instinct and sees her children as a part of herself. They rightfully belong to her. However her maternal ownership of her children is not recognized by the culture of slavery. As a slave she cannot own anything (Mock 118). Therefore while they are enslaved neither Baby Suggs nor Sethe really own their children. In the slavery culture both the mothers and the children are considered as property of their white owners. As property, their rights as mothers are made void and they have no say about the lives of their children. To the owners a slave woman’s primary value is in her reproductive ability. The female slave is seen as giving birth to property, and therefore capital in the form of new slaves. (Liscio 34). The owner has the ability to use and dispose of this new property as they wish. Therefore children could be sold without any regards for their feelings of the feelings of their mother. In the novel Baby Suggs states she has given birth to eight children, however she only gets to keep one that she sees grow into adulthood. By the end of her life slavery has stolen all of her children from her:
and in fact she told the serpent this, “It is only about fruit of the tree
...se days a male child was more valued than a girl. Her guard had to always be up, while she had all the power in Egypt there were other people who had the same power as she.
“But Lot's wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt” (New Geneva Study Bible, Gen. 19. 26). “Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James and Joseph), and Zebedee's wife, the mother of James and John” (Matt. 27:56). “Jacob went over to the well and rolled away the stone and watered his uncle's flock. Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and tears came to his eyes…But when Jacob woke up in the morning – it was Leah! ‘What sort of trick is this?’ Jacob raged at Laban. ‘I worked seven years for Rachel. What do you mean by this trickery?’” (Gen. 29). These are among the few verses dedicated to three women of the Bible. No commentary or insight into their inner persons is given. Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of salt, Mary was present at her son’s crucifixion, and Rachel’s older sister took her place in the marriage bed. Plain and simple, these are the cold, hard facts. In her poems “Lot’s Wife,” “Crucifixion,” and “Rachel,” Anna Akhmatova breathes life into these women by delving into their emotions and painting a picture of them in their surroundings.
In Pharonic Egypt, women were the legal equals of men. They were not denied any rights in accordance of the law because of their gender. Women, like men, could own property, coming into it either through inheritance, as a payment for goods or services, or through purchase. Women could buy houses and goods, and with them, they were allowed to do as they chose. Being landholders and people of property afforded ancient Egyptian women a reasonable amount of social freedom. They could travel about freely in towns without veiled faces. In their own homes, women could move about as they pleased, they were not forced to remain in one section of the house or forbidden from other common areas as they were in other societies of the time.
The Epic of Gilgamesh has many similarities to the Bible, especially in Genesis and it’s not just that the both begin with the letter “g”’! One major similarity being the flood story that is told in both works. The two stories are very similar but also very different. Another being the use of serpents in both works and how they represent the same thing. A third similarity being the power of God or gods and the influence they have on the people of the stories. Within these similarities there are also differences that need to be pointed out as well.
2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from child bearing. I pray thee go in unto my maid: it may be that I shall receive a child by her. And Abram obeyed the voice of Sarai.
Within the texts of Genesis which belong to the biblical scriptures of the Hebrews, and the myths of Egyptian origin, there are a multitude of similarities and differences. When compared side by side, the most obvious factor of both texts is that a single God was the creator of all that we know today. In Genesis that creator is simply referred to as God, while in Egyptian mythology, the creator is known as Neb-er-tcher. Both creators have striking resemblances, such as the ways they went about the production of the world.