Final Thoughts and My Paper

Hey team, it's been a good few months. I learned so much from most everyone in class and it's been quite the experience. Here's the link for my paper: Tight Places, Narrow Spaces

Happy holidays, all!

Descent into Hell

During one of the presentations last Thursday, Cave Group 1 discussed dreams as a descent into hell. I thought it was a compelling idea. But, you see, I rarely have bad dreams. When the presenters asked us to write down a memorable dream, I wrote about the dream I remembered from the previous night, in which there was a St. Bernard in bed with me and I was reading Wuthering Heights to him. Nothing special. But then, 5 minutes ago, I woke up from one of the weirdest, most terrifying dreams I've ever had.

It started out with me going to a very large auditorium with the kids I TA for in Hinduism. I knew I was at school, but it certainly wasn't MSU. In the dream, I think I thought I was in Gaines or something. Anyhoo, Bart Scott, the new religion professor walked in and began to lecture about something that wasn't Hinduism. I think it was more something like American history and British Romanticism. Not Hinduism. In the middle of  class, for some reason, I got up and walked out and Bart followed me up a very ornate staircase. The whole way he was lecturing me in a very menacing voice. I don't remember most of what he said, but, towards the top of the staircase he accused me of plagiarizing a paper and that he hated me more than he hated my pitiful analysis of Wuthering Heights (it's a theme in my dreams lately). Then there was a fountain and I got into this elevator that went down so fast that I was lifted off my feet and I hit my head on the ceiling. I turned myself into the dean of students or some such, who looked like Dolores Umbridge, but didn't act like her. She took pity on me and told me my punishment was to redecorate Sears, but it was really optional. Then she gave me a bunch of Barbra Streisand dolls.

Very strange. I'm thinking it all means that I'm terrified of not citing things enough or correctly. And that I'm secretly afraid Bart hates me. And that I dislike Sears and I subconsciously think it needs a make over.

Ode: Intimations on Immortality

What though the radiance which was once so bright

Be now for ever taken from my sight,

Though nothing can bring back the hour

Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;

We will grieve not, rather find

Strength in what remains behind...

 

Splendor in the Grass, directed by Elia Kazan in 1961 and starring Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty, is my favorite film. Of all time. Hands down.  The title of the film is derived from Wordsworth's poem Ode: Intimations on Immortality. I always liked it for it's intimate portrayal of gender roles in the Midwest just prior to and during the Great Depression. But, after reading Northrop Frye, I realized how profound loss of innocence is and can be. 

 

In the film, Deanie and Bud (played by Wood and Beatty, respectively) are teenagers and madly in love with one another. For a variety of reasons, they're told they shouldn't sleep together (nice girls don't want/do that, what if she gets pregnant?, etc.). They both have mental breakdowns and go their separate ways after graduation. The viewer can see how completely different both characters are. Deanie realizes it's okay to want and enjoy sex and Bud comes to understand that it's not okay to deny yourself access to someone you love. Frye mentions the connection in the poem and Man's Fall in the Garden of Eden. One can clearly see that parallel in Splendor in the Grass.

 

Elflock

It's the only word in The Slave I've come across that I wasn't so sure about. So I googled it. Apparently, it was a colloquial term for a scalp disease that's now known as Polish plait. Or this:

No wonder Jacob thought the peasants who rocked this look were gross. Here's the Wikipedia link. Elflocks are kind of like dreadlocks in that one doesn't wash one's hair to get the look; the hair is knotted up in congealed blood, pus, lice casings, and whatever else might be growing in the rat nest that is the person's hair. Hell, there might even be rat excrement in the hair. It was such a part of Polish culture that there are museums with cut off Polish plaits on display. Anyway, it's gross.

Test Review Day!

Hey everyone, here are my notes and shtuff from today. Enjoy!

Assignment: Blog about why you did or did not finish the Bible. If you did finish the Bible, how did you do it?

Things to think about:

Book of Luke (re-read)

-Parables

Corinthians 2:9, 13, 15

-Midsummer Night's Dream

-Shakespeare used the Geneva translation of the Bible; KJV had not been written

-Nick Bottom strongly misread Corinthians 2:9-10

Book of John

-Why does Peter keep coming up in literature?

-He's the 'straight' man, the square

Book of Acts

-Qualifies as Romance

Revelation

-Book for lunatics (eg Glenn Beck)

Questions for test:

1. What is temenos?

• A holy precinct; a sacred space within a secular landscape; the room in which the sacred things will happen

2. What does Sarah from The Slave pretend to be?

• Mute

3. According to Frye, when is the epiphatic moment in the Book of Job?

• When God speaks to Job out of the whirlwind in ch. 38
• Note: an epiphany is a manifestation of the divine
• Frye thinks the happy ending (a framing device) is the right one because the Bible is a comedy, not a tragedy.

4. What does 'Islam' mean?

• Submission, specifically in regards to God. The monotheisms are all submissive to God
• Read 'The Satanic Verses' by Salman Rushdie!

5. Why did Plotz think Gideon was so important?

• Plotz thought Gideon was one of the good people in the Bible; he questions God's motives and isn't up to the occasion to do what God asks him. He, however, rises to the occasion.

6. What tribe is Ruth from?

• She was a Moabite married to a Hebrew man.

7. Which book inspired 'Turn, Turn, Turn'?

• Eccesiastes

8. What psalm inspired Allegri's Misere?

• Psalm 51

9. Define parataxis

• A literary form in which all clauses carry equal weight; eg they have no subordinate conjunctions

10. What are the two types of Wisdom?

• Conventional, proverbial wisdom and speculative, dark, dooming philosophies

11. What book in the Bible never mentions God?

• The Book of Esther

12. Samson's act, after regrowing his hair, does what?

• Pulls down the Temple of the Philistines, killing many people and himself

13. What is the metaphor at the end of Ecclesiastes?

• A decaying house is comparable to the human body

14. Ecclesiastes is a what?

• A preacher

15. What is the central question of Job?

• Theodicy; where is wisdom to be found? Why do bad things happen to good people?

16. What does one father warn one against while traveling abroad?

• Wine, women, and song

17. In the parable that Jesus speaks in the Book of Luke concerning Martha and Mary, Mary is encumbered by many things. However, Jesus says she should be concerned by what?

• The needful thing

18. In the Book of Job: Le the day I was born be in darkness, for the doors be what?

• Shut

19. What apocryphal text does Wallace Stevens draw inspiration from?

• Susanna

20. Which Flannery O'Connor story is based on the burning bush?

• Parker's Back
• Obadiah Elaju was his biblical name

21. What was the conventional wisdom of the three friends of Job?

• Anyone who suffers must have done something to deserve suffering
• God says they don't speak the truth

22. What does Job's wife's advice?

• Curse God and die.

23. Read 116-119 in Frye
24. What is kerygma; kerymatic writing?

• One's message; how to live a fuller life, a life more abundant.
• Something that revolutionizes and transforms one's thinking and perception of the world so that everything in the world becomes palpable and real.

I feel like a Tanakhstar.

 בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃
And, for those of you who don't speak Biblical Hebrew:
Bereshit bara Elohim et hashamayim ve'et ha'aretz.
Or:
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

That's right; I'm taking Hebrew! I'm pretty stoked. Hashem sheli Trish.

Anyhoo, I'm about halfway through The Slave. I must say, Singer never disappoints. Yentl, also written by Singer, inspired pretty much one of the best movies ever and Shadows on the Hudson, well, just read it for yourself. It's quite moving, but not for the faint of heart. 

 

Extrapolation on my part?

I was watching Forrest Gump tonight. Of course, I had the Bible on my brain. Turn, Turn, Turn is on the soundtrack. Repetition is a huge component of the screenplay. Lieutenant Dan and Forrest engage in theodicy discussion. There's a female character who does lots of questionable things. People die  There's an unjust war.

About halfway through the movie (just about the time the hookers make fun of Lieutenant Dan for falling out of his wheelchair), I started thinking about Isaac and lacuna. I know we're supposed to be shifting to New Testament, but I took New Testament last year. I like Matthew and Luke.  I don't like Mark or John. Acts is okay, but I really don't care for the Epistles (Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Timothy, Titus, Philemon isn't too bad, Hebrews, James, 1st and 2nd Peter, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, and Jude). Revelation is just cool.

Anyhoo, Isaac. There isn't much in Genesis about Isaac. I have a theory about this: Isaac was so traumatized by his near-death experience when Abraham almost sacrificed him, that he, well, he became a little addled. Kind of like Forrest Gump. If there is any truth the stories of the patriarchs, maybe the reason there isn't much information about Isaac is because he was a little slow and people didn't like talking about him. But I think there could be a compelling story to be made surrounding Isaac. Like Thomas Mann did with Joseph and His Brothers, maybe the screenwriters were kind of filling in the gaps of the story of Isaac; that is, I think Forrest Gump might be an adaptation of the story of Isaac. If Isaac were a little slow, I imagine he would be like Forrest. Rebbecca could be like Jenny. Isaac may have had trouble making friends, but he had good, true friends like Bubba and Lieutenant Dan. I bet Isaac was a super sweet, generous, and genuinely kind person. Isaac getting fooled by his own family members is kind of like how people threw rocks at or took advantage of Forrest. Anyway, now Joseph and His Brothers is on my summer reading list.

Oh, theodicy.

In an earlier post, I alluded to the question of theodicy, or the question of God's justice, or why bad things happen to good people. In class, we talked about why innocents are taken away. When people were sharing their personal stories, I couldn't help but think of something that recently happened to a friend of mine in high school. JD and I were in cheer and stunt together; he graduated a year ahead of me. After he graduated, he enlisted and has been in Iraq and Afghanistan. About two weeks ago, he stepped on a land mine and lost both of his legs and an arm. But he's okay otherwise...if you can call that okay. JD has two facebook pages so people can stay updated on his condition. Both of them center on prayer or something. People are thanking God he's still alive, but he'll never walk again. In fact, there's still a chance he could die of infection. His family says he's in 'good spirits.' What does that even mean? He lost 3 of his 4 limbs. Sure, amazing things are done with prosthetics nowadays but JD will be in a wheelchair for a damn long time. JD has a wife and a kid. What if the government doesn't provide him with enough financial aid to help them survive? What kind of justice is that, God?

Theodicy is a touchy subject. CS Lewis probed it in Mere Christianity. I dislike listening to Christians butcher the question by giving some sort of apophatic line of reasoning..."God is ineffable. His ways are too mysterious for mere mortals to understand." That kind of statement doesn't really leave much room for debate, but it's not an answer I can accept. A benevolent God would never let a baby die, an omniscient God would know it's about to happen, and an all-powerful God could stop it. If these are all true statements, then why do innocent babies (and people in general) suffer and die all the time?

Sue Sylvester, Byron, and Wilson the Volleyball

So, I finished the minor prophets a while ago, but when Dr. Sexson mentioned correlations between Bible stories and modern day fictions, I thought back to the Book of Jonah. Jonah, of Jonah and the Whale fame, goes to Nineveh to tell people God is going to smite them after being coughed up by the whale. Jonah gets butt hurt when God doesn't go all brimstone on their asses and then he somehow ends up in the desert and God gives him a plant. Jonah really loves this plant and then God just takes it away. This scene reminded me of two instances:

1) During Castaway, Tom Hanks really loves Wilson the Volleyball. They're best friends on the island. Then, when Tom Hanks makes a raft and oars away from the island, Wilson becomes dislodged from his perch on the raft and floats away. Tom Hanks' character is absolutely distraught. WILLSSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!

2) I love the television series Glee. For those of you who don't watch, Sue Sylvester is the cheerleading coach who incessantly picks on Will Shuster, the Glee advisor. In once instance of verbal abuse, Sue tells Will that she is going to bring him a cat from the shelter with whom he'll fall in love. Then, one night, she'll enter him home and punch him in the face. Sue Sylvester is analogous to the Old Testament God, smiting people for no good reason. With lines like 'I don't trust a man with curly hair', 'Sneaky Gays', and moments like this, it's a little obvious the writers of Glee modeled Sue after the asshat that is the Old Testament God.

On another note, the Bible seems to be filled with Byronic heroes. Romantic literature is far and away my favorite genre and Wuthering Heights and North and South are at the top of my Desert Island List. While reading the Bible, I noticed that I saw shadows of some of my favorite Romantic heroes in biblical characters. For those of you reading who don't know what a Byronic hero is, here's the Wikipedia entry. I can't help but think that Lord Byron, the Bronte sisters, Jane Austen, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas and other writers have somehow inspired by characters like Abraham, Jacob, Lot, Job, and even the representation of God.

Zionism, Covenant, Women, and Property Ownership

I still find the parallel between the covenant God made with Abraham (if Abraham devotes himself to Yahweh, He will grant Abraham His land and progeny) and the laws and language regarding women's bodies quite striking. Israel as a metaphor for woman or feminine sexuality is kind of a terrifying notion. Israel is the most contested swatch of land in, well, all of history. It's been warred over, torn apart by violence, conquered at least 36 times, settled, and claimed. In the Bible, Israel is always referred to in the feminine and it always belongs to someone, either God or the ancient Israelites. Several many passages in the Bible indicate that people viewed women's bodies in a similar fashion: as something to be tamed.

I'm just wondering if Zionists, who believe in the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign, Jewish homeland, feel similarly. Common sense and rationality is telling me, "No, Trish, people don't actually feel this way." But I can't help but think that modern instances of misogyny are fueled indirectly by examples set in the Bible of women not having agency over their own bodies and by the gendered language set forth throughout biblical passages.