Comparative Literature Religion is something that is common with many people in society, both today, and thousands of years ago. Not everyone believed in the same god(s), or for that fact, if any at all. There is a huge difference among everyone’s beliefs in these two pieces of literature. Within this essay, you’ll discover how the formation of the boats, the beliefs of both stories, and the motivation for everlasting life can each compare and contrast with each other. In “Noah & the Flood,” there is a common belief that in this religion (believing in Jesus) that there is only one god. “God further said, “This is the sign that I set for the covenant between Me and you.” (174). This shows the relationship between God and Noah, and that …show more content…
While reading “Noah and the Flood,” it’s prevalent that disciples believe in an afterlife, an everlasting life. It states here in the World Literature book that God says, “I now establish my covenant with you and your offspring to come, and with every living thing that is with you…” (174). Although this may not talk about the afterlife outright, it is still implied here. God wants the lives of every living being to come to be good, so he is starting out by making your afterlife better while you’re living by encouraging your happiness for everlasting life with all the great things in life. Conversely, while reading “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” I have noticed that they believed that once you die, life is over altogether and completely gone. “Happy is the man that dies in battle, but I must die in shame. (141). Enkidu believes that there’s no afterlife, so he’s pretty down and empty about dying and having nothing to look forward to. He’s realizing that he would rather die in battle so that he could have at least glory and honor to his name. Their religion is a bit pessimistic about the after life compared to the believers of Jesus, and you can sort of put together why it’s that way from the tones of the
Covenant according in bible's point of view is a promise made by God to man. According to the book of Genesis, Chapter 6 Verse 13, as a result of human's disobedient and evil ways on earth, God had planned to put an end to humanity with flood. The covenants between God and Noah was established in Genesis Chapter 9 Verse 11. God promised Noah and his descendants, never again would he destroy the earth by flood of water because of the pleasant sacrifice offered to God by Noah. God also confirmed his covenant by putting up signs in the sky in the form of a rainbow. The reason Noah and his family weren’t destroyed in the flood was because Noah found grace in God's sight. What this means is that God do not establish any kind of covenant with just anyone. Clearly Abel, Noah and Abraham were unshakable, upright and obedient towards God’s command.
The poem The Seafarer which belongs to the sea elegies found in the Exter Book and, can be read as an allegorial voyage poem, such allegories of journeys were richly explored in later religious poems. [L. Sikorska: 2005, p. 25] This work is divided into two parts. In the first one we can notice the story of seafarer who describes hardships of life on the sea, whereas in the second one we can find some christian elements. He approves of honest living and higher values as friendship and love.
Alistair Macleod’s “The Boat” is a tale of sacrifice, and of silent struggle. A parent’s sacrifice not only of their hopes and dreams, but of their life. The struggle of a marriage which sees two polar opposites raising a family during an era of reimagining. A husband embodying change and hope, while making great sacrifice; a wife gripped in fear of the unknown and battling with the idea of losing everything she has ever had. The passage cited above strongly presents these themes through its content
When examining the character of Gilgamesh, in The Epic of Gilgamesh, one realizes the significance of Enkidu’s death. This death changed Gilgamesh’s views on peace, despair, and his understanding of his own mortality. This transformative moment is summarized in Gilgamesh’s own words when, wandering the wilderness he says, “‘How can I rest, how can I be at peace? Despair is in my heart. What my brother is now, that shall I be when I am dead’.” (Gilgamesh 97) From this quote we see a new aspect of Gilgamesh. One that is not motivated by his yearning for adventure and glory. He has now become a wounded man looking for peace, suffering from despair, and fearing his own death. This quote shows the reader the causes of the dramatic change in Gilgamesh’s attitude following the death of Enkidu.
Death it is something we all must face at one point in our lives. It is either a passing of a friend, family member, companion or colleague. Regardless of what makes us confront the thought of death, it is the means by which we handle this response that certainly matters. The point when Gilgamesh is confronted by this inevitable event with the grisly misfortune of his dear friend and brother, Enkidu is when he begins to starts to fear his own demise. In Gilgamesh's childhood he is oblivious of death, it’s not until he watches his companion’s demise that his mortality turns into a panic.
The Epic of Gilgamesh records a story of a world-wide flood and pre-dates Genesis. So some claim that this invalidates the Genesis record. But P.J. Wiseman presents an interesting theory in this regard in his book Ancient Records and the Structure of Genesis (New York: Thomas Nelson, 1985).
Many people today hold on to the topic of immortality because they find it so difficult to say goodbye to a loved one. Placing flowers on graves is a popular way to remember the deceased. Even years after the person has died, the family members and friends still go to the gravesite to reminisce. People find it difficult to accept the fact that they will never see someone again. They want to believe that the person is still there. Gilgamesh had the same problem. He made the journey looking for his friend. He couldn?t deal with the fact that Enkidu had died. He wanted him to live forever. Gilgamesh even went as far as almost sacrificing his life to find him...
The first of our messages is one from the poem “The Wanderer”, which tells a message about religion and faith and how one must handle it. In “The Wanderer” the character is set out into the sea on a voyage and on the ...
A good number of people know the famous story of the Genesis flood, but do they know how it resembles to the Gilgamesh flood story? It is mind bending how the main stories are so alike. The main theme is the biggest similarity between the two. They also differ greatly in the smaller details in the events that take place. In both stories the number of days for events are different, but the same basic event takes place. Along with many other similarities and differences. The stories are very much the same, but when comparing the details within they are very different.
As Enkidu obviously becomes an important part of Gilgamesh’s life, in the beginning, he is represented as Gilgamesh’s total opposite; his other half in fact. Once Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh cannot go about life the same. “Gilgamesh cannot comprehend that his friend, his soul-mate, is now dead. He is confronted by the absurd nature of this loss, while at the same time he realizes that the universe is indifferent to his suffering; there are no answers, no solace. He begins to question the meaning of life or its meaninglessness. Suddenly, death becomes an undeniable reality to him, there is no going back.” (Sadigh 83) Gilgamesh makes the fate of all mortals, death, his final eminent task to conquer. He begins with an immediate attemp...
The whole reason Gilgamesh takes this journey to search for eternal life is due to the death of Enkidu, with whom he was close with. Before all of the events occurred, Gilgamesh had never thought about the topic of death. It’s as if it never crossed his mind; as though he would live forever. He went through phases along his journey. The first was not accepting reality, the second was fighting for eternal life, and the last was accepting reality. Now, his aspirations for immortality are no longer apparent as he enters the last stage.
This story teaches that death is an unavoidable and inevitable circumstance of mortal life, which is the most significant precept Gilgamesh learns. Gilgamesh is resentful that only the gods can exist eternally. Gilgamesh is frightened by the idea of his own destiny. Mesopotamian divinity proposes a perception of an afterlife; the deceased spend their period being dead in a netherworld. Death is inevitably entwined within the structure of creation. Life is also entwined, although mortals die, humanity maintains to live. The message that Gilgamesh returns with from his adventure is not primarily about death, but about life. Fragment of a tablet of The Epic of Gilgamesh is figure C down
On its surface, Martel’s Life of Pi proceeds as a far-fetched yet not completely unbelievable tale about a young Indian boy named Pi who survives after two hundred twenty-seven days on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. It is an uplifting and entertaining story, with a few themes about companionship and survival sprinkled throughout. The ending, however, reveals a second story – a more realistic and dark account replacing the animals from the beginning with crude human counterparts. Suddenly, Life of Pi becomes more than an inspiring tale and transforms into a point to be made about rationality, faith, and how storytelling correlates the two. The point of the book is not for the reader to decide which story he or she thinks is true, but rather what story he or she thinks is the better story. In real life, this applies in a very similar way to common belief systems and religion. Whether or not God is real or a religion is true is not exactly the point, but rather whether someone chooses to believe so because it adds meaning and fulfillment to his or her life. Life of Pi is relevant to life in its demonstration of storytelling as a means of experiencing life through “the better story.”
They are forced to contend with the realization that their survival does not matter to nature. The correspondent comes to the realization, “When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, and that she feels she would not maim the universe by disposing of him, he first wishes to throw bricks at the temple, and he hates deeply the fact that there are no bricks and no temples” (Crane 213). While the men may try to pin their trouble on the “mythicized deity,” that really does not serve them. When discussing this, Hilfer says, “The discomfiting thing about nature is that though we can address it, our messages can only come back stamped ‘return to sender’” (251). No matter how much the men in the boat try to make sense of what is happening to them, they cannot find the being or force behind
Gilgamesh is “two thirds” (Epic 61) god, and, as a result of this, lives with a sense of invincibility. The idea of death, of ceasing to exist in his temporal form, does not originally frighten him, as it does Enkidu, who is able to grasp the true nature of existence because of his bestial side. Though Gilgamesh is aware that “only the gods live forever” (71) while men’s “days are numbered” (71), his understanding of his place in the cosmos is limited. Gilgamesh is unable to comprehend that though he is