Prankster, trickster, and joker, these words describe an individual who uses some power to charm and deceive others with the intent of accomplishing a goal (Jackson, 2002). Often, we describe these individuals as immature or unintelligent buffoons looking for a rise out of others. The story of Tamar in the Book of Genesis is often interpreted as one of trickery. Although this trait receives negative connotations, a new lens unearths positive interpretations of Tamar’s trickery. In this biblical interpretation, I will examine how the exercise of trickery indicates an intellectual, courageous, and self-motivated interpretation of Tamar and her story.
To begin, let us first recognize the setting of this story. Newsom, Ringe, & Lapsley (2012) explain,
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Tamar’s marginalized status sets her up to act as the perfect trickster; she can now provoke Judah—a man of power—to improve her status in society through an act of trickery (Newsom, Ringe, & Lapsley, 2012). Chan (2015) describes that these experiences ignite action in Tamar to survive; she recognizes her female body and cunningness as expedient assets to help reestablish her dwelling in Judah’s family. This is our first glimpse into Tamar’s intelligence and self-motivation. Tamar knows that Judah never intends to marry her to his third son in fear of her luck with his first two sons. She recognizes that Judah’s command places her in a marginalized position as a widow in her father’s home, and she takes initiative to fix her scenario (Chan, 2015). Tamar goes to her father’s home without a fight. This indicates her cunning intelligence. Tamar makes no scene; it is all a part of her plan to make her way into Judah’s household once …show more content…
Chan (2015) notes that Tamar knew Judah’s travels north for sheep-shearing disguise a desire for sexual escapade in the recent event of his wife’s death. The combination of this knowledge and her pursuit as a prostitute, again, shows Tamar’s activeness and self-motivation for her future (Chan, 2015). Tamar tricks Judah and bears his children. Tamar’s goal is a private mission of motherhood, security in Judah’s home, and survival as a childless widow (Chan, 2015 & Kam, 1995). Encompassing all of this knowledge and scheming a plan accordingly is telling of Tamar’s intellect, courage, and initiative. In the end, Judah acknowledges Tamar’s righteousness over his own; with this, she falls under the protection of the patriarchy, which once banished her (Newsom, Ringe, & Lapsley, 2012). It is an ironic position for Tamar to end up in again. Although, Tamar’s protection under the patriarchy comes from her sons, as the story never tells of Tamar and Judah’s
Academic colleagues like, David Greenburg, would have been exasperated, part from envy of McCullough’s ability in not only story telling but to sell and he would object to the approach of this book. The colleagues would tear at the lack of compelling rationale for an overused topic, as well as the scene setting, and meager analysis.
When thrown into a foreign country where everything new is particularly strange and revolting, the Price family would be expected to become closer; however, the exile from their homeland only serves to drive the family farther apart. In Leah’s case, as a impressionable child in need of guidance in a dramatically foreign country, she remains loyal to her father, idolizing his close-minded ways. This blind devotion unknowingly
6th ed. New York: St. James Press, 1996. Literature Resource Center. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
In Charles, Shirley Jackson uses foreshadowing to keep the readers intrigued and to enhance the story’s message. This story is about
This leaves the reader to infer what happened based off of the information already given. By using literary elements and devices, Frank R. Stockton creates a vivid experience
_______. Critical Review of Short Fiction. Vol. III 4 vols.. Pasadena, California: Salem Press, 1991.
“The Hero’s Journey.” Ariane Publications, 1997. Course handout. AS English I. Dept. of English, Woodside High School. 26 October 2013.
The next testimonies are from the mother of the abducted wife who pleads for the authorities to find her missing daughter. Along the way the wife’s mother notes that her daughter is beautiful to be noticed, “Her complexion is a little on the dark side, and she has a mole by the outside corner of her left eye, but her face is a tiny, perfect oval (306). Also, that the daughter, Masago, is very bold for a woman her
For this assignment, I chose topic number 2 because all stories that we discussed in weeks 9 to 11 have affected my willing suspension of disbelief. Those stories have primary fantasy setting. As a result, the places used in all stories were easy to imagine. However, each story expressed Rosemary Jackson’s concept in different ways.
Dinah’s brothers react to the assault by killing Shechem and “[killing] all the males” in his city for the violation of Dinah (Genesis 34: 25-27). Here, the text presents an attempt at justice to compensate for Dinah’s rape, suggesting a position against assault. The text suggests the rape’s intensity by matching it with a forceful reaction to argue that Dinah’s rape is not justifiable. Although the text seemingly supports Dinah, it fails to give her a voice when it features her brothers and father speaking and acting for her. Instead of Dinah directly recounting the assault, the text notes that “Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter” (Genesis 34: 5).
Her lionhearted clothes reflected her valiant and strong attitude. However – Elisa Allen hid her true feelings. She was deceitful in interpersonal communication. Her tongue spilled bittersweet black smut like that of industrialized coal engines. However – it was compassionate, her concern and subtle behavior. A girl screaming to escape maiden life, but only knew it was disrupt order. “Her face was eager and mature and handsome; even her work with the scissors was over-eager, over-powerful. “The chrysanthemum stems seemed too small and easy for her energy.” Verily, she had the heart of a lion and the appearance of a virgin.
Gretel deceives the guest into thinking that her master will cut of their ears while simultaneously deceiving the master into thinking that the guest has stolen the chickens. All of this is done to cover up her own treachery, an act that may have been driven by apatite but deceitful nonetheless. In The Gardener’s Cunning Wife, we encounter another woman accredited with some of the same values celebrated in male tricksters who is also driven by apatite. The Gardener’s wife shares a similar plot to Clever Gretel, both show us female tricksters who lack the social missions of our new trickstars, in both stories these women are both driven by their own greed and personal missions to distract from their own wrongdoing.
Evans, Robert C., Anne C. Little, and Barbara Wiedemann. Short Fiction: A Critical Companion. West Cornwall, CT: Locust Hill, 1997. 265-270.
War ravaged the land and tore people apart emotionally and physically. One recurrence that came about during the war was the raping and “ruining” of women. To be ruined meant that a woman was raped and/or tortured so severely that she would no longer be capable of having sex. In a culture that values the fertility of its women, this lead to the breakdown of many communities. A perfect example of this breakdown would be in the case of Salima and Fortune. Salima was taken into the bush and raped for 5 months and when she returned home her husband, Fortune, turned her away. This violence committed against Salima caused her to be forced from her community, and it also forced her to take up work at Mama Nadi’s. Here she has to endure a change of identity in order to do the work required of her and to come to terms with her past. At the end of the play, Salima dies and states the haunting words; “You will not fight your battles on my body anymore”(94). These last words sum up just how intrusive the war has become in the lives of everyone in its path and also represents a clear shift in Salima as an individual. Instead of the woman who just wanted her husband back at the end of the play, we are left to contemplate a
Throughout “Araby”, the main character experiences a dynamic character shift as he recognizes that his idealized vision of his love, as well as the bazaar Araby, is not as grandiose as he once thought. The main character is infatuated with the sister of his friend Mangan; as “every morning [he] lay on the floor in the front parlour watching her door…when she came on the doorstep [his] heart leaped” (Joyce 108). Although the main character had never spoken to her before, “her name was like a summons to all [his] foolish blood” (Joyce 108). In a sense, the image of Mangan’s sister was the light to his fantasy. She seemed to serve as a person who would lift him up out of the darkness of the life that he lived. This infatuation knew no bounds as “her image accompanied [him] even in places the most hostile to romance…her name sprang to [his] lips at moments in strange prayers and praises which [he] did not understand” (Joyce 109). The first encounter the narrator ex...