Theme Of Religion In The Odyssey

Ontelles Odyssey by John Lawrence Burks contains several themes. Arguably, some themes were likely created intentionally within the novel, while other themes likely just occurred in the finished product, without direct intention. To begin Burks clearly attempted to create a novel, using aspects of many world religions. Specifically, the story contains a large amount of references to the Old Testament. This is not surprising, considering Burks extensive knowledge of religion. The novel appeared to have a minor Christian bias, in that Christian themes seem to reside at the center of the novel. The story contains several messages. However, two major messages appear throughout. First, Burks demonstrates that anything can be accomplished through

Likewise, the novel strongly suggests that all members of society must fight against sin and impiety. This theme suggests that perhaps Burks feels the world has become increasingly sinful and decadent in recent history. The novel demonstrates these concepts in many ways. The novel contains entirely original thoughts, with clear influence from world religions. It is organized in as a chronological story of Zeb’s struggle to save Ontelles. First, the novel contains countless, clear connections to religion. The Book of Samuel from the Old Testament appears to have the largest influence on the novel. Well not entirely the same, many characters in Burks novel connect clearly with the characters of the Book of Samuel. For example, Zeb clearly represents King David. Likewise, Vertunda relates to Samuel. Vertunda appears more as an angel or manifestation of God. However, Vertunda serves largely the same purpose as Samuel. Next, Topo compares to Saul. Topo and Saul have distinctive differences. But, they both are portrayed as illegitimate kings. To continue, more minor connections between other characters are present. For example, Desiree, whose name sounds a lot like desire, connects to Bathsheba, because they both leave

However, at times the number of religious connections becomes overwhelming to the reader. Likewise, the story contains so many religious influences that a reader cannot notice them all. The novel suggests, Burks possesses a mild Christian bias. This is not surprising consider Burks lives in the western world. However, this small bias is portrayed by abundance of Christian connections and Christian values present within the book. Burks affectively proves his thesis and create a thought provoking and interesting story. In fact, it appears to point out a growing level of decadence in the modern world. The story itself convincingly made its arguments. However, at times word choice within dialogue took away from the convincingness of the piece. This book represents a valuable contribution to the world of fantasy adventures. It seems to compare well to popular works such as Game of Thrones and Vikings. Realistically, Burks novel could be made into an interesting and successful movie, with only mild changes to the screenplay. Likewise, the basic setting and themes could inspire an intriguing television show. The story itself was extremely interesting and well written. However, certain scenes and dialogues seemed worded poorly. For that reason, I believe it would be vastly improved with miniscule changes. Most importantly, none of the characters except for Zeb connect to the reader. For instance, Desiree and Joba fail to truly