Below is my term paper in full. Unlike many of the others, I'm pretty sure it's at the 200 level, no better. Regardless, I got pretty into my topic and I liked writing about The Slave, because we didn't talk about it much in class.
When I initially considered the options for what to write my paper on, I was certain I would write it about "What I know now that I didn't know before and the difference that it makes." But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it would be difficult to focus such a paper, and further, I feared it would come off as more informal than a term paper should be, since I would be writing about myself rather specifically. So many things I learned in this class weren't even about the Bible. They include life lessons, book and movie recommendations (which I plan to explore when I'm not mid-semester), new vocabulary, writing tips (like many others, I've been struggling to eliminate the word "just" from my vocabulary), and of course the Sexson quotes that seem to stick in my head. One of my favorites:
"Have you heard of these people? Seniors? If you see one, run the other direction."
This may not be word for word but it's amusing and also good advice. (Maybe not literally, it would probably offend my grandpa if I followed this practice. But it does encourage me to never be a "senior" in this sense of the word).
Anyway, I learned a lot of things about the Bible as well. I have not been able to really accept the idea that everything that has ever happened and will happen is already written in the Bible in some form. Frankly, I don't think this is possible and I know that a lot of events in my life were not written about in the Bible. Maybe in a more generalized form this point could be proved, but accepting it as truth is not a commitment I'm willing to make.
I found the discussion of "mythos" and "logos" to be especially interesting. The idea that the Bible is mythos was novel to me. Like many other people in this class (or hopefully, everybody), I entered with a preconceived notion of what the Bible is, even though I had only read a miniscule amount of if (and what I had read had been forgotten, so that didn't help me much). I thought the Bible was an account of the way life should be led and that meant that it contained many pious acts and lessons about how to be a good person. Consequently, I was shocked to find accounts of unjustified mass murder (or collective punishment, whatever you want to call it), incest (this was especially shocking, Lot's daughters are ridiculous), and a moody God who gets way too angry way too quickly and is easily persuaded to change his mind. All of these appalling stories made much more sense when I realized what the Bible actually is—a story; mythos. It doesn't have to be perfect (like in the clip from "Firefly" we watched today, the Bible isn't broken and it can't be fixed), it is telling a story for the purpose of the reader's enrichment. In Leviticus and Deuteronomy this doesn't really hold true, but most other places it does.
Anyway, this precursor to my actual paper is growing longer than I planned it to. Basically, our course title "Biblical Foundations of Literature" is fitting. The Bible has been integrated into so much literature it is impossible to escape, and any literature fanatic who is not familiar with the Bible is cheating him/herself. Further, the Bible is literature, quite possibly some of the earliest literature in existence (this claim has not been researched).
Maybe I took the easy way out by writing about The Slave, but I know what I have learned will make a difference. Finally, here's my term paper.
Faithful Slavery
Isaac Bashevis Singer’s novel The Slave tells the story of a Jewish man named Jacob. At the beginning of the book, Jacob is a slave in a remote mountain village in Poland; he was captured when his own village was attacked and mostly massacred for being Jewish. He has been working for what he calls a “heathen” and “gentile” family for four years, and his master’s daughter, Wanda, is in love with him. Jacob repeatedly states that they cannot be together because of their religious differences, although it is clear that he also loves Wanda. This religious conflict is a major theme in the book, and Jacob’s religion controls every aspect of his life until his death. For this reason, the title “The Slave” describes Jacob perfectly—not only is he literally a slave, he is mentally a slave to his religion and God. Jacob’s religion dictates his every action and inaction, and because of this parallels can be made between Jacob and the most devout of Biblical characters.
Singer makes it clear from the beginning of the book that Jacob’s religion defines him as a person. Judaism has branded him with its mark, constantly reminding him of his faith: “Circumcision was the only sign on his body that he was a Jew” (6). This physical mark sets Jacob apart from non-Jews, even if it isn’t openly visible. Jacob meticulously performs every ritual and recites every prayer for every occasion, and in his free time he prays and recites as many verses as he can remember, in place of studying holy books he does not possess. Jacob’s devoutness borders on obsession: in the absence of books, writing utensils, and paper, he decides to scratch all of the holy verses he can remember into stone in his spare time. Jacob contrives this deed while attempting to rid himself of lustful thoughts, or as he calls it, “battling the Evil One” (38). Even Jacob’s thoughts are God’s property, and Jacob berates himself for these sinful thoughts; the verse-scratching is his punishment of sorts.
Jacob is convinced that everything that doesn’t assist him in his efforts to be an ideal Jew is “contrived by Satan” (11). When Jacob isn’t performing slave labor for humans (and even while he is), he’s performing slave labor for God, enacting his belief that “God looked down from heaven and rewarded and punished each man according to his deeds” (16). An example of Jacob’s obsessive Judaism is his refusal to eat non-kosher food, which results in him practically fasting while performing manual labor in the fields for weeks at a time, because “His sin was heinous enough merely eating the bread of the gentile; his soul could not tolerate further sullying” (42).
Despite Jacob’s best efforts to the contrary, he eventually succumbs to his lust for Wanda, and they sleep together. Yet even in this sinful act he attempts to adhere to the rules of Judaism, requiring Wanda to immerse herself in the nearby stream, disregarding the fact that it is freezing cold and the middle of the night. Wanda complies, afterwards saying “I have done this for you” (67). Jacob replies, “No, not for me…for God;” (67) his statement describes his slave-like relationship with God. As God’s slave, Jacob must do everything according to God’s protocol, or risk punishment.
Jacob’s devoutness in the face of suffering, including his hesitance to enjoy physical pleasures, is paralleled by Job of the Bible’s Book of Job in several ways. Job is discussed masterfully by Northrop Frye in his book The Great Code, who says that one main question addressed by the Book of Job is “How much can a man lose of what he has before the loss begins to affect what he is?” (195). In The Slave, Jacob loses everything—his freedom, his family, his home, everything he owns, and essentially everything he is familiar with. But what he is never changes—he is a Jew, and his Judaism continues to define his life. With that proven, Frye states the next step is figuring out God’s answer to why Job suffered so much. At first, it seems that there is no real answer, which Frye says would serve to “justify the ways of man’s superstition and slave morality to God” (196). This is certainly true for Jacob; he never asks “Why?” and he never gets an answer. His assumptions that God is mysterious but purposeful and that all of the answers are within the already-written holy books lend to his “slave morality.” Frye would agree with Jacob that “certainly there is no ‘answer’ to Job’s ‘problem’” (Frye 196). Ultimately, “how Job got into his position is less important than how he is to get out of it,” (Frye 196) and Jacob seems to believe that every trial and hardship he endures is a sign that he should be more devout. When he finally gives in to cohabiting with Wanda, he transfers his beliefs onto her and makes it his responsibility to ensure that she is as devout as he is—a task that hardly seems possible.
Jacob is ransomed by fellow Jews from his hometown when he least expects it; his prompt, unannounced departure is especially tragic because Wanda’s father has recently died and she “has no one but [Jacob]” who is close to her (90). While riding back to his hometown with his fellow Jews, Jacob finds out that his entire family was killed in the massacre except for one sister. Although this is not especially surprising to him and it has been years since he saw any of his family, Jacob’s response is devoutly measured: “Should I rend my clothes? I have forgotten the law” (100). He seems to withdraw into his Judaism; after being a slave to Wanda’s family for so long, his hometown is basically foreign to him. Again, the only thing he has going for him is his Judaism, and he devotes his time to studying the holy books, reciting verses, and teaching. He notes the behavior of the Jews around him and its contrast with the silence of God: “Jacob saw that he must follow God’s example, seal his lips, and forget the fool within, with his fruitless questions” (107).
Jacob’s struggles in returning to his Jewish community reflect a more restrained relationship with God—with the proper religious materials available, being a slave to his religion consumes his life. “He sat in the study house longing for the open air…The Jews had ransomed him, but he remained a slave” (113). It is during this time that Jacob makes a realization which truly defines him as a slave, when he reflects that “it is impossible for me to obey the commandment, Thou Shalt Love Thy God. No, I cannot, Father, not in this life” (108). It is extremely rare for a slave to love his master, and the fact that Jacob cannot love God yet remains a devout Jew speaks volumes about his slavery to religion. In fact, the reasons for Jacob’s devoutness are unclear; the best explanation is that he is very similar to the Biblical Job in patience and loyalty.
Jacob becomes restless and decides to return to Wanda when he has a dream that she is pregnant with his child. When he finds her, she is in fact not pregnant, but they secretively leave the village anyway. What follows is both tragic and honorable; because Wanda is a gentile and cannot speak Yiddish, nor does she look Jewish, the couple decides to pretend she is mute while living among the Jews. They carefully select a new village to live in, where there is the least risk of Wanda’s true identity being revealed, and she changes her name to Sarah to seem more Jewish. Jacob meticulously teaches her the laws of Judaism and strives to enforce them upon her, but she does not follow the laws strictly, “and this caused Jacob sorrow” (158).
It is clear that Jacob still values his religion above his relationship with Wanda; in fact, he makes it a central element of their relationship. All of their free time is spent with Jacob teaching Wanda/Sarah about Judaism, and he begins to view their relationship as “a burden which became heavier with the passage of time” (159). This is not to say that Jacob does not love Sarah, but that his religion and culture are so inextricably intertwined that she cannot marry him without converting to Judaism, and if it is ever revealed that she is not a true Jew, things could get dangerous. Jacob reflects that because of this, his “years of enforced slavery had been succeeded by a slavery that would last as long as he lived,” (159) but in fact Jacob has been a slave to his religion the entire time; this only sheds his slavery in a different light, in which Jacob is more personally invested in the matter. He determines that continuing his life of deception is his only option, because “Sacred though the truth was, the law did not permit one to sacrifice oneself for it” (180). Again, Jacob thinks of everything in terms of God’s law.
As is expected, the book turns tragic but has a happy ending. Wanda/Sarah dies in childbirth, and Jacob raises their child in Jerusalem—truly an act of the best of God’s slaves. Jacob’s last voluntary act before dying is to pray in the study house of the town Wanda/Sarah died in. Due to miraculous events, Jacob is buried next to Wanda/Sarah—after all, he must have done something right before God, to receive such treatment after death.
The Slave is a complex narrative, of which Jacob’s religious slavery is a major aspect, although only one of many. However, his religion is truly what defines his life; every aspect of his life comes into contact with or is affected by his religion, and for this reason it is his main master. Everything Jacob does or decides not do to is determined by his religion; he performs the rituals and enacts the moral code. He makes mistakes from time to time, but that is the nature of humanity, and slaves aren’t perfect. It is the effort Jacob puts into being the best Jew he can be that makes him stand out so much among other Jews. From an outside perspective, his devoutness seems to border on obsession, and this is where his metaphorical slavery comes in. Jacob can’t be anything but Jewish until he dies, and it shows.
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