Crime and punishment - Essay Example

The similarities between the events of the Genesis and the Gilgamesh flood story intrigue the thought process of critics to notice the rationality or irrationality behind the incidences of crime and punishment in the book. The epoch of Gilgamesh revolves around the 2000 B.C. but the Genesis flood happened in 400 BC that shows the flood occurred in different era (Saunders, 1964). Biblical authors provided their version of the flood to amend the stories for audiences of contemporary society resonating with the culture code and social belief of the people.

The mythological elements accommodate the original story. Although there are stark differences between the plots of stories but the leitmotif remains same in both stories. The overwhelming presence of Judeo-Christian population restricts the objective evaluation of biblical stories and legends of other cultures as inbuilt texture of psyche prevents the right interpretation of the messages involved in the stories (Robinson, 2007). The common theme in both stories shares the experiences of human nature to affect threads of life in the society.

How society should governs the quality of life and where human units fit into the composition requires the understanding and interrelationship between various elements. The cultural impact in the derivation of conclusion from these two stories shows insinuation of public experiences and opinion of society in the development of character. Even though similarities of episode in the stories of Gilgamesh with biblical tales remain evident but unfolding tales brings the signature of era. The chaos of human society is the trigger point of the God's wrath in the stories of Genesis and Gilgamesh.

The text form Gilgamesh affirms the expression of God, "The uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer possible by reasons of the Babel" (Gilgamesh 12).The absence of logic in God's anger in the story reflects the human perception of the Author in not providing the power of shielding noise. Development of acoustic science in the era of Gilgamesh seems limited as this was not the case of God's wrath in the Babylonian tale. The rationality behind fury in Genesis is acceptable for extinction of human species as man's evil intentions were destroying harmony.

The text says, "It repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart" (Genesis. 6:6). The God's anguish is apparent in the expression, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth. . . "(Genesis. 6:7). The discussion in the current paragraph provides the instance of authorities' role in applying control mechanism to sustain the social discipline. God as authority administers the enforcement of law to protect the goodness in the people for preventing crimes.

The harsh punishment in the story does not justify the regulation measurement of GOD as the severity level of crime should be taken into account. Reformation exercise for crime is better option in comparison to destruction of culprit. The gap in system of crime and punishment across the different era improves understanding evolvement of human society if ideological beliefs of modern