The Content and Chronology of the Holy Scriptures - Essay Example

The Red Tent and the Bible Accounts from the scripture certainly proves that the work of Anita Diamant, the novel “The Red Tent” is of mythological culture, tries to portray another thing which is not really what is written in the Bible. The real intention of the novel is not to show what biblically is true but a work of creativity that tries to portray another thing which is not present in the original biblical manuscripts. With the light of understanding what both texts presented, this is indeed an attempt to provide a critical analysis of the novel and the scripture. It is very important to anyone who reads this novel to read also the Bible, so that he will be guided by the chronological events, the characters and the existing facts that might be destroyed, if a reader will just be depended or hooked to the ideas and emotions the novel injects. The reference here is the scripture, which will be the real basis of the discussion, and relatively how the novel, The Red Tent made slight changes to the biblical story line. By then, a reader will be equipped with the necessary understanding on how a margin line can be created from both, such that will separate what is scriptural and a historical fiction. Speaking of fiction, The Red Tent is a thing that could be appreciated. Any person who loves fiction can easily grasp and understand the point of view of the author. It is expected that from the original text, a novel can add and modify the real content in order to create the twist of what the true story is, and then produce a beautiful piece without necessarily referring from the actual facts. From the title of the novel, it will lead us to the idea that the whole novel would not really be a Biblical fact. The term “red tent” where allegedly Dinah and her mothers gather together is only a creative thing added by the author of the novel itself. In the novel, the red tent is the place where Hebrew women gathered together during their menstrual periods, and as they gather share thoughts, ideas and their womanly experiences in life. The portrayal in the story attempts to make us visualize a designated place for women exclusively made for them to hide themselves from the community during their monthly periods. Biblically, it is not true that there is an intended place particularly for women to gather during their monthly period. Scriptural account from the book of the Bible shows that a woman during her menstrual cycle would stay on her tent until menstruation end, but not particularly red tent. Another point is, the practice of separating women, or staying in the tent during menstruation is not a patriarchal thing. It is handed down during the time Moses and not during the time of the patriarch Jacob, who is the father of Dinah. The Mosaic Law is not practiced not until the Ten Commandments are handed to the Israelites. This only shows that the Hebrew culture that Diamant is trying to portray about the Red Tent is of her own. It is added and not really the Biblical fact, which we would not be able to pin point if we are not aware of the real contents and chronology in the scripture. The novel also tried to downgrade Hebrew men. It seems that from reading the whole story, the author portrayed Hebrew men as the only individuals who are considered immoral, stupid and dirty. In contrast she described how ideal the men of Shechem and Egypt are. If we are going to read the real content of the scripture, we can really spot the differences. It is the men of Shechem who really done something wrong to Jacob’s family a situation that motivated the sons of Jacob to make a reactionary move against those brute people. It is but a natural instinct for brothers to protect their beloved sister Dinah, and the wickedness done by men of Shechem is but a thing that gave reasons to the sons of Jacob to revenge. The scripture gives justice to what the sons of Jacob has done because it is but a natural instinct for anyone to do something that is needed in order to restore the dignity and honor of their family. This is not what the novel depicts. Diamant, in her creativity make a twist on this incident. She made it appear that there is no really such thing as a rape of Dinah, negating biblical record. The novel portrays that the “rape” thing is a mistaken love affair between Dinah and the prince of Shechem. The novel tells that the prince of Shechem fell inlove with Dinah and eventually became the prince’s bride. Now here come her brothers to kill the person she loves because of mistakenly understanding it as rape. Many other characters and things also changed from the original scriptural records, such as Shimon and Levi are depicted as barbarous and evil, Jacob as a cruel father who wants to destroy Dinah’s love because of his traditional beliefs, Dinah as a person who is willing to leave her monotheist belief and her role in building family of Judaism, Rebecca is a witch, Isaac as a foolish man, and Joseph as an unlearned man. Another surprising thing is that the novel extremely left the Jewish principles, such as depicting the matriarchs as idol worshippers inclined in barbaric practices and rituals and not in any form in connection to Jewish practices. All of these things are completely different from what the scripture said. First, the murder done by the brothers of Dinah is only of nature of man in seeking justice against the wicked. Jacob is not as narrow minded as the novel depicts, but scripturally, a man who knows how he will manage his family thus receiving a promise from God. There is no love affair that existed between Dinah and in any men of Shechem, thus it is also a fictional statement to say that Jacob is trying to destroy his daughter’s love. The matriarchs are not idol worshippers, nor whorish, but people who subjects themselves to their husbands and out of their God-fearing heart adheres to the will of the Lord. Joseph, scripturally is not also unlearned or illiterate, but actually, from Biblical record is a man of knowledge who is able to get the sympathy of people around him because of his knowledge in mathematics, leadership and the interpretation of dreams, such that made him to be one of the most prominent figures in Egypt during his time. It seemed that the characters and practices in the novel are not patriarchal nor in any forms of Jewish culture. The author ended up in writing a story that turned the characters and the whole scriptural accounts pagan. She has just used the name and persons in the Bible including their characters to form and weave a story that is distinctly biblical. This is not what really the Bible is, and we could not even conclude that this is a midrash (the way of interpreting biblical records), since the storyline is millions of miles far from the good intention of providing Biblical facts. Relatively, a midrash is done to make an interpretation of the possible relevant events based on the existing records. The existing accounts give clues to what might possibly had happened. That is where interpretation or midrash is drawn. However, that is not in the case of the novel The Red Tent. Jacob in the novel is not the same Jacob of the bible, or the matriarchs, or Dinah. Actually, Diamant did not give voice to what is not recorded about Dinah in the biblical account, but created other persons and casts that make a bunch of biblical distortions. The conclusion, The Red Tent is not intended to present information for what the bible has not declared but on the other hand, a mythological nature and a historical fiction. References: The Holy Bible: King James Version. 1989. Diamant, Anita, The Red Tent, NYC, Picador USA, 1998. Read More