The Slave
Why did we read this story for Biblical foundations?
The slave gave an insight into the Jewish tradition during the seventeenth century. The story is the story.
I'll admit it. I cried a little tear when Sarah's bones were discovered in Jacobs burial. This book was so pessimistic about faith, history and human nature, yet ended in a subtle moment of magical realism. I love authors who are unafraid to swim in the sea of mysticism and romance. Jacob and Sarah's bones united by an unknown force is poetic justice in its kindest form. Yet the force is indefinitely ambiguous. (I just wanted to use those two words together!) I wonder what Isaac B. Singer wanted to be said about The Slave, and I wonder why he wrote it. The book didn't make any absolute statements about ideas of faith or religion, it just illustrated a story. The story had many messages, but no final conclusion; it was left open to interpretation. Was Jacob foolish for holding on to his position as a Jew? I say no, after all, his faith provided him the most comfort throughout his life, although it also caused the most pain. Did Jacob change, grow, have an epiphany, conquer a quest, discover an answer, prove a point, etc...? The biggest epiphany Jacob had was his acknowledgement of the subjugation of Wanda. Because of her love for him, Wanda became a voiceless woman, a mute who lived the pain of hearing while being unable to speak. Yet, Wanda was also the character who experienced the most transformations, including a name change and childbirth.
The hypocrisy of every culture was exposed, and Singer was not dissolutioned to pretend that anything would change, making the book hauntingly transcendent.
It was heartbreaking when Wanda died, and how she died. Wanda's character was tragic. She was forced, her whole life, to pretend to be someone that she wasn't. Her first marriage was heavily flawed, she was an outsider in her family (with regards to her dying father), she wore a mask for her communities (in order to be left alone), she was not ever fully accepted by Jacob(he asked her to become Jewish and accepted her mute role), and even in death she spoke different languages with different accents while her body was possessed by another living body (Benjamin). Tom Cruise would have liked her silence during childbirth, but I was horrified at the thought. Perhaps the most revealing insight into Wanda's character was her hidden clairvoyance.
Mysticism was a very quiet theme throughout the story, but its very presence denied any simple moralistic construction of meaning. The pastoral beginning of Jacob in the barn, taking care of the animals and foliage around him set the scene. Wanda, the widowed but pure at heart flower child, appeared in all types of weather to save him from a cruel fate. Once Jacob went to the city, all romance was lost, and harsh city life hit. But soon, Jacob escaped back into the nature and when he was most lost, he ran into a tall man with a long white beard. Who was this man? Was it Jacob himself as an old man? Could it be God? An angel? Just an old man who lived in the nature alone, or nobody at all, a figure of his imagination? But no explanation was given. The man fit the wise, white beard archetype. Years later, when Jacob was again lost, afraid, and alone in the nature, he found another white bearded man who nourished and guided him. Could this be the same man or not? There was nothing to suggest so. And later, it was revealed that the man had unintentionally lead him towards a false prophet. The mystic, archetypal figure who Jacob was so reliant on, became flawed. But the wise, white bearded man appeared again at the end of the story. This time it was Jacob himself. Did Jacob turn into the man, or was he always there? Jacob, the wise and noble, but terribly flawed character himself.
Wanda, however, was the opposite of Jacob. She was the source of her own power from the beginning, and fully aware of it. Wanda confessed to her role in her husband death because of visions of Jacob in the future. She predicted the future, she was aware of her own frailty, and she committed witchcraft to summon Jacob. Twice, she convinced the Jewish population of a miracle, and once she convinced them of demonic posession. It is easy to mistake the power of Wanda as deception and circumstantial, until the end of the story, when even in her death Wanda gave another miracle and had her final say. Wanda truly was clairvoyant. And that was why Jacob loved her so.
The theme of rape and torture was Horrifying. Almost every mention of sex in the book became sinful; incest, beastiality, rape, revenge, public exposure, seduction, against religious code. Why did the Pollocks sew animals into their victims stomachs?
The laws obtaining to the wives of Jews were incredibly destructive, as were the laws against belonging to another culture. The most lucid statement in the book was that of human cruelty. The people never improved; human nature repeated itself in every form.
But there was tenderness. The love between Wanda and Jacob was beautiful, as was Jacobs devotion to Judaism. Jacob was a hero. He fought for his beliefs, he was self sacrificial, he was strong, wise, and intelligent.
posted by Rosanna @ 10:59 AM
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