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Example research essay topic: Power Of God Ability To Choose - 1,535 words

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Intercultural Matriarchal Figures in Gershon s Ruth and Esther Gershon uses biblical midrash to reexamine the place of the matriarchal figure after the Shoah. Both poems center on one central female from the bible, although one is identified as a Jew, while one is identified as furthering the lineage of Christ. Both poems give these women the power of choice, which they do not have in the typical biblical text. Both poems show the power of man as motivation over the power of God. Although there is an absence of the God figure in Ruth, it is present in Esther. Gershon enters, through her poetry, these separate women to In the first stanza of Ruth, we learn that Ruth descends from a line of Christians, which immediately contrasts to the speaker s religion, in the form of Gershon.

Although the speaker and Ruth share different religions they have many things in common. The first example of this is in the line She preferred exile to being alone, (Gershon, 4) whereby, even though the exile of Gershon s people was not voluntary, both Gershon and Ruth share the experience of exile. The idea of being a stranger is shared by both the speaker and Ruth. This is the first time where the speaker enters into Ruth s character. At the end of the second major verse paragraph, the speaker is speculating on Ruth s feelings, saying Did she feel, I have come home (Gershon, 10)? This line exhibits both the mutual feelings shared and the idea of a home that is unnatural, or one that has to be rebuilt.

This idea is furthered in the second section where Ruth looks to her birthplace but knows she cannot go back to it. The second and fourth sections of this poem deal with the aspects of trying to live an ordinary existence under the conditions of being a stranger. Aspects of life that should be natural, such as sleeping and mothering, are unable to be done by those who are exiled. Gershon uses the line She was a stranger even in her sleep, (Gershon, 11) and then repeats the phrasing in this line She was a stranger even as a mother, (Gershon, 31) showing a further connection between both exiled persons. The second line is more poignant because mothering should be natural to women and it is not. In this poem, there is no mention of God.

Ruth accepts the exile because of her son. The last two lines immediately reminded me of Gershon s work Sarah, where the power of God is diminished. Oh honey in the desert that is man, / I love you better than I do my own (Gershon, 39 - 40). In these lines Ruth is commenting on the fact that she loves her offspring and his people more than she loves her own people. The story of Ruth is one of revival and this is evident in the line I have come out of death to be remade (Gershon, 19). This idea of revival and the furthering the lineage explains why both Ruth and Gershon carry on their lives after such tragedies.

The third section brings together the connection between Gershon and Ruth. This is the first time in the poem that the pronoun I is referring not to Ruth, but to the speaker. This is shown by the mention of Auschwitz and the crucifixion. The central question of the poem is in the lines Or did she also feel closer to/ past and future generations/ than to the people she lived among (Gershon, 29 - 30)? Gershon does not answer this question until the end of the poem, where she mentions the idea of motherhood as a reason to accept the exile and to continue on. She uses the idea of doing something natural in an unnatural place as a reason to continue after the Shoah.

By entering into a Christian female she is both commenting on the fact that what connects the Christian and Jewish community is more natural- sleep or motherhood- than what separates them, which is man made. In the poem Esther, Gershon again shows a major female figure in the bible. The choosing of Esther is deliberate in showing the position of the Jews surviving after the Shoah. Like Ruth, Esther is also a stranger. The fact that Gershon uses the phrase upstart orphan, (Gershon 3) refers both to Gershon herself being a stranger and to the people who are literally left without parents. Gershon begins this poem, unlike Ruth with the speaker s position, recalling a time when Haman was the worst threat to the Jewish community.

There is an odd sense of time in the first verse paragraph. The speaker is looking back to both her childhood, while retaining her adult memories and also, at the same time, imagining the long ago past of Esther s time. This poem starts out as having two distinctive pasts coexisting: the past of Esther and the past of the speaker. This helps Gershon to enter fully into Esther s character.

This also creates a parallel between the two women which is strengthened by the fact that they are both orphans. The second section of the poem sets up a contradiction within itself. There is a sense that Esther is alone and at the same time she is not. This is shown in the first line of the section I m not alone, she thought, walking alone, (Gershon, 6) which shows that she is physically alone but not spiritually. This is the first time that Esther appeals to God, although God remains silent throughout the rest of the poem. The contradiction in this section is also shown in the line You ve all mankind and I have only me (Gershon, 12).

In this poem, as in both Ruth and Sarah, Gershon gives Esther the choice of furthering history. Esther is given hindsight and the ability to choose the fate of her people. The third section furthers the parallel between Gershon and Esther by having the speaker connect their experiences. As in Ruth, Ester s world About her lay/ alien with hostility (Gershon, 18 - 19). Gershon is in the same contradiction that Esther is in, namely being alone and being surrounded by those who are not present. Gershon, like Esther becomes the voice of those who cannot speak for themselves.

This is shown in the second section with the line All those whose lives are threatened are with me, (Gershon, 8) and then again in the third section in the line She must have heard her elders pray, / return us to Jerusalem (Gershon, 20 - 21). This furthers the idea of being a stranger in Ruth, by explaining another thing that helps one to be connected to what they have lost. The final section shows the speaker s thoughts on God. There is no omnipotent God in this poem.

God s gamble on the compassion between men, (Gershon, 25) shows that God does not know what he is doing, and he cannot guarantee the outcome. Gershon gives the power to the woman that God needs. This is a strongly feminist poem, and Gershon goes so far as to have Ester pity God for needing her. Esther grows strength not from God, but from her pity for God. The images of fire and brambles give Esther a God-like power in this poem. From the image of both the fire and the brambles, one instantly thinks of Moses and the burning bush- but in this case Esther is the one with the fire and the power.

Also, the thorns on the brambles are reminiscent of another God-like image, and since the image is reverted, so is the placing of the thorns. This starkly contrasts to the green and dancing hills (Gershon, 22) that represent her people in the third section. The last verse paragraph of this poem contains a very ambiguous antecedent. The verse paragraph begins with Esther praying to be brave for her people. Her motivation for doing this is to continue the lineage of her people.

God is less of a factor behind Esther s decision to confront the king. The pronoun you in this section is very ambiguous. Esther wants to be equal to the world that God made, defining the first antecedent of the word you in the last verse paragraph. The second use of the word you totally strips God of any power. Gershon, in writing A girl you would have passed by in the street/ who squared her shoulders as she hurried on, (Gershon, 31 - 32) gives Esther the power by allowing her to square her shoulders in God s presence.

All the future acts of courage (Gershon, 33) are given to Esther, and Gershon, but are brought away from God. In both poems, there are examples of matriarchal settings in which females are given the ability to choose that they are not given in the bible. Also, present in these poems are the power of man as motivation rather than the power of God. There is an absence of God in Ruth and God is stripped of his power in Esther. 328


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Research essay sample on Power Of God Ability To Choose

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