Literary Analysis Essay on "The Bird House"

Introduction

Among the most unsettling tales in Genesis, God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his only son. The devout Isaac is taken by Abraham to the mountaintop where Abraham creates an altar and binds Isaac to it. As soon as Abraham raises his knife ready to sacrifice his only son, he hears the voice of an angel intervening that God knows understands that he feared Him. The angel tells Abraham that now that he had not withheld from God his only son, he would get a reward by being blessed with his family. Abraham ends up killing a ram. The description of Isaac assists all readers in thinking about the spiritual condition of Isaac given that when one is reading this can understand that God had given him the authority of blessing one of his sons as well as providing them with the power of the other brothers and would possess plenty of wine and grain for the rest of his days. In "The Third Birdhouse," by John Biguenet story involving retelling of the life of Isaac, things do not work out well for Abraham.: It is regarded as not right during the 20th Century Brooklyn to attempt murdering one's son using a hatchet even though one thinks that they have been commanded by God to do so (Biguenet, Will, 2017). However, things seem to work out well for the narrator, who-just like Isaac in the Genesis- goes on leading a prosperous and long life by having twin sons of his own. This paper will compare the places and characters in "The bird house" (by John biguenet) and genesis 27 (the Bible). Mesopotamia: Brooklyn

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Through considering the Bible's setting, the primeval history normally proves to be pre-Israelite in the subject matter and it is non-Israelite in origin. The fundamental details of Genesis normally turn out to be stemming ultimately from outside and more specifically from one main source, the Mesopotamia's cultural domain. The background of Mesopotamia having many details in Genesis has been attested in many ways. The migration of Abraham from Mesopotamia was because of spiritual considerations as it marked the beginning of Biblical history and the Biblical process. The many Mesopotamia motifs found in the Primeval History usually consist of motifs that provide a foregoing review can be rendered as being adding up to the authentic reflex involving some of the contributions which the civilization of Mesopotamia imparted to the Biblical society. According to Genesis, Biblical book, Abraham left Mesopotamia since God wanted him to start a journey to find a new state located in undesignated land. Mesopotamia is known to be a land that is between two rivers.

Both Mesopotamia and Brooklyn practice polytheistic religion. Polytheistic religion means that there are several goddesses and gods and henotheistic which meant that there were some gods who were considered as being more powerful than others. In Mesopotamia, individuals started ranking the deities according to the order of significance which Brooklyn does not. The religion in Mesopotamia was different from that in Brooklyn in the sense that every god in Mesopotamia had a priest, a traditional ritual, and a temple. However, in Brooklyn, there are only a few temples that have been scattered throughout every town. Both Brooklyn and Mesopotamia are similar as they appreciate the artwork. The artifacts found in Brooklyn and Mesopotamia usually reflected the beliefs, customs, and lifestyle of the individuals and they were mainly made from marble, shells, and stone. Brooklyn differs from Mesopotamia as it did not practice irrigation. Given that Mesopotamia was located on a plain with the large flood, it was able to carry out irrigation activity that enabled it to cultivate surplus food. The part of Brooklyn that was involved in farming activity only relied on annual rainfall to grow food.

Abraham: Abe

Abraham was willing to demonstrate his obedience to God b as he trusted that God would reward him as it had been promised during the covenant. Abraham differed from Abe in that Abraham was declared as been blessed by several kings during his lineage. On the contrary, Abe did not become great as he was a man who was not reckoned with the in kingly affairs. Abe differed from Abraham given that his faith was seen to sometime waver.

Isaac: Narrator

In Genesis, Isaac is been described by the narrator as being quite old such that his eyes had lost the capability to see. In the later verses, when Jacob brought Isaac food and water, the narrator shows that even though Isaac was old, he had retained the ability to tell which one of his sons had brought him the food. However, given that Jacob was hairy, Isaac was fooled (Williamson, 2000). This indicated that even though Isaac was bright, he could also be fooled. The devout Isaac is taken by Abraham to the mountaintop where Abraham creates an altar and binds Isaac to it. The description of Isaac assists all readers in thinking about the spiritual condition of Isaac given that when one is reading this can understand that God had given him the authority of blessing one of his sons as well as providing them with the power of the other brothers and would possess plenty of wine and grain for the rest of his days. Through reading the story of Isaac in Genesis 27 indicates that God was always on the side of Isaac and that he was spiritually well. The story about Isaac in the Genesis normally created a connection between the parallel stories of Jacob and Abraham. Isaac and the narrator are similar in the sense that their stories are mainly concerned with their relationships with their sons and fathers. Both the narrator and Isaac obeyed and respected their fathers to a fault

Sarah vs Narrator Mother

Sarah was Abraham's wife who was very beautiful even during her old age. Sarah is different from the narrator's mother given that her name Sarah meant that she was a princess meaning a mother of the states. Both Sarah and the narrator's mother were related to the husband that they married; Sarah was rendered as a half-sister to Abraham as they shared the same faster but not one mother. Both the narrator's mother and Sarah had experienced difficulties in bearing children during the early ages of their marriages. Sarah was barren.

Jacob: Jake

Jacob is seen to have struggled against the obstacles towards the realization of the conventional promise of God even though their most paramount feature was the faith he had in the covenant of God. Both Jake and Jacob made mistakes but they were seen to strive to be as much as righteous as God had required them to be. Both Jake and Jacob are seen to have issues with paternity with the wife that they loved. Jake and Jacob are similar in that they showed that they favored one of their sons.

Esau: Oldest Son

Both Esau and the older son were impulsive men. They were both the most favored sons. Both Esau and the older son seem to have been developed through infinite patience as well as having a vast variety of the discipline. They were both profane men having little or no capacity for spiritual things. Esau differs from the older son in that he lost his birthright through his sin. Esau is seen to have greatly suffered from his fault.

Conclusion

The major question lies on what type of a father this modern Isaac would be, provided the weak role model of his father, Abraham. The greatest test for Isaac comes during the period where Jacob, his younger brother, goes ahead to swindle his twin brother out of his expected inheritance, just like in the Genesis. Just like so much that is contained in the Old Testament, the story involving Abraham and Isaac is found been much troubling. The part that is found as been the most confounding is the conclusion during the time where Esau, Isaac's firstborn, having lied of his birthright through Jacob, eventually composes himself to forgive his brother. "The Third Birdhouse" is seen as a type of meditation concerning the ancient story involving Isaac and Abraham who explores deeply on the limits of forgiveness. The background of Mesopotamia having many details in Genesis has been attested in many ways. Both Mesopotamia and Brooklyn practice polytheistic religion. Isaac and the narrator are similar in the sense that their stories are mainly concerned with their relationships with their sons.

References

Williamson, P. R. (2000). Abraham, Israel and the nations: the patriarchal promise and its covenantal development in Genesis (Vol. 315). A&C Black.

Biguenet, .J, Will, A. (2017).The Third Birdhouse, ones story Inc., Brooklyn NY