Students Name

Mr. Freeburger

AP English Literature

March 3rd, 2017

Topic: How have allusions to the book of Job and answers the questions about the human

condition posed in it changed over time?

Thesis statement: Throughout the history of literature, biblical allusions to the book of Job Commented [FC1]: you have not read all literature in
history, so you cannot make this claim.
allow the authors to explore complex questions of the human condition, remaining relatively

centered around the question, Why do the righteous suffer? As time goes on, more stories

begin to introduce answers that contradict those of the original bible story, and this difference Commented [FC2]: capitalize Bible

can often be explained by the historical context under which the work was written. The focus

shifts from individual suffering to the human dilemma of suffering and the absurd hostility of the Commented [FC3]: i don't understand the difference...

what conclusions can you make as a result of this shift?

world.

Annotated Bibliography

Bender, Bert. "Moby-Dick, an American Lyrical Novel." Studies in the Novel 10.3 (Fall 1978):

346-356. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Russel Whitaker and

Kathy D. Darrow. Vol. 181. Detroit: Gale, 2007. Literature Resource Center. Web. 20

Feb. 2017.

Moby-Dick, an American Lyrical Novel by Bert Bender is a writing of literary criticism

of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. It focuses on the poetic and literary artistic nature of

the novel, especially in seemingly dull zparts of the novel. In addition, it also discusses
 the historical context and political climate in the United States at the time of its writing.

The influence of these events and the novels plot are discussed at length.

The main purpose of this source to my paper is the historical context that it provides for

me in relation to Moby-Dick. I dont do much in discussing the papers lyrical qualities,

but the historical context piece is what I will use to connect the changes that Moby-Dick

exhibits to the original Job story from the primary source of the previous time period.

This is the cause of the change in the story and the statements about the human condition.

Cynthia Bily, Critical Essay on J. B., in Drama for Students, The Gale Group, 2002.

This source is a critical essay on J.B. by Archibald MacLeish which focuses on the

absurd conclusions that the play comes to. The characters of Nickles and Zuss are

analyzed at length, with strong focus on their use as critical characters that help the play

come to the cynical conclusions of the meaninglessness of suffering. There is also

mention of the historical context under which the play was written which may have had

influence on the conclusions that it makes.

I will use this source in my paper as one of the main secondary sources for J.B . The main

points I will be taking from it will be support for the argument that the answers to the

questions of the book of Job have transitioned to become more absurd with time,

conveying that suffering is a part of the human condition and is meaningless, and also

support for the concept of choosing not to suffer and defy Gods will. In relation to the

other sources, the conclusions that this one come to are far more absurd then all that

come chronologically prior.

Hamlin, Hannibal. "The Patience of Lear." Shakespeare and Religion. Ed. Ken Jackson and

Arthur F. Marotti. Notre Dame: U of Notre Dame P, 2011. 127-160. Rpt. in

Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 163. Farmington Hills, MI:

Gale, 2015. Literature Resource Center. Web. 20 Feb. 2017.

This source is a critical essay of the Shakespeare play King Lear. The main point that it

makes is that the story of King Lear is, above all, Shakespeares response to the book of

Job. It analyzes the onslaught of suffering that Lear experiences with seemingly no

purpose. It makes clear certain areas of the story where biblical allusion occur and also

the historical and religious context under which the story of Lear takes place.

I will be using the source extensively in my essay, mainly as a source for where the

biblical allusions occur in King Lear, since the language of Shakespeare can be difficult

to understand at times. This source also gives great insight into the possible purpose of

using King Lear as a response to the book of Job, regarding the religious and historical

context of the story. The relation of the story to Paganism and the tragic events that occur

over and over as a result is a point that I will be using in my essay.

James L. McWilliams III, Archibald MacLeish, in Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 7:

Twentieth-Century American Dramatists, Part 2: K-Z, Gale Research, 1981, pp. 58-61.

This secondary source is yet another critical writing of J.B. by Archibald MacLeish. Its

main focus is the discussion and criticism of the relationships J.B. has with the other

characters in the play, and how these relationships explicitly connect and help allude to

the book of Job. The writing also analyzes the relationship that J.B. has with God and the
 concept of suffering being an elective. In addition, historical context is provided

regarding WWII and how its coincidence affects the work.

I will be using this source as support for the part of my paper in which I discuss how

modern allusions to the book of Job often provide that suffering is a choice and that to

avoid earthly suffering, you can just choose to not be affected by it as an answer to the

questions that arise from the biblical story. Another big part of the source that I will be

incorporating into my paper is the historical piece regarding WWII and the effect of it on

the attitudes of people in America at the time and how the war relates to the way that

J.B.s take on the book of Job differs from different time periods.

"King Lear." Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Michelle Lee. Vol. 93. Detroit: Gale, 2006.

Literature Resource Center. Web. 20 Feb. 2017.

This source is a literary criticism of King Lear. It is more general than the other criticisms

I have included as sources, but provides vital information that I will use in my paper. It

focuses around how the plot of King Lear compares to other works of Shakespeare and

how the interactions between characters reveal more about them. It also discusses, in

length, the suffering that Lear endures during the play and its disproportionality of his

suffering to the wrongs that he has committed.

The discussion of his suffering and relating it back to the beginning of the story and all of

his actions throughout the play is very detailed and will help me greatly in my

comparison of Lear to Job. The discussing of his disproportionate suffering can be used
 to connect to my argument that older allusions to Job attempt to show the vast and all

powerful nature of God by means of a display of absurd and intensifying suffering.

MacLeish, Archibald. J.B.: A Play in Verse. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008. Print.

The play J.B. by Archibald MacLeish is one of my main primary sources. The story is

one giant allusion to the book of Job, and is even nicknamed J.B. a modern Job tale

by many. It is a direct allusion to the biblical story, with Zuss and Nickles representing

God and the devil, and J.B. representing Job. He endures much suffering during the play,

as Job did, increasing in severity, and raises the question of why suffering is a part of the

human existence.

The play comes to a conclusion that is in direct support of my thesis, that modern tales of

Job have a more absurd view of the human condition and make the point that suffering is

meaningless. This is the most modern of all of my sources, and it supports my thesis

exactly. It also supports my argument that the historical context under which a story is

written often influence how the lessons of Job are changed in the story, with the play

being written on the heels of WWII.

Melville, Herman. Moby Dick. New York: Gilberton, 1969. Print.

Moby-Dick is a classic American epic. It is a story of the adventures of the narrator

Ishmael as he sails on a whaling ship under the command of his Captain, named Ahab.

Ishmael thinks that he has signed onto a typical assignment aboard a normal whaling

ship, but he eventually figures out that Captain Ahab is not guiding the ship in the simple

pursuit of any old whale, but is seeking one specific whale, Moby-Dick, infamous for his
 giant size and his ability to destroy other whalers. After the ship sails it becomes clear

that Captain Ahab is bent on revenge and he intends to find and kill Moby-Dick.

Moby-Dick is littered with biblical themes. Moby-Dick, the whale, can be compared to a

God figure in the story and from there, all of the comparisons to the book of Job are

obvious. The continuous and monotonous suffering of Ahab is in support of my thesis

that many allusions to Job written before the 1900s include events that demonstrate the

power of God when it comes to making people suffer, staying very much true to the

original story. There is also evidence of other more modern Job story characteristics,

including the absurdity and meaninglessness of life and the defying of God as a coping

mechanism for suffering,

Shakespeare, William. King Lear. N.p.: Signet Classics, 1963. Print. Commented [FC4]: publishing location?

King Lear is a play written by Shakespeare. King Lear is a tragedy of a King who makes

a mistake and exiles his daughter from his life. Lear suffers heinous consequences

throughout the story, including losing his kingdom, resentment from all of his family, and

the death of his daughters.

The are many comparisons that can be made between Job and Lear. Lear can be

interpreted a be a Job figure, and a classic one that stays true to the original story. This

connects to my thesis that older interpretations of the book of Job often include large

displays of Gods power in the form of intense and escalating suffering of seemingly

righteous characters. Although Lear isnt exactly righteous, the suffering that he

endures is disproportionate to the action of exiling his daughter.

Truesdale, Barbara L., M.A. "The Problem Of Suffering: The Questions of Job in Moby-Dick,

and The Sound And The Fury." Diss. The Ohio State U, 1991. Print.

This source is an article written about the allusions to Job made in Moby-Dick and how

they can be interpreted in different ways. It focuses on the actions of Ahab onboard the

Pequod, and how different chapters of the story offer different interpretations of how

nature and God influence human suffering.

This source is very helpful to the writing of my paper, in that it supports all parts of my

thesis relating to Moby-Dick (although no historical evidence is provided). It provides

examples of unjust suffering that Ahab endures during his journey and how this relates to

the randomness and absurdness of suffering that come from nature. I will be using many

of the examples of the idea that suffering gives life meaning is an older interpretation

exhibited in Job allusions, and the more modern interpretation that suffering is absurd and

random, and how all of these are exhibited at different points in the complex Moby-Dick.