The Ottoman Empire

         I thought the whole concept and process of devsirme was really interesting, because it lasted so long and, when you look at it, was pretty effective. Even though it’s kind of horrible to think about these children being taken away from their families at a young age and having to learn a new language and basically being under the government’s thumb for the rest of their lives, at least they were being educated. They probably ended up knowing the most about the governmental system out of everyone (beside those who were actually in it, of course) because they were educated so thoroughly and sent to be in the janissary corps or being placed in administrative posts. As it was pointed out, it’s obvious that these children living within the Ottoman government and following their rules, speaking their language and pretty much being slaves (albeit slaves with an education and jobs), they would be absolutely loyal to that government and owe their lives and livelihood to them. I also thought it was interesting how these children were only taken from the Christian families in the empire, and not the Muslim ones.

            Another thing I found interesting was how the Ottoman government was able to, or at least tried to, adapt to new economic or political situations so that they would still be able to function well and keep their hold on the lands they held. Even though in later years, it was more difficult to successfully change enough to have a solid hold on their empire. Of course any ruling system or empire or monarchy is going to want to hold on to their power, and it’s important to change and adapt to changes in society and be able to respond to how others were changing, and the Ottoman’s were able to continually have ways of keeping their system intact while also making enough changes to cement their hold.

Dante's Muhammad

            I thought it was interesting how it was brought up that Dante focused on Islam more in regard with its origins, and didn’t really focus much on the traditional interpretations of its history. Dante kind of tied it all back to have Christianity be the focus, and showed how, in his opinion, Muhammad was pushing for the divisions in Christianity. Instead of writing about the qualities he thought that Muhammad might have had as a follower of Islam, or about the Islam traditions that he would have followed, Dante went back to his role as a prophet and leader of the people. Thinking about it this way, I do like how Dante focused on the origins of Islam and Muhammad as a prophet. Knowing how something—especially something as important and sacred to people as a religion—came about and the beginnings of its traditions is important. It’s also interesting how his knowledge of Islam was learned in relation to Christianity and tended to be in anti-Islam works, but it’s cool that he kind of looked past that a little and had his own view about it, as the article says. Dante being an intellectual person, and writing this great work of literature, it’s good and important that he had an interest in things other than what was the norm in his part of the world and was educated about other, different things. 

The Decameron, Day 2

            A few of the stories and the women in them reminded me of other women we’ve read about, in that they kind of take charge of themselves a little bit and decide to do what they want, even if in these stories it’s just for sex. In the first story from the third day and the tenth story from the fifth day, both the nuns and the wife decide to break their vows—their vows to God and marriage vows—just because they want to. In the Odyssey, we can see Penelope trying her best to stand her ground and keep her decisions her own, and in Genesis, Rebekah schemes for her sons and controls that situation. The wife whose husband caught her hiding her lover tells him off; she points out to him that he won’t even sleep with her so she took it upon herself to fix that. Like Rebekah, she knows what she wants, so she went and got it, and the husband ended up looking foolish after being told off by his wife. The nuns, too, decide to put aside their vows of chastity to all sleep with Masetto. Although it was his plan to get all of them to sleep with him, and his plan worked, in the end they all got what they wanted. The women apparently lived guilt-free lives in the convent with this one guy, and he got to sleep with all of them and didn’t have to worry about any of the children that came out of that at all. Like in many other stories we’ve read, the women have some say, for some of the time and may not appear to be in charge, but then sometimes things have a way of working out in their favor in the end. 

The Decameron, Day 1

            Reading through these stories, the depiction of love in some of them is much different from some of the other love stories and poems we’ve read, like the Troubadour poems. In those poems, the narrator is at somewhat of a distance and maybe doesn’t want to actually possess the woman in question, because then he won’t be able to pine for her anymore. But, like in the seventh story from the second day and the fourth story on the first day, these men and monks see this beautiful woman and instantly feel the need to have her for themselves. There isn’t any of the pining and wishing and crying that happened in the troubadour poems. Instead, these men scheme and plan to have these women, and that’s that; and usually the woman in question goes along with it. In the fourth story of the first day, the Abbot originally planned to reprimand the monk for sleeping with a woman, but after seeing her, decides that it’s not such a bad idea and sleeps with her himself, both totally disregarding the expectations for their lifestyle. And in the seventh story on the second day, the princess Alatiel ends up with nine men over four years, all because they were transfixed by her beauty as soon as they saw her, and it was impossible for them to not have her.

            What’s interesting to me is that in these two stories in particular, the women didn’t really object all that much and just kind of went along with what was happening. Alatiel traveling throughout different kingdoms with different men, not speaking the language or anything, and the woman the monks slept with are both kind of passive in their stories. Although the stories are more about the men and their desires and how they’re undeniable, in the one story Alatiel still has her honor and gets to marry because her father believes she is still a virgin.

Travel Literature

          Reading Mandeville’s travel account, it’s interesting and at times a little disconcerting seeing his descriptions of some of the people of distant lands. Of course, people who don’t get that chance to travel that far away aren’t going to know what life is like in other places, and everyone always expects it to be totally, completely different to their own way of life—even today. The wider world that most people wouldn’t have been able to go see then must have seemed so strange and foreign, so of course his stories would be full of weird descriptions and strange people; it makes others want to go see them, just to see if they’re true and to satisfy their own curiosity. We all want to know what other places and people are like and how they live, and hearing fantastical stories like that from someone who has apparently gone there. You want to believe those stories, but at the same time you don’t because they’re so different from your own life.

            It’s also easy to see how Margery Kempe might have been so overwhelmed with being in all those sacred places. Getting to take a kind of break from her normal life, being a wife and mother, and getting to take that journey through all those special places, especially to her, and actually seeing the places she had heard about as being so monumental for her faith would have been so special. By going to all those places, she could experience more than just the spiritual things and see the cultural differences and would have had the time to take it all in. Being a mystic, those sacred places would have had a draw on her anyways, and getting to go there in person and see them and experience them for herself would, in a way, bring her spirituality or mysticism full circle, and could certainly help in confirming her faith or adding to it, by being at these real places.

Book of Good Love, Day 2

            The stories about the Mountain Girls, after reading all of them, seemed kind of the same, but at the same time they were all different. All of the different mountain girls this priest encountered did end up helping him out, but for a price—he gave one jewelry, and even married another. What I thought was interesting about all these girls was that they’re described as a bit frightening and menacing, at the worst seeming more barbaric, but once they know that they’ll be repaid in some way, after talking to the priest, they help him on his way. Although the mountain girls certainly know what they’re doing and what they want to happen, the priest is a little ignorant upon meeting up with them, and just wants to keep going on his way.

            In meeting the mountain girls, every single time it’s lead up to by the priest saying he had stayed somewhere or something had happened that caused him to lose a bunch of money and all his food; he would have basically nothing with him upon meeting the mountain girls, and he’s forced to rely on them for help. I also found it interesting that even though this guy is a priest and supposed to be understanding and helpful, or at least more adhering to his duties as a priest by not spending his money on frivolous things and sometimes sleeping with random mountain girls, he deceives one of the girls (the one he marries). His journeys through the mountains and with these girls are like him coming face to face with, literally, the uglier parts of life or those things that we know aren’t good and are wary of—whenever we meet one of the mountain girls, at least in the first few, there’s definitely a quiet sense of wariness and a little malice on their part—but still have to overcome and try to deal with the right ways.

Songs of Holy Mary

            In many of the short stories told by these songs, we see the Holy Mary triumphing over everything and showing the truth and being this beautiful, gentle woman who saves everyone if they’re worth saving, if they believe in her. In one of the first stories, a young Jewish boy is thrown into the oven by his father because he had received communion at church. Mary saves the boy because he thought she looked beautiful and kind, just from the statue he saw in the church—and his mother is converted and baptized too, because of his salvation. In this story and others, other religions (like Judaism) are shown to be inferior and somewhat less important or less pure than Christianity, since the Holy Mary is kind of the ultimate symbol of purity and goodness.

            With the story of the Moors trying to take over Constantinople, we see again an apparent pagan believer being converted to Christianity after just seeing the Holy Mary come down and save the city, and he all of a sudden knows he can’t attack the city anymore, and he asks the priest not to tell any of his people that he converted. It’s like he knows, now that he’s a Christian, that his old religion was wrong or not as valid. Just like in the other stories about Jews converting to Christianity, they come to see how their own way of life isn’t as good and pure, and the Holy Mary is able to show them that mostly by just showing herself to them, or telling the truth so they see the error of their ways. Sometimes it’s subtle and sometimes it’s not, but the feeling is still there, that Christianity was so far above everyone and would bring you up to that higher level by believing what they believed.

Troubadour/Trobairitz Poetry

            The Troubadour poem #22 tells about how the speaker is just pining away for the woman he loves, and how simply wonderful she is and how his love is so great that nothing can bother him, everything seems bright and joyful and nothing is bad. He also says “There’s still one thing I am sure of: I have conquered nothing less than her beautiful image”. He’s ridiculously happy to love this girl, and to be able to love her as much as he does, even though he’s far away from her; he’s still content just to know how much he adores her. That’s a little different from other impressions we get of people loving others but being away from them. He might not be with this girl all the time, but he knows she’s beautiful and he loves her and that is enough for him. The Trobairitz poem by Azalais de Porcairages has some similar imagery as the previous poem, of ice and snow and mud, nothing singing. However, in her poem, there’s not really any joy; it’s all lamenting and sad. She’s obviously not happy, as opposed to the Troubadour poem where even though it may be cold and windy his heart is still warm and full of love. Azalais says “My heart is so disordered that I’m rude to everyone”. It’s a completely different mood from the first poem, saying how the things around her match her mood, with birds not even wanting to sing. She even says “..I shall never be consoled”.

            There was definitely a difference between both sets of poems—the women authors had sadder poems that were more about losing love than the men’s, which were praising beauty and telling how full their hearts were and how happy they were. 

Islamic Art

   How cultures change and adapt their artistic styles over time is always interesting to see, since it also shows the effects of different historical events. During the time of the Mongol invasions and when they had control over vast amounts of land, Islamic art showed that more eastern influence. In one illustrated manuscript, the pictures show ancient Iranian kings dressed in the contemporary Mongolian style and looking like the Mongol leaders of the day. The story was the same, but the way the people were portrayed changed because that was who was leading the nation at that time and who was in control. They’re not necessarily supposed to represent how those ancient kings actually looked or dressed, they’re just a reflection of the times. Artists would probably want to please their current leader so that probably pushed their efforts to combine Mongolian elements in their own artwork. Plus, over the years of living with other people from different places, it’s inevitable that different styles would emerge from having two different cultures in such proximity with each other.

            Bowls and chalices made with gold and silver were regarded highly by the Mongolians as well—kind of moving the other way from Islamic culture being affected by the Mongols. Everyone can see something they like form other cultures and peoples, so that is incorporated into the existing styles. It ends up being a nice mix of multiple customs and cultures.

Ovid's Metamorphoses, Books 4 & 6

            In both the myths about Arachne and Tereus and Philomena, we see humans dismissing the gods and pretty much acting as they see fit, not paying attention to warnings they receive (like the screech owl living above Tereus’ house) or even taunting them a little, in the case of Arachne telling Athena to come and challenge her herself. Arachne had a lot of faith in her talent, and didn’t like the idea that people had of her being taught by Athena; she wanted to be known for her own worth, especially since she was just a peasant. “You could see she was taught by Pallas. Yet she denied it, and took offense at the idea of having such a teacher”. She was punished by Athena, turned into a spider, all because she wanted to take all the credit for her own skill and not honor Athena at all. She kind of did want she wanted—weaving and not acknowledging the apparent true master of it—without any regard to how any of the gods (especially Athena) would feel about it. In all these myths, the gods have the last say and get to do what they think is right, no matter what.

            With Tereus, he took that to the extreme. He didn’t care what anyone else thought, he only thought about what he wanted, and what he wanted was Philomena, and that was that: “…he burnt with his own vice and his nation’s”. This puts the blame not only on Tereus but on his whole country as well, saying that this lust he has is a characteristic of all the men from Thrace. Either way, that puts the blame squarely on humans, with no regard for how they should actually be acting and respecting the gods (not to mention other people). Tereus was so sure in his convictions and that was all that mattered and his way was the way things were going to be. Both he and Arachne were more focused on their own talents and desires than how that could affect other things…like a wife or a god.

Plato's "Republic"

            “Or in such a regime haven’t you yet seen men who have been sentenced to death or exile, nonetheless staying and carrying on right in the middle of things; and, as though no one cared or saw, stalking the land like a hero?”   This quote, speaking about a democracy, can definitely be applied still today. It’s interesting to see how some of the political problems occurring two thousand years ago and more can still make sense to us today, because they’re still happening. Not that the justice system doesn’t work or doesn’t do its job, but there are obviously instances where a sentencing isn’t what the prosecution wants or that the public feels the defendant deserves—especially in cases like this, where it’s about the life of a person, no matter what they did or what happened, it can be difficult to please everyone. Sometimes it doesn’t seem fair or the public doesn’t agree with it, but in order to keep the system working the way it’s supposed to and keep order, there are some things that fall through the cracks a little.

            “…and naming shame simplicity, they push it out with dishonor, a fugitive; calling moderation cowardliness and spattering it with mud, they banish it; persuading that measure and orderly expenditure are rustic and illiberal, they join with many useless desires in driving them over the frontier”.     I like how here Plato says (speaking as Socrates) that moderation is called cowardliness by some people and shame being simplistic. Those necessary qualities can be pushed aside in the pursuit of wealth or notoriety, because to some people doing things in moderation or being aware of what you’re doing—which could lead to feeling shameful—could be in itself a little shameful. Being able to do things in moderation and having a sense of shame, or at least a sense of decency, is important. Especially for someone in government, which is what Plato is talking about.

           Question: Was this text taken as a kind of manual for how to be a good, upstanding citizen, or was it just for education and reflection on the part of the reader?

The Odyssey, Books 21-24

         Odysseus’ bow represents who and what he was when he left to fight in the Trojan War and the qualities that made him a good man and a good leader to his men: powerful and immensely strong, and the fact that only he has the actual strength to string it shows that he was the strongest around. He was strong not only physically, but intellectually. None of the suitors can so much as bend his bow, and Eurymachus even says “What does grieve me is the thought that our failure with this bow proves us such weaklings compared with the godlike Odysseus. The disgrace will stick to our names forever”. None of them can bend the bow because they’re not good men like Odysseus, and even he had to go through a twenty year long journey to get back to a point where he could use his brain and move away from all the violence he experienced and perpetuated during the war. All the suitors stay in his palace wasting his food and wine, doing what they want and showing no regard for anything other than their own wants. They don’t know how to use their brains like Odysseus does, they don’t have the same virtues as him (or any other person). They’ve been shown as opposite to all the other places that Telemachus has visited on his search for his father, as well as the Phaecians, who are all upstanding citizens who treat their guests how they’re supposed to be treated and make sacrifices to the gods. The suitors do none of that.

            Odysseus’ bow and the suitors inability to string it at all underlines the fact that they weren’t these good, virtuous men who did right by others; they did what they wanted, and not even in their own homes. Odysseus can string his bow and use it because he has finally returned to the state of mind he was in before. He’s returned home a good man and regained whatever strength and skills he had lost in the war.

The Odyssey, Books 16-20

            I can see why Odysseus kept his true identity hidden from Eumaeus. Of course he would have wanted everyone he knew and loved to know that he was back to take his rightful place, but it would probably have added a lot of stress and more time to his journey if people—especially the suitors—knew he was back. It’s not as easy as sailing back into harbor and waltzing back into his house; Odysseus must make sure it’s safe for him. If Eumaeus knew from the beginning that it was Odysseus he was helping, there’s always a chance he could give the secret away, or be too overwhelmed after seeing both him and Telemachus return to really be a big help. It’s better to have Eumaeus in the dark about Odysseus’ identity because, first of all, Odysseus can better tell his true character by how well Eumaeus treats a stranger who comes to him asking for help, and second of all, the more secret Odysseus’ return is, the better he can figure out what really needs to be done to reinstall himself in his own home, by posing as a stranger so he can get the real news.

 Eumaeus obviously loves Odysseus and his family very much and is very loyal, and is simply a good person to boot, after we see him give Odysseus a place to stay and helps him out. When Telemachus returns and goes to speak with Eumaeus, he’s almost as happy to see Telemachus as Odysseus was: “Like a fond father welcoming back his son after nine years abroad, his only son…the admirable swineherd threw his arms around Telemachus…”. To see someone other than his father care about Telemachus like a son was important, because it shows that there are still some who are loyal to Telemachus and Odysseus, who would help out whenever they’re needed. 

The Odyssey, Books 11-15

                It’s necessary for Odysseus to go through all those trials before he gets back to Ithaca. He is obviously already one of the smartest men around, he knows how to use his head, but sometimes he still doesn’t listen, although he tries his hardest to do what is best for him and his men to be able to return home. Like we’ve mentioned before in class, Odysseus’ mindset needs to be different than it has been while he’s been away at war, and now finding his way back home. He has to know how to talk to people and interact with others instead of simply fighting and strategizing all the time, which is what he had done for ten years. He does still have to have a plan to get all the suitors out of his house, and by this time he knows what he has to do to survive and get what he wants: he should listen to advice given to him, because it’s generally going to point him in the right direction (especially if it’s from a god), and accept help from others. He’s changed so much over the last twenty or so years trying to get back home, wearing a disguise shows that no one will recognize him, obviously, but I don’t think he might have been recognized anyways. His demeanor will have changed and the way he acts; twenty years is a long time to be away.

            Eumaeus represents the good parts of Ithaca, not the godless, chaotic place where all the suitors are eating all Odysseus’ food and taking over everything. Eumaeus is thankful to the gods, and sends them offerings before they eat. He’s like the other kings that Telemachus met, treating guests kindly and the right way. Going to his hut certainly means a move away from uncertainty on the sea, and not knowing how to find their way home and being influenced by all sorts of different things, whether it be one of the gods or simply the weather out on the open sea. Being back on land, Odysseus knows what he has to do, and now he has a concrete plan, although we might not know what it is yet.

The Odyssey, Books 6-10

            In Book 9, The Cyclopes, Odysseus has to rely primarily on his own cunning and his own ideas to get them out of Polyphemus’ cave and back to their ship. He doesn’t really have any help from any of the gods to get him out of there; he’s left to his own devices and has to rely on himself and be a leader to the rest of his men. While he is continually loyal to his men and tries as hard as he can to get them home, he does need extra help sometimes. In Book 10, Circe, he meets Aeolus and gets a lot of help from him…which is then ruined and they end up right back at Aeolus’ island searching for a way home once again. I was so surprised and a little appalled that Odysseus would ask for that much help a second time—“’Put things right for me, my friends. You easily could.’ It was with these placatory words that I appealed to them”—when he had already received a ridiculously helpful and not to mention valuable gift. Instead of working out how to solve the problem himself, he appeals to Aeolus a second time kind of expecting the same thing to happen as before. The Laestrygonians straight up kill most of his men, and all Odysseus can do is run away. He thought it would be a good idea to not go into that little protected harbor; why didn’t he tell the rest of his squadron to moor their ships the same place he did?

            Odysseus shouldn’t expect hospitable hosts everywhere he goes, especially since it’s already taken him so long to get home already and Poseidon hates him after blinding Polyphemus. He has to rely on himself, like escaping from the Cyclops. He used his brain, like he did in Troy, and he wasn’t relying on luck from the gods or anything (at least not simply praying to them for a way out instead of trying to think of one himself). It’s a little like Odysseus has to prove himself in order to get home, and has to prove that he’s still a good man and a worthy one after being at war for ten years. 

The Odyssey, Books 1-5

         In Book 1, the humans—especially all the suitors—are shown to be a bit greedy, only thinking of what they want and not willing to cooperate. Telemachus is a different story, because he wants to fix the problem he’s facing and is trying to find a solution, but the only way he can get started is with help from the gods. Zeus and Athene, on the other hand, have a pretty calm discussion while Athene is attempting to get support for Telemachus to find his father without interference from anything, not the suitors or from Poseidon. The gods are very regal and respect each other, while the men wishing to marry Penelope are eating Telemachus out of house and home, they won’t leave; they don’t respect him. Telemachus only wants to find his father. He’s referred to as looking like a god, or having an authority like one; he needs to be different from the other men around him if he’s going to have a chance to be successful in finding his father, or at least finding out what happened to him.

            On that note, we hear his story first. Maybe it’s so we can appreciate and know what went on in Ithaca while Odysseus was away, and what his family was going through and how they, meaning Telemachus, were trying to figure out what had happened to him and if he was actually dead or not. It also lets Telemachus take the spotlight, and we hear all the time how much he is like his father, in looks and in stature and in the way he speaks, even. Having him go out and see part of the world and do things on his own lets him become even more like Odysseus, in a way, because he kind of has to lead and show that he can be a man.

Genesis, Ch. 37. 39-50

          Throughout my reading of the story I thought it was an interesting point that none of Joseph’s brothers ever admit to their father what they had done, even though Joseph (apparently) forgave them. That is such an outrageously awful thing to have done to anyone, selling Joseph to Egyptians because they were worried about a dream he had and didn’t want to bow down to him, and he was their brother! Understandably none of them would have wanted to defer to him with that reverence…but that’s exactly what ended up happening in the end, with Joseph being the one in charge of affairs and telling them what to do to survive. Jacob conveniently dies without ever having to know the real truth, but I guess at least he was happy and Joseph reconciled with his brothers, although it’s never explicitly mentioned that they all talk about how they sold their brother into slavery.

            I was also curious about Joseph’s life in Egypt and him eventually getting to run the household of the Pharaoh. Normally, one would expect Joseph to be really angry and bitter about being sold into slavery and probably try to get back at his brothers, or at least find a way to confront them about it and expose them. Joseph does none of that, and he doesn’t seem to have any malicious intent—except for a little bit, when he tells his brothers that to get more grain their youngest brother will have to come stay with him, which he knows will break Israel’s heart. But throughout it all, he never seeks revenge, even though he easily could have, being in charge of handing out food and keeping everything in order. All he wanted was to have his family be satisfied, and he got that and a reconciliation with his brothers.

Genesis, Ch. 25-28, 32-33

            Rebecca’s role in deceiving Isaac and Esau and what she says to Jacob afterwards really show, to me at least, that she knew what she was doing was wrong. Blatantly favoring one son over the other could only end badly, for her and for her sons, even though eventually their relationship is repaired. Jacob and Esau being twins is shown, from the beginning, as them being in contention with each other, fighting to be first or the best or to get recognition. Because they’re so close, there is even more competition, and Jacob eventually wins—which could make Esau hate him even more than if he was just another acquaintance. Esau being older, and not having as much of his mother’s love, he has to work harder to get noticed or rewarded, and his own father wouldn’t bless him until he begged. Jacob didn’t have to work for his mother’s love, and she gave no reason for loving him: “Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob”. Esau had more to lose.

            Jacob may very well have wrestled with God physically, but at the same time Jacob is also trying to figure out if what he is doing is the right thing, if his brother will forgive him, or if he is still planning on killing him. Jacob is obviously worried and feels a little guilty about what he did and is trying to make it right; who wouldn’t be wrestling with their past decisions that led to this point? 

Genesis, Ch. 12, 16-18, 21-23

          It is a little strange how Abraham reacts when he is told to go to Egypt, with having his wife pretend to be his sister for her sake when in reality it would have been perfectly okay all along. I guess this shows that Abraham does love her and doesn’t want anything to harm her, but on the other hand it also shows his complete and total devotion to God even though following God’s orders could (according to Abraham) result in people dying—he was even willing to kill his own son, no questions asked. Abraham could just be worried because of things he hears from others coming from Egypt and other secondhand sources, but we’ll never know. At least he takes them seriously, although he could have prevented Sarah being taken as a wife to the Pharoah if Abraham had just gone and talked to him in the first place. But Abraham simply listens to what God tells him to do, and he does it, like when he is told to sacrifice his son Isaac. He calmly goes with his son and is all ready to kill Isaac—“And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife.”—no questions or mourning for what he is about to do; it is God’s word, so he will do it, absolutely. It’s important to have faith, I think, or at least be dedicated to it and, obviously, have a good belief in it, but it’s a little different to have such a blind devotion that you would kill your own son because of something God told you.

            Sarah sending Hagar to bear a child for her ended up like I thought it would, or at least up to the point where jealously came in and Hagar was sent away. Sarah being the wife and higher up on the social ladder gave her the opportunity in the first place to offer her servant to her husband; Hagar didn’t really have a choice. And of course there was jealousy involved: Hagar was carrying Sarah’s husband’s child, a child that Sarah wanted for her own, but of course Hagar would want to keep her own baby. 

Genesis, Chapters 4, 6-9

          I could certainly see how Cain would feel the way he did—he made an offering to God, just the same as Abel did, but it was completely disregarded and put to the side and he wasn’t given any reason why. God even asks him why he is angry, like he has no idea. I’m not surprised Cain was as upset as he was. Especially since they were brothers; siblings are kind of more predisposed to be jealous of each other, so God’s disregard for Cain’s offering made him that much more angry. Getting no reason why his offering wasn’t liked would have just added fuel to that fire, would have made him want to know what he had done wrong to disappoint God, which was all he was trying to do. Justice will always be unfair for someone, because everyone wants to be in the right and have their actions be validated. When Cain says to God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”, he’s just showing more of his anger at the fact that his brother was chosen over him. But at the same time, God reminds him a little that he still has a responsibility for his brother no matter what, especially since he works with the soil and the ground.

            It’s a bit extreme that God was so ridiculously unhappy with what man was doing on earth that he decided to wipe out absolutely everything that lived to fix the problem. Maybe it would be a little easier to start over with everything to get rid of all the bad, but that doesn’t let anyone learn any lessons from their wrongdoing and attempt to try again and be better…because everyone is dead. In these chapters God is more angry and wanting the people to listen to him, but it’s not necessarily working as well as it had been in the past, so he just decides to get rid of everyone because everything is corrupted.

Genesis, Chapters 1-3

            I thought it was really interesting how, in Chapter 1, man was created and is specifically said to “have dominion over” the rest of the earth and the creatures and things on the earth. A whole different interpretation could have come about if man had been told that the earth was to be shared between everything. That’s a big difference from creation stories from other cultures, where (like in Native American stories and myths) there is such an important connectedness with nature and with other things besides other humans, with working together and knowing that people have to rely on more than just each other and luck to survive. According to this one chapter in Genesis, man was created purposefully to be a little bit above everything else, maybe, or given that responsibility by being created last.   

            

            There is definitely some kind of link between seeing something and having a desire for it—especially knowledge. If Adam and Eve weren’t supposed to be curious about the Tree of Knowledge or at least notice it, then it probably wouldn’t have been as beautiful to look at. The Tree being lovely makes them want to look at it, and that keeps the Tree in their minds. Adding to that curiosity is the warning they received, that they cannot taste the fruit of the tree on pain of death. Who wouldn’t be at least a little curious to see what would happen if they ate the fruit of this beautiful Tree that held all the knowledge one would ever need? If Eve had never listened to the snake, she and Adam would have stayed in the garden forever. Granted, it is a nice place, but they wouldn’t have learned anything, ever. Being cast out of the garden allowed them to explore and really learn about the world and make mistakes—which is what people do.