Throughout the chapters we have read in The Bible thus far, a number of difficult, upsetting and even traumatic events have occurred for the characters in The Bible, but how those characters feel about what has happened is rarely shared or discussed in the chapters. In literary terms, the characters in The Bible are known as "flat" or "one dimensional" characters, which means that they are not written as complex human beings, but rather as characters who serve a particular purpose in the plot. Why might creating stories with "flat" characters be a strategy for the writers of The Bible? What role might "flat" characters play? What goals might they help to achieve? Are there drawbacks to having "flat" characters? Are there any characters who do not appear to be "flat" characters in The Bible?
As you answer these questions, please refer to specific stories and characters to illustrate your point.
Many people use the Bible as a guide to the way they should live their lives. Because the characters are not the main focus, but the lessons to take away are, the authors may have believed that focusing on the plot was more important than developing characters. I also think that it is easier to get rid of characters if they are one dimensional. For example when Cain killed Abel. Normal human beings would be jealous but they would not just suddenly jump to the conclusion they have to kill someone because we are not “flat” characters as to say. Here after Cain kills Abel, we are taught a lesson, and then we move on, there is no further mention of the incident. If the Bible had “round characters”, we would see repercussions and how the death affected people because it would have. I have to say God as a character can be considered a “round character” because he can be described with two personalities, loving to the devotional, or quite horrible to those disloyal to him.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Suki in that the Bible is a guide to the proper way to live life. When God asks the characters to do something, they either do or they don't. They're either believers or they're not. There is little room for questioning. Maybe the writers of the Bible created such flat characters because they didn't feel the need to focus on character traits but more on the actions they took and the deducible lessons. If the purpose of the Bible was to show the way, they had limited reasons to describe what the characters were actually like.
DeleteIn Genesis, characters are "flat" because it helps us achieve the goal of understanding someone's purpose relatively quickly, so we can understand as to what characters do on the way of living pretty easily. This is helpful in Genesis, because there are many characters in this piece of writing, and are not emphasized in every chapter, because the bible is composed of many different stories. There are drawbacks to having "flat" characters because it makes the story less interesting and predictable, for Rebakah's purpose in the story is to be the wife of Esau and Jacob, which is fortunately more exciting when reading that she treats one child better than the other, but she is a representation as a "flat" character. (Chapter 25 and 27) However, God is not a "flat" character, for he is involved throughout Genesis, helps people, and punishes people for their faults.
ReplyDeleteI think that sense the writers of the Bible intended it to be a religious text they used their characters kind of like pawns to teach lessons. I think that the lessons would have been more complicated is the authors gave the characters much dimension. Using flat characters they were able to get the message or lesson across more obviously and efficiently. I think that there are drawbacks to having flat characters especially in the modern world because the reality is people are not flat. The authors and God seemingly treat every situation as though it is black and white even though that is not the case in the real world. People are not as simple and flat as the characters in the Bible and if the Bible addressed how to "properly" deal with more "round" situations without sinning. Interestingly enough I think that while none of the Biblical characters appear to be extremely "round" or "deep" the ones that are the "roundest" are the evil or bad characters. I find this interesting because we aren't supposed to aspire to be like them but they can be the most relatable because of their many layers.
ReplyDeleteIn Genesis, there seem to be more “flat” characters then “round,” and like many people have already said, I think the reason behind this is to get a life lesson across. If each character had an in depth characteristic that is evolving, the attention of the reader would more so be on “What is _ going to do, because he/she _.” Yet Genesis makes the reader focus on the lessons behind the doing of the characters. There are many stories with more rounded characters, and these stories tend to keep the reader “hooked” or involved, because humans are used to seeing characters change for better and for worse. Now touching on what Libby was saying, “The ones (referring to characters) that are the 'roundest' are the evil or bad characters.” I disagree with this statement, but I understand where she is coming from. It may seem that the bad characters are more rounded, but that may just be because the bad characters tend to stand out more in this novel. This is because there are many good people that God favors.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Keeley in this discussion; characters who are flat, are flat for a reason. I think that the only characters who are not flat are Adam and Eve. While an example of a character who is flat would be Abraham. I think that Adam and Eve are two of the few characters who are actually "Round." This is in part because of the way Eve lures Adam into eating the fruit, she has a witty plan in mind and is not just a character that is only there to move the story along. Abraham however seems only to be there because the Lord needs someone to bestow all of these laws on. I don't think the Bible would depict Abraham as a quick on his feet, cunning type of character, rather than the first witness of the Lord's massive changes. On the other hand, when Cain kills Abel, he is thinking for himself, and is not just out in the open. However, it is the decisions that he makes that cause him to be viewed as flat. No normal human being would kill their brother out of pure jealousy. Because of his irrational behavior, Cain can be viewed as flat. Characters like Abraham have the potential to be round, but we do not know enough about them nor do we have enough evidence, that proves them round.
ReplyDeleteSo far, I think we can describe a lot of what we have read as a series of teaching moments and lessons. There are many instances in the Bible so far where lessons have been learned, from the time when Adam and Eve learn the importance of obedience in the Garden of Eden, to the time when Abraham learns the benefits of having faith in God. I feel that these lessons would be a little bit harder for us to grasp if the character's feelings were shown. For instance, if Adam and Eve had felt at all unfairly punished for their actions, they may have said something to God about it, or to each other. Doing so may cause a reader to sympathize with them and feel that God was being irrational with his decision. That's not to say that having a round character would be bad though. Round characters can be pretty important as well.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the purpose for flat characters in The Bible is so people who read the text as a religious text focus more on the concepts to help their understanding. When people read it they need to find something to help their belief become stronger. I don't think that the characters are as important as the lessons that The Bible offers. In the Cain and Able scene we realize that jealousy can turn tides into Able dying. A simple brotherhood turned into the death of a kind man and exile of Cain. This was because of jealousy.
ReplyDeleteWriters of the Bible are trying to convey a message and moral, especially in Genesis so it makes sense that they would need flat characters because they only play a role in the plot to help convey their message. For example, Isaac, when he was about to be sacrificed, was not developed as a child expressing much fear or concern or confusion of being the sacrifice. He's just their so that Abraham can prove that he fears God. The downside to having flat characters is that they leave you questioning their actions and thought process sometimes because they are not developed in detail so you can't form an idea about them. In my opinion, the most rounded characters by far are Jacob and Esau because their whole story is about how they develop as individuals.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of you. Because the Bible's purpose is to teach people right from wrong, the characters are "flat", and one dimensional. There is no need to portray the emotions or reactions of the characters in Genesis, because their sole purpose is to teach the reader lessons. An example of this would be when Cain killed Abel. There was no description of how either brother felt, or what their parent's reaction might have been. But, this short story gave the reader a clear message: if you harm another, you will be punished. In addition, because Genesis is a religious text, the opinions of characters other than God aren't as important. A main idea of this text is that you have to obey God, and if characters had motifs unrelated than what God wanted, the text wouldn't exactly be teaching that. Genesis tells straight-forward stories with very basic, or "flat" characters in order to clearly get its messages across.
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