Thinking about the Augustine and Sontag reading comes the prominent theme of how humans are drawn to violence. This is not necessarily through committing acts of violence, but by witnessing it. Why is it so hard to tear your gaze away from an act of violence once it begins? Why is there this primal curiosity associated with watching it through the end even if the viewer may have an…
Group: Jonah, Spencer, Frances, and Jo The phenomenon of looking can be thought of as consisting of two composite parts: seeing and interpreting. Seeing, the visual experience of something happening before one’s own eyes, or gazing upon a representation such as a photograph or piece of visual art, forms the principal step of looking. However, it is often subservient to the act of interpreting. Seeing is merely the intake of…
Today’s discussion inspired many thoughts about the allure of violence and why some people continue to actively witness violence while it feels disgusting and irrational to others. According to Sontag, she says that “Men make war. Men (most men) like war, for men there is ‘some glory, some necessity, some satisfaction in fighting’ that women (most women) do not feel or enjoy” (3). While it is unclear how true the…
When the three youths are saved from the flames in the Old English verse-form of the Book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar can hardly believe his eyes. At the sight of this miracle, Nebuchadnezzar declares, “Now I truly see four people there – I do not deceive myself at all” (lines 412-413). At this moment of witnessing, Nebuchadnezzar appears to change his ways. He sees the youths’ bonds incinerated, their clothing intact,…
The Old English Life of Saint Margaret ends, as the title might suggest, with the protagonist St. Margaret’s death. After Margaret is killed, angels “come over the body of the holy Margaret and bless it,” singing, “‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, glorious King of hosts, heaven and earth are full of your glory.’” At first glance, this concluding moment may seem strange or confusing. Margaret, who has just slain a…
The story of St. Margaret highlights many features of the Christian worldview, perhaps most notably the nature of ideal behavior. Saints are canonized in the Christian religion as role models- they are inherently aspirational figures. St. Margaret is portrayed as an ideal Christian figure in two ways: firstly, through her purity, translated as “virginity” or “chastity” in the text, and secondly, through her endurance in the face of extreme violence.…
In The Poetics and Politics of Witnessing, Derrida argues that trust in a witness’ account is derived from the belief of those listening. Derrida explains, “Bearing witness appeals to the act of faith, and thus takes place in the space of pledged or sworn word” (Derrida, 75). Here, Derrida notes that the relationship between a witness and an audience is one of faith. To prove this faith an oath must…
Jo & Frances In theology, dualism is the theory that there are two supreme forces that govern the universe, good and evil. This is in opposition to monism, which posits that there is only one supreme being. Our group found that the Genesis poems present dualistic thinking throughout the text–– we will inspect some of those manifestations in this post. Alternate Beginnings The Genesis poems seem to retell…
In Genesis the violence associated with women is quite striking. Although I have studied the Bible in religious classes for many years throughout high school, this has been the first time I realized the violence that is commonly associated with women in the Bible and even how Eve, the first women is surrounded by brutality. Looking at Genesis, when the reader first encounters Eve, and Daniel Anlezark translates, “He drew…
The idea of Jesus’s bleeding side wound being metaphorical female genitalia is both conflicting and corresponding to the traditional ideas of female purity. Firstly, the blood from Jesus’s side wound is said to be lifegiving. His sacrifice is lifegiving in several ways. Firstly, his sacrifice and martyrdom is what seems to have saved the population. Thus, the blood is physical evidence of his self-sacrifice. On the other hand, his blood…
