Monday, September 28, 2009
Red Tent p.147-232 Response # 2
Throughout the story of The Red Tent we have met a variety of different "classes" of women -- the wives of Jacob, Jacob's concubines, the only daughter, the slaves, midwives, etc. These women seem to lead lives of quiet domesticity, without too much drama or excitement. But in the section we read this week we meet Werenro, Rebecca, and Rebecca's Deborahs. How do these women differ than those we met earlier? How do the qualities of these women impact the view of women in Biblical times? Do you find yourself drawn to these characters more than those of the earlier sections? Why or why not?
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16 comments:
Ashley Mooers-
Werenro, Rebecca, and Rebecca's Deborahs, have different roles as women than the first women we meet. The women at the beginning of The Red Tent dont have major jobs, they mostly just cook, clean, and tend the gardens. Werenro had a more important job of being a messenger. Rebecca had a more important role of being an oracle and having people ask her about their futures, as for good luck, or ask for her to heal the wounded. Rebecca was of great importance, so she wore fancier clothing, make-up, and purfume and slept in a bigger tent than the other women would sleep in. Rebecca's Deborahs also had different roles. Although they were slaves, they would all wear the same white clothing and all had to share the same name, Deborah. They would tend to Rebecca's every need, but they also would dance and sing at special dinners and festivals. So these women, Werenro, Rebecca, and Rebecca's Deborahs, all had different and overall more important roles than the first women we met in The Read Tent.
Jeremy Adams-
The first women introduced at the beginning of the novel are mostly just there to give Jacob children. Other then that they just clean and prepare meals. The jobs that Jacob's wives and concubines did, were the ones that Rebecca's slaves did for her.
The origanal women were more ordinary than Werenro and Rebecca, but because of this, they were much kinder people. Rebecca was harsh and rude. She was never content unless all traditions were followed perfectly. The other women either feared or hated Rebecca and their actions were often influenced by her.
I do not find myself drawn to these characters more than those of the earlier sections. They are much different; they are more complex. Even though the women from the earlier sections are plain, they seem to me more interesting.
Richard Thompson-
Werenro, Rebecca, and the Deborahs were different from the other women who were described at the beginning of the book. The Deborahs had much similar jobs to the wives and concubines of Jacob, except that, unlike most women of the time, they did not serve the purpous of giving men sons. Instead they tended to Rebecca's every need. Werenro was much different than any other woman in the book. Her unique job of messenger woman was more important and extravagant than the jobs of the women of Jacob's house; she traveled across the lands, bringing people to the tent of Rebecca. Her physical appearance is even described as exotic, as she is the only woman that Jacob's family had seen with red hair. Her appearance awed the people that she met, probably giving her more attention from men than other women. She was even able to capture audiences with her amazing stories, like the one about the beginning of the world, and Red Wolf, the child of Tree and Hawk. Rebecca, though not as exotic as Werenro, also commanded much attention and authority than the other women. She was a rich, elderly, and wise woman, and other people recognized her as a powerful healer. Many patrons, both male and female, came to her daily, praising her and asking her for advice or to heal their beloved. Though Rebecca desplayed much arrogance to those who lived and worked with her, she showed surprising kindness to despairing mothers, such as the one who brought her dying baby to Rebecca. Although she could do nothing to save the child, she eased its pain and gave rest to his mother. However, she also showed distain to other patrons, even men. In the book, a man comes asking for her help in making his caravan prosperous. She denied him any help and bid him leave her tent, and he left running, "as if an army was chasing him." The way that Rebecca can assert her authority over both men and women shows that her social status is very high indeed; very close to royalty.
I myself am not drawn to these characters. Although they are interesting and indeed very different from the main women of the story, they seem to radiate some sort of personality which pushes me further. Werenro is an exception; I like her character, but she appears to little for me to have grown "attached" to her. Rebecca seems too arrogant for her own good; she has probably made herself many enemies and I believe she is wrong to think of others as lower than her (although it is probably true). The Deborahs seem to plain; not much detail was put into their personalities individually, and even in the book Dinah describes them as one whole, not individual servants.
Ryan Reynolds-
The classes of women change throughout the story, especially in this particular section of the reading. Werenro, Rebecca, and Rebeccas's Deborahs are examples of these different classes. Unlike the women we met earlier, Werenro serves a messenger for Rebecca, while the Deborahs tend to Rebecca's every need. Rebecca herself is the overseer, she is the oracle and helps heal peoples wounds. The women we meet earlier, Jacobs wives and others, do more domestic work which contributes to the whole family of Jacob, while Rebecca and her followers do work for Rebecca herself and work that mostly only benefits Rebecca. Since they are at a higher class, they wear nicer tunics and even the Deborahs have all matching white cloaks. Also, since being at a different level in class it leaves Rebecca to be more arrogant and very traditional. When Basemath does not do the proper offering with Tabea's blood after her first time in the red tent, she banishes Tabea from her sight.
Based on how Werenro, Rebecca, and the Deborahs do not act as friendly with the exception of Werenro, I do not find myself drawn to these characters. Everyone in the family of Jacob has a pretty good relationship besides the feud between Rachel and Leah. Rebecca is very arrogant and more of a perfectionist and wants everything done her way. Werenro although is a unique individual with her red hair and interesting stories. Due to the attitude of the new characters compared to those that we met earlier, the new characters do not compare.
Xander Teplansky-
I feel that the women that we meet in this new section, Rebecca, Werenro, and the Deborahs, are all very different that the women earlier in the story. The women earlier had there little community inwhich they lived in and grew up in. The purpose they had in the community was to give birth to sons and cook and clothe the family. This makes it so the community can go on and survive by its self. These are not the roles of the women we meet in the new section of reading. Werenro is a very different example of a woman in this book. She is a messanger, described as "exotic", who traveled the land communicating between communities and had stories and knowledge to share with the people. Rebecca is an old, rich, well known woman. she dresses up in purple robes, the color of royalty, and people look to her for advise, this is much different because back in the small communities the women were just there to give birth and help the children and men survive. She does have some characteristics of the women earlier like how she is a renound healer and helps witht the borthing process. Then there are the Deborahs. They are all servants to Rebecca. They are not treated badly, they all have nice robes, although they are all the same white robe. They all cook and entertain the higher people. They dont serve the purpose of having sons, which is opposite from the purpose of the women earlier in the book. They just serve to Rebecca's every need. In the words of Dinah: " the women spoke in shy whispers and dressed in the same plain white tunic. They were uniformly kind but distant, and i quickly stopped trying to see them as individuals and began to think of them all as Deborahs." This quote shows how they aren't even really human beings, and more as entities only in existance to serve. This is much different than the earlier women because each one had a purpose in the community and was there own self, but near the cities the women that did not have a high social ranking were nothing, only there to serve and not even be recognized. I am not attached to these women at all because the take life and view it in a totally different way. Although i am not that against Werenro because she is a kinder character and is a different side and i feel she will serve a bigger portion in the book as it goes on. Personally i feel that i am more drawn to the women of the early portion af the book.
nicole barr-
throughout the novel, women have played a central role in the story so far. however, their main job is to carry the domestic workload. leah, dinah, rachel, ziplah and bilhah all have to tend to the camp. they cook, clean, and work hard for the success of the whole camp, and deliver sons and daughters to carry on their lineage. despite the fact that there is little drama in their lives, and the closest thing they have to excitement is when a stranger comes into the camp, i still admire them and i am very attached to them. they expose their stories and though they are not adventurous and stick to what a woman character in the bible would normally be like, there is enough excitement just caring for all the people of jacob's family. however, when the family sets of on a journey to escape laban, they meet numerous new women that differ greatly from anything they have ever seen. first they meet wenero, an beautiful and exotic messenger with flowing red hair and an adventurous life. her free spirit captivates them, and i am also very attached to her, though she is not at all like the conventional female bible character. i am not at all attached to the next characters dinah and the crew meet, however- rebecca and the deborahs are as autonomous and cold as you can get. they are nothing like the conventional bible characters except in the fact that they are sometimes aloof (VOCAB WORD <3) and cruel. the deborahs hardly even live a live, and rebecca is waited on at all times, something that jacob's family would never even dream of. in the end, though rebecca and the deborahs may play a more noble or royal role in life, i still am more attached to wenero and the family of jacob.
Werenro, Rebecca and Rebecca's Deborahs have completely different roles from the first women we meet in the book. The main roles of the women in the book towards the beginning was mainly to cook and clean for the entire family, make more children and to weave. They were all very plain unlike Werenro who is the messenger and slave of Rebecca. She was described as very exotic. Dinah was entranced with her red hair and silvery dress. She seemed to draw a lot of attention to herself with her unique look, happy attitude and interesting stories. Rebecca, Jacob's mother is the Oracle of Mamre. She can see the future and has healing powers. She had a cosmetic box filled with different scents, perfumes, creams and breath mints. After Tabea is banished, Dinah thinks of Rebecca as cruel and heartless. Rebecca was very critical, looking down upon anyone who required rest. She favored Jacob, "praising his good looks and his fine sons." I think she makes herself misunderstood. Most of the time she is cruel to basically everyone, but she showed kindness when she helped the baby and its mother. She was able to make the baby smile and ease its pain and calme down the mother. Rebecca's Deborahs also had very different roles. They all dressed in white and shared the name, "Deborah." They took care of every little thing Rebecca needed, but they also sang and danced at festivals and important dinners. Their harmonies fascinated Dinah and others. Personally, I am not as drawn to the new characters as much as the ones in the earlier sections. Rebecca's harshness pushed me away and her Deborah's were somewhat interesting, but I don't know as much about them. I actually like Werenro's character because of her uniqueness, but I am more drawn to the other characters, because throughout the book ive gotten more attached to them and a lot of the book shows all of their different point of views which allows me to see different opinions on things.
~Juliana Fiore
Lauren Shea-
The women that we meet in this new section are in a higher level of society and have different roles. Rebecca, Rebecca's Deborahs, and Werenro each had different roles than Jacob's wives and the women we met at the beginning of the book. Rebecca was a healer, fortune teller, and of great power. Her power caused her to seem arrogant, but she helped many people. The Deborah's were like Rebecca's servants. They were similar to Jacob's wives as in they had to serve someone, but they were still in a higher social level and would wear white clothing. Werenro was a messanger for Rebecca. She also worked for Rebecca, but was also higher up on social level and had different jobs than the woman at the beginning of the book. Werenro went around calling people in to Rebecca's Tent. She was still serving someone, but doing different jobs than Jacob's wives. Jacob's wives, the women we met at the beginning of the book, served Jacob by giving him children and doing domestic chores. Some of the chores the women had to do were cook, clean, and take care of the children. They did the work around the house, or tent, while the men went out to the fields. I personally like the women that we met at the beginning of the book rather than the ones we just met. Jacob's wives and servants that we met seemed to be more real and lively. They made the best out of what they had and they seemed to get along better. The women at the beginning also seem more real life to me. They do thier own work and still have fun and enjoy themselves, unlike the Deborahs who are just there to serve Rebecca. The women that we met in this new section have different roles because of their social status, but because of personality and life roles i prefer the women we met at the beginning of The Red Tent.
Danielle Barney-
So far the women that we have been exposed to are Jacob's wives but in this section we are introduced to Rebecca's Deborahs. Up to this point the women have taken an extreme domestic role: they cook, weave, garden, etc. Rebecca's deborahs almost take on a modern and refreshing twist to the novel due to Werenro's appearance and Rebecca's job as an oracle. Werenro's appearance consists of red hair and piercings, which is a refreshing twist because all of the women so far have just had brown hair and no piercings. It is evident the Werenro's appearance is new because Dinah is bewildered when she first sees her. Dinah describes Werenro as,"Werenro was unlike anyone or anything in the world. I was enchanted." Rebecca's deborahs and Rebecca have interesting jobs that differ greatly from Jacob's wives. They are messengers and Rebecca is an oracle. Their jobs are abnormal compared to the other womens' jobs because they seem to live a more dangerous life being messengers. An example of how dangerous the job of a messenger is, is the fact that Werenro got murdered while on a job.
Michael Ficenec-
The women introduced in this section play a drastically different role in society compared to Jacob's wives. Jacob's wives tend to perform tasks such as weaving or harvesting that are somewhat primitive, since they are necessary to survive. The newly introduced women, perform tasks that are not required for survival and play a stronger religious and cultural role in society. For example, Rebecca only cooks once a week to provide a sacrifice for the gods and acts as a prophet. She also strays from the typical role of wives since she does not live with or rely on her husband, but only on other women, her Deborah's. All of these women do not attempt to serve men, and do not attempt to bear children, a main role of women at the time. The Deborahs and Worenro, who acts as a messenger, mostly function to serve Rebecca's needs and little else. The qualities of these women raise the status of women in biblical times, because Rebecca is seen as a prophet, and is respected by people from around the area who seek her advice. Also, her servants are well treated and don't live in squalor. Worenro even said she was the "World's happiest slave."
I do not find myself drawn to the newly introduced characters, because although they are new and have interesting lifestyles, they lack the strong social connection that Jacob's wives hold. On page 150 Dinah observes that,"They were uniformly kind but distant, and I quickly stopped trying to see them as individuals and began to think of them all as the Deborah's." So while Jacob's wives connect with each other and develop distinct relationships, the newer characters are distant and show little emotion or compassion towards on another.
Sarah Gittins
In Dinah's life when she was young, a woman's life revolved around the husband and men. The women cooked, weaved, grew gardens, etc. When Dinah begins her life with Rebecca, all of the women have a totally different role; these women live for themselves, not for men. There lives do not revolove around what the men want or need, only what they want or need. The Deborahs are still servants, but they are not concubines, they do not work for Issac, but for Rebecca. Wereno works for Rebecca but she has her own life where she is allowed to go different places and see different people without the need for a man to help her. I am not drawn to these characters at all because they do not have enough character to them. Although Wereno has a very interesting appearance and has exotic stories, she is not in the book long enough to actually grow attached to her. The Deborahs were "uniformly kind but distant" as Xander said before me. They don't seem very real to me and they don't stand out enough to really remeber much about them reading later in the book.
The women we meet at the beginning of The Red Tent are valued for their domestic abilities, such as cooking and spinning, and their ability to produce healthy sons for their husbands. Their jobs and roles in the family revolve around serving their men and aiding their fellow women in their required feilds, such as Rachel's job as a midwife represents.
Before we meet Rebecca, the removed and mysterious mother of Jacob and "the Grandmother" to all, she seems as if there could be no kinder soul in the world, for her job as oracle at Mamre is not only hard, but at times heartbraking.
The first time Dinah meets her Grandmother, she expects to immediately be the favorite of her father's children and doted on as most of her life as a favorite child of her mothers represents. But not only does the Grandmother remain distant and removed, she seems to not care about Dinah's presence in her tents to the point where she is outright rude.
To the other women, not showing hospitaltiy as the head of a house and a powerful woman is almost impossible to think of doing.
Werenro and the Deborahs also lead very different lives than those of the wives of Jacob. While Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, and Zilpah's lives revolve mostly around their domestic abilities, the lives of the Deborahs are almost completely encased in those responsabilities and of serving the Grandmother and her guests. They are women without men, and women almost completely without individual personalities. They are kind but withdrawn in everything they do.
Werenro is the exotic and beautiful messenger to the Grandmother, in a time when women serving as messengers and holding other "men's jobs" is unheared of. She, unlike the Deborah's, seems to be the definition of individuality, beauty, and has a fondness and kindness for everyone.
Hey Response #2
Nice work, overall -- you all did a great job deciphering the different roles the different "categories" of women filled in the novel. I am interested in why you think these qualities were incorporated into the novel. Yes, they have different roles and you all picked up on that very nicely, but I think Mike hit the nail on the head when he said "All of these women do not attempt to serve men, and do not attempt to bear children, a main role of women at the time...The qualities of these women raise the status of women in biblical times."
Things to think about:
Why would Diamant "raise the status" of these women? What does this do to the typical view of women? Other than the differences between their roles, what do these classes of women complicate in terms of the view of women in the novel and in Biblical times?
Kelsey Flaherty-
Wenero, Rebecca, and Rebeccc's Deborahs have much different roles as the women we met earlier. Jacob's wives did not have very intersting lives, but they were kind and good hearted. The women we read about in this section had more intersting lives, and places among society, but they seemed cold and cruel. Rebecca was an oracle, and people from all over came to her for their futures to be told and to be given advice. She was far more important and got much more respect than Jacobs wives who's only job was to take care of the house and give birth. Wenero was a messenger, a job that was almost always done by a man. The Deborah's were slaves, but they were dressed nicely and treated fairly, compared to Jacob's slaves. Also, there were no men in Rabecca's house, her husband lived in a seperate house, so Rebecca was the ruler of the house instead of a man. The qualities of the women we meet later in the book impact impact the role of women in biblical times because it portrays them as srtong, independent women who are capable of taking care of themselves instead of being weak and lesser than men. I am more drawn to the roles of these women because they lead more intresting lives, but I like the women of Jacob better because they are nicer and more open.
Hayley McKie
Wereno, Rebecca, and Rebecca's Deborahs greatly differ from those we met earlier. They all lead unique lives unlike those of the typical biblical woman. Personalities aside, the main point at which they differ is that they do not bear children like all other women. They have all found purpose outsite of that life. Rebecca has her Oracle and helps people such as the mother and the baby with withered legs.
Wereno serves as a messanger and has christenend herself the 'world's happiest slave'.
The Deborahs live only to serve Rebecca, giving up their names and becoming one uniform group. Though we don't see much personality in the Deborahs, Wereno and Rebecca also act differently than the other women. Wereno has red hair, something never seen before, and is a charming free-spirit. Rebecca is harsh, only bakes once a week, and acts like she is a queen.
The differences of these women provide a wider view on women from biblical times. Each one is unlike anything Dinah has ever encountered before and shows the readers that there was a life for women outside of childbearing. Though these characters are interesting, they are gone before the readers can develop an 'attachment' for their personas. Since we see through Dinah's eyes and perception, I like Wereno because she is charmingg, dislike Rebecca for Tabea's banishment, and forget the Deborahs once they are out of sight. I am much more drawn to the women in the earlier sections because I know their histories and all sides of their personalities.
Brendan Brits
Like others have said, at the beginning of the novel, while the women were the center point of the story, the role they played in society was minute. They were used for giving birth and household chores. Once you are introduced to the new characters, Wenenro, Rebbeca, and the Deborahs, you realise that this probably won't be the case for much longer.
Wenenro is a new kind of character in that she has a single purpose, and that is delivering messages for Rebecca. She is unlike the other women because she is not kept in the box of domestic responsibilities but has more of a role in society.
Rebbecca is the same, more so even. She is a wife and has the same role as the women from the beginning of the novel, just expanded. Her major role is that of a healer and care giver. She is forceful and controls both men and women, like when the man came for help and she sent him away running.Rebbecca is a powerful woman, moreso than any other women we have met so far. She exerts her power somewhat arrogantly but also with kindness and gentleness. She always wears the nicer clothes and perfumes than other women too.
The Deborahs, i think, are not that different than the characters from the first part of the novel.
A major difference these three characters have with the first characters is how much description is given of them. Even though Wenenro, Rebecca, and the Deborahs are either minor characters or characters we have not experienced that much of yet, we know almost as much about their appearence and role than we do the other women. Dinah calls Wenenro "exotic", describes what the Deborah's wear, and talks about Rebbecca. This, i believe, is because dinah is not intimate with these characters like her mothers, and as such explains these new creatures like she is seeing them for the first time, which she is.
As a person, i am not drawn to these characters, especially if i was a man in this time, because it is outside of the normality of life and also the women, mostly REbbecca, are quite arrogant with their power. However, as a reader, i am drawn to them because of the twist the put on the novel and also how they add interest to it.
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