• RECAP OF THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER

Elements of a Plot

1. Exposition: Provides the background information of the story. The information may include the characters, place of event and time settings

2. Crisis: It arises in a plot when problems begin to unfold. It brings complications and conflicts. Once the conflicts appear, tension rises as the story moves towards its resolution

Elements of a Plot

3. Resolution: As the story moves from crisis to resolution, the plot descend rapidly from its climax to a solution of the original conflicts

4. Conclusion: It sums up the outcome of the story or the fate of the protagonist in the wake of the resolution. Often the conclusion is marked by someone who returns home or leaves for another destination.

The People Who Makes The Story Interesting

CHAPTER FOUR

Who are these people?

They are the characters of the story. Old Testament focuses more on action, the characters involved in the story supply the reason for our interest

A rabbinic saying quips “God made people because He loves stories”

Our interest in stories reverts us to the characters because we mostly identify stories with the character’s names.

• The story of Ruth

• The story of David

• The story of Judah – Tamar

• The story of Sampson

• The story of Abraham

• The story Of Cain and Abel

Popular examples of narratives in the Old

Testament

• Interpreting Old Testament narrative requires us to specify the function of characters in relationship to the plot.

How do we know the characters?

1. By Classifying the Characters

• In OT, interpreters should be able to differentiate between major and minor characters and categories the main characters based on their role in the narrative

• The Western Literary Analysis suggests the following character types

• Protagonist• Antagonist• Foil

Definitions

• Protagonist: A leading Character or the main figure and one of the most prominent figures in a drama, movie, novel or other functional text

• Antagonist: A person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something

• Foil: A character who contrasts with another character, usually the protagonist in order to highlight particular qualities of the other character

Classifying The Characters

• MAJOR CHARACTERS

– PROTAGONIST

– ANTAGONIST

– FOIL

• MINOR CHARACTERS

These are people in a story who are not the

main point of the story, but still interact with or

grab the attention of the main characters

What’s the reason for classifying the characters?

The idea is to not to reduce a character to a label, but to clarify what role a narrator assigns to a particular character in a particular story

Examples

• David’s Story (1 Samuel 16)Samuel Anoints David

• David Protagonist

• Saul Antagonist and Foil

• 1 Samuel 25David, Nabal and Abigail

• David Protagonist• Nabal Antagonist who opposes David• Abigail Foil (contrasting David’s desire

for retaliation)

What do we do after classifying the characters?

• Ryken explains that readers must go through the story as a “travelling companion of the protagonist” and view this protagonist as “someone who undertakes an experiment in living”

2. Means of Characterization

Here, Characters may be presented by means of description, through their actions, speech,

thoughts and interactions with other characters.

The characterization in Old Testament narrative resembles a quick pencil sketch, but the

biblical storytellers do not concern themselves with the vivid depiction

Methods of Characterization

A. Direct Description: The purpose of character description in the Bible is not to enable the reader to visualize the character, but to situate the character in terms of his place in the society, his own particular situation and his outstanding traits.

In summary,TO TELL WHAT KIND OF A PERSON HE IS

Biblical Examples

I) Judges 3:15 – 17The description of Ehud as “left handed” and Eglon as “very fat” prepares the reader for Ehud’s successful attempt to sneak an undetected sword (because it was strapped to the side of his body opposite that of most men) into Eglon’s quarters and assassinate him

II) Genesis 39:6The reference to Joseph’s good looks also accounted for the sexual advance made by Portiphar’s wife

Methods of Characterization

B. ActionsBiblical narrators SHOWS us rather than TELL us. Much attention is placed on the characters' actions because it reveals their nature.

Biblical Example

I) 1 Samuel 1:6-7(NIV) “Because the LORD had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat”

This kind of actions clearly shows that, the rival (Peninnah) is a bitter and Jealous woman even though the narrators does not say exactly

Methods of Characterization

C. Names: OT narratives character’s names play a very significant role.Ska points out, “A very common way to ‘characterize’ a personage is to give him or her a name.”

Examples to shows how names contributes to characterization

I) Genesis 21:1-7Sarah’s laughter of joy at her son’s birth replaces her laughter of disbelief (Gen 18:12}. God, of course, gets the last laugh when Abraham follows his command in Genesis 17:19 and names the boy Isaac which means “laughter”

II)Names of characters contribute to the author’s intent by highlighting character qualities, but they also form puns and create irony as in the book of Ruth where Naomi whose name means “pleasant one” demonstrate the irony of her name when she responded angrily to the women of Bethlehem who called out her name when she returns

• Ruth 1:20 “But she said to them, ‘Do not call me Pleasant One. Call me Bitter One because

Shaddai has made me extremely bitter

D. Designation:Sternberg suggests, “A character’s emergence from anonymity may correlate with a rise of importance. It is no accident that the text (1 Samuel 16:1-13) consistently withholds David’s name till the very moment of anointment and elevation

• Designations contribute to characterization and may betray how one character is perceived by the narrator or by other

characters.

3. Dialogue

• In studying OT narratives, interpreters must also focus on the statements and speeches made by characters.Eg Esau’s blunt request for stew in Genesis portrays him as a man controlled by their cravings

• While speech dominates, interpreters should expect it to be compressed

Bar-Efrat explains that,

“Conversations in biblical narrative are never precise and naturalistic imitations of real life conversation. They are highly concentrated

and stylized, are devoid of idle chatter, and all the details they contain are carefully calculated to fulfil a clear function”

• Dialogue is made to carry a large part of the freight of meaning

• Example• Abraham’s response to Isaac when Isaac asks him

where is the lamb for the burnt offering . His answer, “ God himself will provide the lamb for the sacrifice, ” foreshadows the outcome and supplies the conviction by which he passes God’s test. (Genesis 22:8)

• Now, we can study the people that make the story interesting to us by classifying them and noticing how the narrator has characterized them.

• THANK YOU