Today I want to talk about style. As mentioned in my first post, Diamant's writing style is very descriptive. This is exemplified by the amount of similes Diamant packs into her imagery. Her use of similes also helps to fully characterize, define, and immortalize all of her characters, even the ones who only appear for a brief amount of time. One example of this is this description of a child Leah loses in Succoth: "Her eyelids were veined like a butterfly's wing, her toes curled like the petals of a flower" (Diamant, 140). Because the similes are able to make this imagery so vivid, it helped me to remember this inconsequential character.
Beyond that, because I'm now halfway done with The Red Tent, I feel more comfortable commenting on the motifs that are beginning to make themselves present. Some motifs I've noticed include: the color red, water, and the word sweet. I'm not going to spend any time discussing the color red motif, as I believe it is one of the more obvious and over discussed motifs of the novel. Instead, I am interested in the last two motifs.
The motif of the word sweet is my favorite, and one of the reasons why is because it doesn't really seem like it should be a motif (perhaps this will remind you of the peeing motif in Song of Solomon). However, I have chosen to call the word sweet a motif because of how much it is repeated in the novel. Its first appearance is on the last page of the prologue. Dinah describes her heart as "a ladle of sweet water, brimming over" (Diamant, 3). After that, the word sweet is greatly associated with Dinah's aunt, Rachel. In my previous description of Rachel, I mentioned how Rachel's nickname is "Tuki, which means 'sweetness'" (Diamant, 9). And now, in the second quarter of the book, Rachel is connected to the word sweet again: "I stayed by her side until nightfall[...]and woke in the morning to find myself covered by her sweet-scented cloak" (Diamant, 100).
Per my curiosity, I attempted to look up how many times the word sweet appears in the Bible. My attempts were fruitless, but I did find many Bible verses containing the word. My source is the website Knowing Jesus, and here are some examples: "How sweet are Your words to my taste!" and one that makes a smooth transition to the next motif: "And the waters became sweet." The word sweet seems to be an apt descriptor the Bible would use for its women, especially given that the women's stories are not paid enough attention to in the Bible (which is one of the reasons The Red Tent was written). I also feel that it works well as a motif because it alludes to the actual tone and language of the Bible.
Per my curiosity, I attempted to look up how many times the word sweet appears in the Bible. My attempts were fruitless, but I did find many Bible verses containing the word. My source is the website Knowing Jesus, and here are some examples: "How sweet are Your words to my taste!" and one that makes a smooth transition to the next motif: "And the waters became sweet." The word sweet seems to be an apt descriptor the Bible would use for its women, especially given that the women's stories are not paid enough attention to in the Bible (which is one of the reasons The Red Tent was written). I also feel that it works well as a motif because it alludes to the actual tone and language of the Bible.
While reading these next eighty or something pages of The Red Tent, I could not get the story of Percy Jackson out of my mind. This was brought on by something Imma said to Dinah: "'You are a child of water. Your spirit answered the spirit of the river. You must live by a river someday, Dinah. Only by a river will you be happy'" (Diamant, 112). There is one Percy Jackson scene in particular that makes sense here. Of course, I can only think of the movie version, so I don't remember if this actually happened in the books. In any case, there is a scene where Percy's hand gets cut, and he immediately crawls towards the water to heal himself.
In The Red Tent, water is a highly present motif. It is discussed alongside concepts such as blood, peeing, sisterhood, and more, but most importantly, it is discussed in Dinah's times of strife. Dinah finds water when she seemingly needs it: leaving her home, meeting Esau for the first time, and after Jacob was beaten. It was intriguing to read about a motif so seemingly linked to an individual character, and I believe if I follow the path of this motif, I will be able to learn more about Dinah.
I would like to end my post today with a recommendation. If you enjoyed reading The Red Tent or think you would like to read it, I also recommend reading Snowflower and the Secret Fan. The Chinese culture has something very similar to the red tent in this culture, and it is also a story of feminism and sisterhood.
Thanks for reading! See you next time.
In The Red Tent, water is a highly present motif. It is discussed alongside concepts such as blood, peeing, sisterhood, and more, but most importantly, it is discussed in Dinah's times of strife. Dinah finds water when she seemingly needs it: leaving her home, meeting Esau for the first time, and after Jacob was beaten. It was intriguing to read about a motif so seemingly linked to an individual character, and I believe if I follow the path of this motif, I will be able to learn more about Dinah.
I would like to end my post today with a recommendation. If you enjoyed reading The Red Tent or think you would like to read it, I also recommend reading Snowflower and the Secret Fan. The Chinese culture has something very similar to the red tent in this culture, and it is also a story of feminism and sisterhood.
Thanks for reading! See you next time.
Hi Clara!
ReplyDeleteI really liked this second blog post, and I especially enjoyed your reference to Percy Jackson (I don't know how to italicize). In relation to that, I know you said that you looked forward to following the motif and learning more about Dinah. I was wondering if you had any predictions of the role that water might play in the future or if you think that it has any specific meaning to Dinah right now.
-Lily
Lily,
DeleteThank you for your comments. It is my hope that because the water has followed Dinah along her journey thus far, it will continue to be a sign of reassurement for her in her adulthood in Egypt (as foreshadowed in the family tree at the beginning of the novel).
Clara,
ReplyDeleteNice job weaving in other texts to your discussion of The Red Tent. I can see how Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is linked, as we learn a lot about the female view of history that is often overlooked.
Do you see the use of the word "sweet" in this book as different from its use in the Bible, as the Bible seems to use it (based on your description) as the only way to view women, which is certainly not the case for this version of the Bible's figures, where the women are far more complex figures?
Mrs. LaClair,
DeleteI definitely see the use of the word sweet as different from the use in the Bible. I think, like how you described the complexity of the women in The Red Tent, this motif is also complex. The word is often associated with wine or beer. I think this is an example of culture for the novel. At other times, I feel that the word sweet is akin to hope and change, as seen in this quotation: "It was a golden week, every day sweeter, every day sadder too," (Diamant, 18) or when they treated Adah's dead body with "sweet-smelling herbs (Diamant, 23).