Everything is biblical..whether you like it or not

Christianity is one of, if the not the biggest influence on all aspects of Western culture. It was bound to work it's way onto the pages we read. Almost all literature has a biblical reference to be made, whether it was intended or not, and HtRLLaP stressed that fact. Some of the greatest literature of all time has included (and probably unintentionally) Christian figures in parables in their plot. Archetypes such as the lamb, burning bush, rivers, etc. are commonly used to indicate a Christian presence. In William Blake's coinciding poems "The Lamb " and "The Tyger", there are strong Christian indications. In the Lamb the character that is narrating is praising towards God and the "lamb" (Jesus). You could also make an argument in "The Tyger" that the narrator is describing the creation of the Devil by the same God who made the Jesus.

In the book Beloved, there are many biblical references. Probably the most notable one was the one of the the four horsemen who come riding up to her home. In a frenzy, Sethe, the main character, kills her two year old daughter. This might not make any rational sense, but if you dig a little deeper, you might see why it made sense to her. In biblical terms, the four horsemen bring about the Apocalypse. In this book, the fourth horseman carries a rifle. In the Bible, the fourth horseman is Death himself.

One lesser known, but still important, biblical stories is contained within John Steinbeck's East of Eden. This is the story of Cain and Abel, the world's first sons. Cain becomes jealous of Abel, and commits the first murder. In Steinbeck's work, Charles is our Cain and Adam is our Abel. Charles becomes jealous of his brother and attacks him, bur doesn't kill him. Later Adam becomes his biblical counterpart, and has two sons that take up the Cain and Abel roles. Cal and Aron are the sons, with some allusion to the biblical character's name, as Cal represents Cain and Aron represents Abel. Cal also becomes jealous of his brother, and his hurtful actions lead Aron to join the military, leading to his ultimate demise in WWI. Cal's response on his brother's whereabouts also parallels Cain's response. Cal's response is "Am I supposed to look out for him?" while Cain's was "Am I my brother's keeper?"



There are countless other examples throughout all genres of literature. You don't have to be a biblical scholar to pick up on these allusions, but now that I know what to look for, I've started enjoying and understanding literature a lot more throughly than before.