Auctioning+Off+Impatience

 **AUCTIONING OFF IMPATIENCE**
**When one thinks of the concept of a "god" he will usually conjure up words such as omnipotent, omnipresent, or omniscient--words which point towards an all powerful and all knowing figure. Because of this implication of "greatness" many people can infer from these illustrations in the Bible that God is therefore a fair and just god; one who does the right thing. However, if examined in great detail as was done this past year, one would be shocked to find that God does not follow through with the fairness that many people expected, and in fact, God ironically acts puerile in many cases as viewed from man's perspective. ** **

This project was designed to create a "conversation that never happened" within a certain Biblical narrative to portray personalities from two characters. Therefore, the project consists of an original dialouge script, an analysis of each character, an analysis of the script, an audio-cast of the script, and a reflection on the project's assembly. The topic of this project focuses on the fraternal conflict between Esau and Jacob, God's favoring of Jacob over the elder Esau, and the justification of trickery. **

media type="file" key="davidrodgersaudio.mp3" width="240" height="20"
 * AUDIO CAST **

=
**DIALOUGE ** ======

**[At an Auction]

[Noise of crowd]

Jacob: [Gavel pounding] Order, order...Welcome to the annual Sheep-Herder's Auction...today we have a bowl of lentil stew and some bread. We'll start the bidding at one sheep's skin.

Man 1: Two sheep's skins!

Jacob: Alright that's two sheep's skins for a bowl of lentil stew and some bread from the man in the red on the right. Two sheep skins going once....Going--

Man 2: Wait! One female concubine!

Jacob: One female concubine! Thank you sir on the left! Anyone to bid higher?

Man 1: You can't out do me....3 herds of sheep!

Man 2: Oh no you don't...I'll put 10 herds of sheep on that bowl of lentil stew and that bread.

Jacob: 10 whole herds of sheep for that lentil stew? Are you sure thats it? I mean it's fresh, and we got some warm bread to go with it.

Man 1: He's right! I think 20 herds plus my first wife is more like it! [muttering under his breath] that old hag doesn't do anything anyways...

Jacob: Ok you guys are getting better but still how much is your hunger really worth? be honest...

Man 2: My hunger's worth my whole herds of cattle--

Man 1: My family--

Man 2: My entire estate--

[Door Opening]

[Esau staggers in]

[Door slamming shut]

Esau: What's going on here?!

Jacob: [Matter of factly] Well, these two nice men were just bidding on this bowl of lentil stew and warm bread I made...right out of the oven...we're up to an entire estate! but still...[personally directed at Esau] don't you think it could go higher** // **Esau** // **?

Esau: [sputtering] well, well, I mean I'm starved but what do I have in return...? I got livestock, money, property, my wives, you want them? or my birthright or--

Jacob: What was the last one...?

Esau: uhh my uh birthright? yeah yeah sure take it...I'm famished, just got back from hunting birds.

Jacob: [To himself] You were always the hunter, Esau, but I'm afraid this time I'm the one who's killed two birds with one stone. [To bidders] ok we have one birthright for stew and bread. Anyone to raise?

Man 1 and Man 2: [muttering amongst themselves]

Man 1: You're Crazy!

Man 2: Even your hunger isn't worth your birthright!!! What'll your father think?!

Esau: Silence you insolent fools!!

[dramatic music]

Jacob: One birthright going once! twice! Three times!! [gavel] And sold to my crazy, hairy brother in the hunter's attire.**

**CHARACTER and ARTWORK ANALYSIS **
**Due to Esau's laziness, he makes impulsive decisions when confronted with problems. In the anonymous painting entitled "Esau's Birthright", the artist depicts Jacob kneeling next to a pot with his hand overturned, while Esau slouches against a rock with his hand lazily extended. This "slouch" depicts not only physical laziness, but mental laziness as well since Esau expects to receive instead of working himself as is defined by his lazy posture. This motif of laziness leads to the theme of deceit which is important because deception filters out those who deceive and those who are deceived which demonstrates God's exclusiveness and the motif of the "chosen one". Another example of the "laziness" motif can be referenced from the story of Joseph when Joseph stays at home instead of working out in the fields with his brothers because he himself is the "chosen one" of his father, Jacob. Although laziness may not be in and of itself bad, the effects of laziness reap harsh consequences.

After returning from hunting, a famished Esau confronts his brother Jacob who is preparing lentil stew telling him that "I [Esau] am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?" [Gen. 25.32] This idea of a "use" is a very important theme throughout the whole book of Genesis because it implies future consequences relating to a crucial dependent action by the character. When Esau dismisses the "use" of his birthright, although there might have not been a real physical use, he is setting the stone for the patriarchal line to follow through Jacob instead of himself. Another example of dismissing the "use" of something at first glance can again be illustrated in the story of Joseph, when his brothers fake his death by dipping his coat in animals blood, without thinking of the consequential pain that it causes their father. This common idea of instant gratification and no forward thinking precipitates a lot of problems that could have been avoided if thought through more. ** **

Since Jacob is naturally patient, he opens up and takes advantage of many opportunities to also manipulate. If one views the same anonymous painting, "Esau's Birthright", he or she will notice that Jacob embodies the cultural values of women of that time, in the sense that he is the one serving the food. But, the cultural value extends even farther than that in the sense that like women's use of trickery and deceit to harness power, Jacob does too, by manipulating Esau to achieve his goals. This motif of patience runs deep in the book of Genesis as seen by its overall value. For example, God's lack of patience was self-condemned after the flood, when he made a ****promise to Noah that he would never destroy the human race with a flood ever again, showing a ****maturity in his character.

** **In the same way that Esau's laziness precipitates negative consequences, Jacob's patience comparably produces benefits. Jacob's manipulative behavior becomes increasingly evident when he manipulates Esau, to the point where "Esau despised his birthright" [Gen. 25.33]. This truly is the prime example of the great extent to which Jacob is manipulative because he was able to sway Esau's opinion on his ** **//own //** **birthright something that was typically cherished back in those days. However, instead of cherishing it, Esau treats it as if it were a common thing, not only displaying his own profane attitude, but also Jacob's ability to manipulate others. Another example of this manipulative trickery in the Bible is illustrated by the story of Abraham, when he deceives both King Abimelach and Pharaoh about the identity of his wife, Sarah, in order to protect himself. The prevalence of the common motif of deceit for personal gain or safety, shows how humans will revert to self-protection when confronted with individual danger. **

=**DIALOUGE ANALYSIS **=


 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> The script "Auctioning off Impatience" demonstrates two traits from the protagonist, Jacob. First his patience is seen when he starts the bidding and controls it to the point where he asks the men who are bidding on the food "how much is your hunger really worth?" (Rodgers 1). Jacob, like any good businessman does not immediately jump for the first enticing offer for his product. Instead, he waits for the best deal, which could mean passing up many decent offers. [[image:http://www.jewcy.com/files/u1853/RiskNotTakingRisksCartoon.jpg width="300" height="266" align="left" caption="One must take risks to succeed"]]Rodgers uses the progression of value in the items offered by the men to illustrate Jacob's strong patient personality up to the point where Esau enters the auction, because it's easy to pick a valuable offer, especially when the stakes rise consistently. If one looks at a stock these days, he might notice that people will pull out their investments at high points, because they don't want to lose money when it suddenly crashes. In contrast, Jacob's investment in his auction is consistent showing his patience and willingness to take risks.

Additionally, Jacobs deception is evident when he persuades Esau to trade his birthright asking Esau, "don't you think it [the price] could go higher?" (Rodgers 2). The rhetorical device used in Jacob's line demonstrates that Jacob knows that he has already made a fair deal with the two other men bidding, with the previous bid at an entire estate because he focuses his attention away from the beguiled men and towards the hungry Esau. However, Jacob understands the power of his deception, and it is this understanding that enables him to ask Esau this question. An interesting note in the script and dialouge audio cast is that Rodgers illustrates Esau's character so that Esau immediately accepts without further thought. Although this overeager personality is reflectance on Esau's self control trait, it also gives evidence for Jacob's strong use of language to set up a difficult question to turn down. **


 * <span style="background-color: #000080; color: #0076ff; display: block; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">REFLECTION **
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> By far the most difficult part of this project was organizing my time and when to do what section. **<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">[[image:http://www.secularstudents.org/files/time%20to%20organize.jpg width="168" height="280" align="right"]] **<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">As there are a substantial ****<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">amount of aspects to the project, such as the recording, various analyses, researching information about the artist, and then this, the reflection, it all came down to managing my time well, as opposed to the quality of the work. Even as I right this, I still have not recorded the audio for my dialouge, with the due date ever so quickly approaching.

Other difficult parts of this project included finding the artist for the picture of analysis. I ended up having to take a guess at who the artist was, as the "anonymous" illustration came from a 19th century children's Bible. That being said, instead of having a definite idea on who the artist is, as was the requirement, I guessed and explained my reasoning (see below, **//**<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">ABOUT the ARTIST). **//**<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">However, as it is with every project or assignment, the main goal is to learn as much as one can, both the good and the bad, so he doesn't make the same mistakes again and isolating the good as well, so he can focus on other areas that need work. All in all however, I believe that this was a successful project in the sense that even as the year winds down, I am still growing as a person and as a writer. **

**<span style="background-color: #000080; color: #0076ff; display: block; font-size: 20px; text-align: center;">ABOUT the ARTIST **
**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 121%;">Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> (b. 1836-d.1912) was a Dutch painter who later moved to Britian. He focussed mainly in the realms ****<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> of ** **<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Classical and Medieval art, **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">**<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">especially that of Ancient Rome. Although his artwork mostly reflects the Victorian era, he did delve into ** **<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Old Testament Biblical stories a bit and created a small set of Biblical scenes. Much of his inspiration derives from sketches at museums where he carefully copied the friezes, sculptures or other artwork and based his paintings off those. **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> **<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Although the picture of analysis in this project is unknown and therefore authored "Anonymous", I came to the conclusion that Alma-Tadema authored it for several reasons. First, the subject matter matches with his other paintings including the small set of Biblical scenes he created. Secondly, although there is substantial difference in the type of detail compared with his other paintings which could stand as a reason as to why he is not the artist, the meticulous shading and shadows still hold true in his other pictures and this one. **

=**<span style="background-color: #000080; color: #0076ff; display: block; font-size: 20px; text-align: center;">SOURCES **=

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**Information**

Kennedy, Graham D. //The Bible illustration blog.// N.p., 9 May 2009. Web. 19 May 2010. <http://bibleillustration.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-favorite-bible-artists-9.html>.

//Lawrence_Alma-Tadema.// 19th century. //Wikipedia//. Web. 19 May 2010. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/ wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Lawrence_Alma-Tadema_edit.jpg/489px-Lawrence_Alma-Tadema_edit.jpg>.

//The New Oxford Annotated Bible.// Ed. Marc Z Brettler, Carol A Newsom, and Pheme Perkins. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2007. Print.


 * Pictures**

Birds_Patience. 21st century

Calculated Risks. 21st century.

Dane Communications Inc. Killing two Birds with One stone. 21st century.

ESAU'S BIRTHRIGHT. 19th century.

Jacob Serving Food. 20th century.

Judge’s Gavel. 20th century.

LENTIL_and_BREAD. 21st century.

SEAC. What Time is it? 21st century.