From: wnoe@en.ecn.purdue.edu (Bill Noe)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Job and melodrama
Date: 24 Jul 92 20:06:55 GMT
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network

During the discussion of melodrama in _The Jungle_, I wrote:

> This discussion of melodrama calls to mind my senior year of high school.  Our
> English class read and discussed _The Book of Job_.  This was melodrama at its
> finest (and also, from my experience, very troublesome for Christians...)  I
> have not yet read _The Jungle_, though it has been recently added to my
> reading list, but I suspect that its melodrama sha'n't compare to that of
> _Job_.

Then, in a very confrontational article, rauser@fraser.sfu.ca (Richard John
Rauser) wrote:

>   Someone in the Sinclair discussion mentioned Job so I thought I'd
>start a new thread. This person stated that the book of Job was one
>of the most  melodramatic things he had read and very troubling for
>Christians. 

If you look at the excerpt from MY article, you'll see that I didn't claim that
_Job_ was troublesome for all Christians, merely that, "FROM MY EXPERIENCE,"
this seems to be the case.  (Mr. Rauser: please feel free to excerpt, or at
least to paraphrase accurately, next time.)

[The remainder of the excerpts come directly from Mr. Rauser's article...]


>    There's nothing wrong with using terms like melodrama, but before
> you use them, please know what you're talking about. 

>    As to the meldrama [sic], this is a ridiculous statement. For something
> to be melodramatic there has to be an unbelievable level of drama used
> for the sole purpose of manipulating emotion.

Below I've included definitions of melodrama and melodramatic (a la Webster.)

melo.dra.ma \'mel-*-.dra:m-*, -.dram-\ \.mel-*-'dram-*t-*st, -'dra:m-\ n
   [modif. of F me`lodrame, fr. Gk melos + F drame drama, fr. L]L drama 1: an
   extravagantly theatrical play in which action and plot predominate over
   characterization 2: melodramatic events or behavior - melo.dra.ma.tist n

melo.dra.mat.ic \.mel-*-dr*-'mat-ik\ \-i-k(*-)le-\ aj 1: of, relating to,
   or characteristic of melodrama 2: sensational in situation or action -
   melo.dra.mat.i.cal.ly av

Nowhere in either of these definitions is there any mention of "an unbelievable
level of drama used for the sole purpose of manipulating emotion."  (I do,
however, agree that one should know what the terms mean before using them, Mr.
Rauser...  They don't necessarily mean what one would like them to...)  In
light of the definitions shown above, which are very similar to those I learned
in my literature class, I believe that _Job_ is melodramatic...  Perhaps a
discussion of this would be more fruitful than a thoughtless dismissal (that
is, if there is interest...)

> "Melodramatic" is usually used to refer to actions and events.

According to whom?  "Melodramatic" is an adjective, therefore it refers to
nouns...  "_The Book of Job_", believe it or not, is a noun...

>    As for the book being troubling for Christians, I don't see why it
>would.

Assuming that Mr. Rauser means "...I don't see why it would be troubling for
Christians," my response is as follows:

In _The Book of Job_, it seems as though God forsook Job in order to prove
Satan wrong.  Had Satan not badgered God, Job may have been spared much
suffering.  Certainly, God knew whether Job would pass the "tests," (since He's
omniscient) so the only conceivable reason for conducting them was for Satan's
benefit.  If God is benevolent and just, He would not allow needless suffering,
nor, presumably, suffering for Satan's benefit...

>   Pretty troubling, huh?

Yes.  Even more troubling than unreasonable (and confrontational) responses...
>
>   Sigh.

Get a clue...
>
>Richard J. Rauser    "Sonic 2!"


...B
-- 
wnoe@ecn.purdue.edu
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"What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather
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