A NARRAIVE READING OF GENESIS 39

A NARRATIVE READING OF GENESIS 39

A narrative simply tells a story. Criticism on the other hand is the activity of making fair ,careful judgment about the good and bad qualities of something ,especially books. Therefore, narrative criticism is a method of interpretation which usually includes at least a setting, a plot, and characterization of actors,( Tucker, 1976). This method (narrative criticism) is mostly applicable to those stories that are written in story form. This essay therefore is aimed at giving critical analysis of the story of Joseph in Egypt in Pot’sphar’s house. Much attention shall be paid to the plot, characterization, point of view taken by the narrator, and other minor features including the climax and the theme.

To begin with, this text falls under the category of prose fiction. Prose fiction comprises novels, short stories, and novellas, with “fiction” implying an inverted story which ,however, though not true, reflects a reality of life, ( Dlamini, 2004). Dlamini (2004) also says that prose fiction includes orally transmitted stories, fables, myths, legends, anecdotes, etc. So , the story in Genesis chapter 39 is easy to interpret using the narrative form of interpretation because its is written in story form.

SETTING

Setting of the story can be defined as “the place where the action takes place and where the characters are, and the period when the events takes place, as well as the type of society they live in and their socio-economic circumstances”.( Dlamini, I bid : 34). The reader must understand most of the events and experiences portrayed in a story within their specific geographical and socio-cultural contexts. Precisely, this story of Joseph is set in Egypt, in the house of Potiphar. This was during a time when people, mostly the rich, used to buy themselves slaves to work in their houses, fields, etc. Joseph found himself being carted off to Egypt as a slave as a result of feuding and jealousy among his father Jacob’s family, ( Drane, 1992). It is also said in Genesis 39 that in Potiphar’s house Joseph was made overseer and was put in charge of all that his master had.

PLOT
Plot can be defined as the “the sum total of the incidents, events, and episodes which make up the narrative. It refers to the way incidents, events, and episodes are arranged, showing a causal relationship to one another ( Dlamini, I bid :22-23). The following elaborated points can be said to be the ones that make up the plot, or rather the story line of Genesis chapter 39, in terms of plot progression.

Joseph staying freely in Potiphar’s house
The first few verses of Genesis 39 give a highlight of the life of Joseph in Potiphar’s house. Joseph , when he arrived there, was welcomed warmly by the master of the house. He became a successful man. It is even said, in verse 5 of this chapter that “from the time that Joseph was made overseer in Potiphar’s house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake.”

Joseph refusing to lie with his master’s wife.
Because Joseph was handsome and good looking young man, after some time his master’s wife fell in live with him and could no longer control her feelings for him. However, Joseph refused to do what he saw to be wrong before the eyes of his creator, God. Drane (1992) says unlike those who had a more settled existence, these wondering tribes were never tempted to think of their faith in God as something that was to be locked up in a temple or some other sacred place. It was something that went with them and affected their everyday life wherever they happened to be.

Potiphar’s wife insisting on Joseph to lie with her. Despite the efforts put by Joseph in trying to refuse the woman’s idea, Portiphar’s wife proceeded to try force Joseph to lie with her. It is said in verse eleven that one day when none of the men of the house was there, she caught him by garment saying “lie with me”. Still , Joseph refused and this time around he even had to flee from the house, leaving garment behind, in the woman’s hands. More to that , it can be said this section of the story is the one that constitutes the climax of the story. Also the theme of the story , which is faithfulness to God in whatever situation is revealed in this part of the story.

Portiphar’s wife putting the blame on Joseph.
This is where the story starts to decline. After Joseph had left ,Potiphar’s wife is said to have quickly called the men of the household and told them a lie about Joseph. She twisted the things and said that Joseph was the one who wanted to lie with her. She even said that the reason why Joseph ran away was because she lifted up her voice and cried loudly. When her husband came back, she told him the same thing that she had told the other men. This was lie because Joseph never wanted to lie with her, but she herself wanted to.

Portiphar angry with Joseph and taking him to prison.
This story has a sad ending. Joseph who had been loved and trusted by Potiphar, is taken to prison by Potiphar himself. The very sad part of it is that he had committed no offence to anyone. his being shut in prison can however be seen as a blessing in disguise. While still in prison, God did not cease to meet his deepest personal and emotional needs. It is said in subsequent chapters that he became an interpreter of dreams, and that he even interpreted the Pharaoh’s dream while he was in prison. This shows that God was still with him even in prison because he ( Joseph ) remained faithful to God when he encountered trying situations.

CHARACTERIZATION

Trimmer (1998) defines characterization as the process, art, method or device writers use to create or invent, “reveal and develop” the people who inhabit the world of fiction and drama. There are minor characters and there are also major characters. The main character ,also called the protagonist in this story is Joseph. The whole story is centered around him. Joseph is fully developed in this story. The writer has revealed his physiological, psychological and sociological aspects. The main character is important in any piece of work because usually the views of the narrator are transmitted through him or her.

Through the narrator’s portrayal of his or her characters, the reader can learn a lot of things. Characterization makes a reader to be in a position to easily understand a story, for example ,the character Joseph portrayed in this story makes the reader to conclude that he was faithful and obedient man before his Lord. Even bitter circumstances did not tempt him to change from what really was. This is revealed through his actions in a story. The character given to each actor in a story helps the reader to understand certain aspects of life through that particular actor. It can also be said that Potiphar’s wife is the antagonist in the story as she is presented totally different from the protagonist , Joseph. She is the one who leads the downfall of Joseph. Her behavior in the story is presented in a way that does not please the reader. She is portrayed as a liar, lustful and unfaithful person. She is even ruled by jealousy as she is the one who made Joseph end up being imprisoned by his master who had loved and cherished him prior to this sad incident.

The other characters in the story are flat characters, meaning that they are not fully developed. These include Potiphar himself, the men of his household, the prisoners and the keepers of the prison. Where a main character features in the main action ( or plot ) of a literary work and thus plays a central role, minor characters feature in the supportive or minor or secondary roles or action of the work, (Dlamini, I bid : 29). Their role is to help the reader see and understand the main characters easily. Their role is also of some sort of importance, but much attention is paid into the main characters who feature in the main action of a literary work.

POINT OF VIEW
Dlamini ( 2004 ) has this to say about point of view; It refers to the position of the narrator in the literary work or the angle from which the events unfold. Point of view also refers to a character taken at a standpoint in relation to issues raised in the work. Lastly, point of view refers to the overall orientation of a literary work; it establishes a writer’s demonstrated social vision or perspective. To establish on position of the narrator, Dlamini ( 2004 ) says there are at least four basic positions to identify in this case, i.e.,
• Third person point of view
• First person point of view
• Dramatic point of view
• Third person limited omniscient point of view
Genesis 39 is told in the third person point of view. This is when the narrator who is not part of the story or event is narrating the story. The third person narrator is always assumed to be the writer of the work we are reading (Dlamini, I bid : 37). The narrator acts as an intermediary between the characters and the reader.

THEME
Theme refers to the central idea in a literary work. It is what the story is actually about, or what the story is trying to teach. The theme of the story of Joseph is faithfulness to God. It is also the disclosure of God’s activity in events, the working out of God’s purpose in the career of Israel (Anderson, 1988).

Finally, since narrative criticism deals with the literary appreciation of a text, the main issues raised in the text have to be dealt with. Usually narratives are simpler to interpret using narrative criticism. So ,Genesis 39 features the kind of story which is narrative in nature, thus making it simpler to interpret using the form called narrative criticism.


REFERNCES
Anderson,Bernhard W. 1998, The living world of the old Testament, Longman Singapore publishers (pty) Ltd

Drane, John. 1992, Introducing the old Testament, Oxford, England:Albatross ( Pty) Ltd.

Dlamini L.Z 2004, Introduction to the study of literature, Kwaluseni, Swaziland: The Institute of Distance Education, University of Swaziland.

The holy bible , U.S.A

Trimmery Joseph. 1998. Fictions, New York: Harcout Brace College publishers.

Tucker,Gene M. Form criticism of the old Testament, U.S.A :Fortress press.

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ADDRESS BY KING MSWATI III

Address by His Majesty King Mswati III

of the Kingdom of Swaziland







Mr. president,
Fellow heads of state and government,
Secretary-general,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen.

I am delighted to join you all for this world summit for social development.

Allow me to express my deep gratitude to the government and people of Switzerland for the warm welcome, excellent arrangements, and most generous hospitality that they have extended to me and my delegation, since our arrival in this beautiful lakeside city of Geneva.

I should also like to express our appreciation to the secretary-general and his staff at the United Nations, for the efficient preparations for this very important special summit.

The kingdom of Swaziland believes this summit meeting to be of the highest priority for the United Nations, and our people are following proceedings with great interest and high expectations.

The Copenhagen summit laid the foundation for a new era of commitment by all member states, to address the social challenges that face us all, in a spirit of cooperation and global partnership.

We welcome the opportunity of this special meeting to review our progress, especially in regard to the ten commitments, and to agree on ways in which we can accelerate the pace of action in key areas, identifying those issues that are threatening to undermine all our best efforts so far.

For it is clear to all that we in the developing world are not yet experiencing the benefits that we talked about at Copenhagen, and that we are in danger of missing out on the growth potential of the information technology sector, and as a result of the inequalities of globalization.

I wish to raise a number of the issues, associated with the aims of the social summit, that are directly affecting our efforts in the kingdom of Swaziland to meet the priority development objectives of our people.

The first is tile question of official development assistance. Since Copenhagen, the kingdom of Swaziland has experienced a major reduction in o.d.a flows, particularly in terms of bilateral support.

While acknowledging those few developed countries that have already met the agreed target, I would urge others to fulfil their commitments, and to maintain bilateral assistance for vital programmes.

Another issue concerns debt relief. The kingdom of Swaziland fully supports the initiative to forgive debt in those countries most in need. But at the same time, we believe that those of us who have so far escaped the debt trap, should be supported with confessional loan financing for worthwhile development projects, to help us to sustain the progress we are making.

For our part, and despite resource constraints, the kingdom of Swaziland has made substantial progress in a number of the key areas of the Copenhagen plan of action.

We are continuing to place our people at the center of all our national policies, by involving them directly in the kingdom's decision-making process. Indeed, all our national development priorities are driven by the wishes of the people themselves, through a continuous process of consultation.

We rounded off the last century with the launch of the nation's development
strategy, based on the people's recommendations. That lays down the priorities for
government action for the following twenty-five years. The document is perfectly in tune with the spirit and the letter of the Copenhagen commitments, and is the basis for all support from our development partners.

Poverty alleviation, with particular emphasis on health and education, remains our priority for government funding and action. We have also established a gender unit to oversee true progress in our objective of realizing the full potential of our women in development.

Job creation is at the center of our development efforts, with the establishment of an investment promotion agency, and with legislation and incentives in place, to help us to bring dignity and security into the lives of all too many of our people without work.

As victims of the world wide trend in decreasing foreign direct investment, we need international support and partners in our efforts to invest in our own future, by initiating large-scale projects in tourism, agri-business, manufacturing industries, and infrastructure.

My final issue concerns the hiv/aids crisis. Aids now represents the biggest threat to the economic and social development of the kingdom of Swaziland, and its effects are now forcing us to divert funds from other development priorities, in an attempt to limit its spread.

Our analysis shows that, without urgent action, we stand to lose up to 22% of our population in the next 10 years, with a dramatic effect on our economy and on the social well being of our people.

We believe that words alone are meaningless, without true commitment from all members to resolving this crisis.
Above all, there is a need for funding of education and care programs for the developed world, as well as making medicines affordable, and arranging the exchange of information and expertise.

We Swazi have the will and the strategy to contain the disaster and, hopefully, to reverse the infection pattern, but we cannot manage this on our own. A strong statement from the summit on the hiv/aids crisis will certainly help; but most of all, we need direct and urgent action from all member states.

One of the major adverse effects of the HIV/aids crisis is on the well being of our children. As negative influences impact more and more on our daily lives, we have realized that our children are in danger of losing the moral values, that include the sense of identity and discipline, that makes them uniquely swazi, and that helps to protect them from many of the dangers of the modern world.

We hope to receive substantial international support for a new initiative, to regain
the values that guided parents to bring up their children in a responsible manner, and
that we hope will instill in our youth a sense of self-belief and pride. .

Mr. president,
the kingdom of Swaziland believes that the commitments made at Copenhagen represent the best hope for improvement in social welfare standards around the world.

The disappointing lack of progress since then clearly indicates that a new approach is needed, with much stronger commitment from all members, in the spirit of willingness to -truly address the priority issues.

Words alone cannot help our people. Let Geneva 2000, above all, be the catalyst for action, and not just another "talk show". The whole world is watching, and our people expect and deserve results: we cannot afford to fail.

Thank you and may almighty god bless us all.