Esther's Deontological Ethics

Esther’s madness is presented as a consequence of her rebellion against the archetypes of gender roles, which she is surrounded by in the novel. Chodorow argues that, in our subjective understanding of gender relations, individuals ‘create new meanings in terms of their own unique biographies.’ Chodorow’s argument is evident in how Esther understands gender relations through her experience with Buddy Willard. His mother believes that ‘what a man is is an arrow into the future and what a woman is is the place the arrow shoots off from’ (Plath, 67). In the juxtaposition of a place and an arrow, the woman is presented as a constant and a base which enables the man to progress. Esther’s awareness of this outlook and her rejection of it allows

Contemporary portion gives us an understanding of how to interpret what takes place as if it happened today. These three worlds allow us to better describe the plot in the book of Esther, and demonstrate why it is important to keep God in our lives. As we ask the question, what does it mean to be the people of god? We learn in this book how God’s presence is always with us, as we live by his word. God’s work was done without his name ever being mentioned.

Even children were involved, which particularly “depressed” Esther. She goes on and describes an Anti-Jewish newspaper that depicts and explains that Jews are greedy and have long noses. The very Anti-Semitic newspaper very much upset Esther. She talks about how the Hitler Youth gave children a purpose, and helped them get through a tough time, which was what was so appealing, to kids. She says that the children in the Hitler Youth would throw stones at her, and insult her. One day, she said, that she watched her brother being beaten by the Hitler Youth, and they broke his violin. She was very much distraught by this, and broke down when depicting it. For me, this was an eye-opening experience, and showed me that families were faced with difficulties beyond money and social status, but now that had to worry about other things, and the Nazis just made the Jews’ lives drastically more

The thoughts of Buddy continued, and eventually Esther thought back to when she went to see Buddy at Yale Medical School. He showed her fetuses and cadavers in jars which did not upset her. What did upset her was the medicine given to the woman receiving a C-section in order to make her “forget” her pain. Esther remarked how only a man could make such a medicine. She was upset that the woman should have to forget such a thing. I think this shows her respect for women. During this time period, the 1950s, women did not necessarily stand up for themselves. Women were not seen as they are today as strong and independant. They were not thought of as critical thinkers or ones to think for themselves. Esther is way ahead of her time, and can see past

The characteristics of a person who is a hero are brave, an ideal and strong, but for me a hero is someone who saves other people, and Esther is an example of that heroine. The Jewish festival of Purim can be compared to Halloween; this holiday was an inspiration of Esther; making her the only woman who approved the Jewish religious tradition. The book of Esther is a unique book because there is no direct mention of God, but it does not mean that God has no sovereignty in Esther’s life, this is what intrigues many readers including me to understand the logic of excluding God especially since this story is in the Bible. In addition to God not mentioned, I also find Esther’s story to be intriguing because she is smart, obedient and courage. In my paper, I will be focusing on how Esther is a positive role model and a heroine for the Jews. To support my claims, I will include the Bible, two scholarly articles “Keeping God out of the Book of Esther” by Gregory R. Goswell, and “Heartless Bimbo or Subversive Role Model?: A Narrative (Self) Critical Reading of the Character of Esther” by Angeline Song and last a website article “Esther: Hidden Beauty” by Sara Esther Crispe.

In the book of Esther, many of the characters shows how to be courageous, ironic, and how to be a hypocrite. Approaching kings and going to forbidden places shows courage. Being killed before wanting to be killed and there being no honor where honor was thought to be shows ironcy. The king unaware of the destruction he has allowed and denial to help are just few examples of hypocrisy. There are many examples of these traits all throughout the book of Esther,many interesting characters to fill the positions and many lessons to be learned.

Esther was living in the city of Susa with her older cousin Mordecai, who had raised Esther since she was a little girl. King Xerxes selected Esther to be his queen, after she won a beauty contest, which prompted complete turmoil. Mordecai refused God’s instruction to move Esther where he wanted them to live. In fact, God had ordered all of the Jewish people to return to their homeland to congregate and rebuild His temple. Esther’s cousin informed her to not tell the king that she was a Jew (Hooper, 2012). When it became apparent that a scheme was being formed to assassinate King Ahasuerus, Mordecai told Esther, who in turn, told the king. The king displayed gratitude towards Mordecai and Esther for notifying him. Mordecai found out later

3. Debilitating confinement for Esther is mental and physical. She is in a state of where she is trapped and doesn’t know how to handle it. She goes through so many things in her life and it’s unfortunate, but ends up with suicidal thoughts. This affects her mental state and physical because of the lack of sleep, and food which affects her physical state. Esther being alone in her world where she feels as though no one is there to help her is causing many problems that lead to even worse problems. Her concealment in the Bell Jar is starts to show and her mind and body begins to show how it’s affecting her also, from being a good looking woman, and

The book of Esther began with King Xerxes needing to pick a new queen. Beautiful women came from all over 127 provinces to his palace in the hope that they would be chosen as queen. He selected Esther, who was from the tribe of Benjamin. She decided to keep her Jewish identity hidden from the king. Esther was an orphan who was raised by her uncle, Mordecai. The king appointed a man named Haman as Prime Minister, and Esther’s uncle, Mordecai, refused to bow down before Haman. Haman was infuriated by this and he asked King Xerxes for permission to destroy all of the Jewish people. He said to the king, “There are certain people, scattered and spread out among the peoples in all the states of your kingdom, their laws are different from other peoples and they do not observe the king’s laws, so it is not worth it for the king to leave them alive” (Esther 3:8). The king agreed and ordered for all of the Jewish people to be killed. Mordecai heard about the order and told Esther that she had to change the kings mind. Esther ended up revealing to the king that she was Jewish, and said that Haman was an enemy. The king was angry and ended up hanging Haman. The king appointed Mordecai as his new Prime Minister, in the place of Haman. Mordecai granted the Jewish people the right to defend themselves against those who try to harm them. The Jewish people were saved and successfully defeated their enemies throughout the provinces.

In conclusion in the novel I am Not Esther the important ideas that I have chosen are identity and role of women in the COF i believe these are good themes because they are both about the way you live. Your identity is who you are and the role of women is about how their lives are as women in the COF. If you had to compare living in the COF with living the way we are today. The COF are very old fashioned where the way we are living is more lenient on women letting us be who we choose to be and act the way we choose ,where in the COF the men make all the decisions for the women and tell them how to act.

Esther’s feelings of emptiness in the “middle of the surrounding hullabaloo” of New York indicate her inability to fully appreciate her opportunity. She is distanced from the other girls, lacking the excitement and reactions that they express towards the city. As “the eye of a tornado”, Esther remains lifeless and confused in the thrill of the reward. Although she has earned a rewarding opportunity, her lack of ambition alienates her from the rest of the group. Her feeling of depression in contrast to the excitement that is expected of her deteriorates and overtakes her life.

As Doreen and Lenny commence sexual activity, Esther felt impure in which causes her in need of a bath. The event is a contribution towards happiness due to baths being in relation to baptism to become pure. In other words, the contribution specifically contributes to Esther because the bath is a symbol for a womb, while Esther exiting the bath is a symbol to leaving the womb in order to become pure. Esther implies, “The longer I lay there in the clear hot water the purer I felt, and when I stepped out…I felt pure and sweet as a new baby.” to describe a new beginning for Esther. (p. 20) Esther’s reaction to the bath makes her feel pure along with the feeling of being a baby. The bath eliminates the depression that Esther possesses. Due to

Esther is so beautiful that everyone she meets likes her, including the King, so she becomes the new Queen of Persia. One day, after Mordecai has offended the arrogant Haman, the King’s second in command, he overhears Haman’s plot to not only kill Mordecai, but

Within the “Family Life Cycle Theory”, Esther is at the stage of “Raising Children” which focusing on the child’s needs and one’s career. In the example, you can see this by Esther being able to provide for her family by maintaining a full-time job, and being able to maintain the house, and pay for extracurricular activities for the children. Furthermore, her taking care of her children by coming into get services to help with Robert’s behaviour, so Esther is ensure that the child’s needs are being taken care of. Esther is able to maintain time for herself, and establishing relationships. But within the Family Life Cycle, it does not talk about a divorce and how that impacts the family structure, or does not take into account the impact of

The book of Esther may not mention the name of God, but His existence is deafening. Esther put her life in grave danger by going to the King, but she first placed her trust in God. Both her and God’s beloved people were saved because of this courage. This enchanting story of Esther is a story of deliverance. God utilizes Esther to demonstrate His power and the purpose He had for His people. Under no circumstance can a human change what God already has planned. His work will be done regardless of the purpose one believe they have.