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It Should Happen To A Dog Jonah Analysis

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Jonah In the original biblical story of Jonah, Jonah tries to escape from G-d by ignoring his command to warn the people of Nineveh and taking a boat elsewhere. “It Should Happen to a Dog” by Wolf Mankowitz presents the story of Jonah in a different way, in which Jonah’s intentions were only to make a stop on Tarshish before ultimately reaching Nineveh. In chapter 9 of “Moby Dick” by Herman Melville, the story of Jonah is presented in a similar way to the original, with Jonah also trying to escape G-d. While “It Should Happen to a Dog” displays a variation to Jonah’s endeavor to obey G-d’s commands, chapter 9 of “Moby Dick” emphasises Jonah’s disobedience toward G-d by describing Jonah’s sinful intentions for disobeying G-d. In chapter 9 of “Moby Dick”, Jonah’s choice to defy G-d was Dramatised and described as a sin by Father Maple. To illustrate, “With this sin of disobedience in him, Jonah still further flouts at G-d, by seeking to flee …show more content…

While alone he states “It seems silly, if I’m going all this way to Nineveh… why don’t I break my journey and look up a few old friends in Tarshish” (Scene II). By presenting Jonah’s decision to stop at Tarshish before ultimately arriving at Nineveh decreases the intensity of Jonah’s choice because he did not intend to escape G-d, as he did in “Moby Dick”. To further prove this when asked by a Sailor, “Single or return” Jonah replied by saying, “What’s the matter with you? Return, of course. I got a wonderful little business waiting for me when I come back” (Scene II). Requesting a return ticket exemplifies Jonah’s non-malicious intention of not immediately entering Nineveh, since he intended to return, not trying avoid G-d’s commands. Overall, Melville’s Jonah certainly tried to escape from G-d, while Mankowitz’s Jonah did not try to escape from

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