-
Essay / A Question of Death and God in Qohelet's Ecclesiastes and Annie Dillard's Fertility
The author of Ecclesiastes, Qohelet, wrestles with the purpose of our fleeting lives because, whatever the investments that humans can make, they do not satisfy the transience of life. Annie Dillard's chapter, "Fertility" in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, grapples with her perceptions of life and death. Plus, she doesn't understand why she cares about death in the first place. Both Qohelet and Dillard recognize that all life ends in death, but the way they grapple with the inevitable end of humanity leads to two different conclusions: one with God and one without. Thus, Qohelet finds hope, despite the brevity of life, while Dillard refuses to see that such a thing could exist. Dillard's struggle with death leads him to conclude that death is not the "curse", but that our emotions are, while Qohelet also struggles with death, he comes to a different conclusion. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayFor Qohelet, it is not emotions that are the “curse”, but rather sin and death. Qohelet expresses an excess of emotion, as he too struggles with the elusiveness of life, illustrating his feelings with the word hevel. The meaning of Hevel, as Dr. Elaine Phillips writes, “is ‘vapor’ or ‘breath’… Every effort is like a breath; it’s transient – here and there. » Thus, Qohelet does not dismiss emotions regarding the transience of life, but much of what Qohelet says in Ecclesiastes contemplates the effects of the Fall in Genesis 3, referring to Genesis 3:19: " ...you return to land, since you were taken from it. For you are dust and to dust you will return. » The words Qohelet are similar in Ecclesiastes 3:20. Qohelet understands that death is the result of disobedience, but he continues to struggle to understand the transience of life. For Dillard, humans are “monsters.” “Humans are “monsters” because we value people’s lives unlike the rest of nature, because nature doesn’t seem to care whether we live or die. Therefore, there must be something wrong with us since it places nature as the criterion that measures the value of human life. She writes: “…we are therefore moral creatures in an amoral world. » Therefore, completely excluding any other sources that could explain his concerns regarding death. Although the transience of life disturbs Qohelet, unlike Dillard, he is led to compare human existence to divine existence. In doing so, he finds the source of joy and hope in the God-given life. Dillard wallows in despair in the face of death while Qohelet knows that despite despair, there is God-given hope and joy. Dillard's deduction that humans are monsters, because nature does not care for the human existence it holds, leaves his reader with the fear that the world has no hope. For Dillard, this is how the world works and humans must learn to deal with it. Qohelet, on the other hand, understands that there is a hope given to humanity by God, despite the fact that it faces the standard of life, the end of death and the injustice that produced in this world. Qohelet is frustrated by the ephemeral nature of life because everything that man pursues is ephemeral. Our toil and hard work are only temporary, just like the span of our life; here and then gone. We will not be remembered. Although Qohelet knows that our lives are one..