Monday, October 20, 2008

She (un)names them WV

God and the Universe
"You and your father lent me this—gave it to me, actually. It's been really useful, but it doesn't exactly seem to fit very well lately. "
  • Eve is given the ability to unname God's creation, which He and Adam had previously named. Eve seems to be using her given powers to in a way overrule Adam and God's judgment.
Humanity and Identity
"The yaks could truly say that they had a name"
  • Unlike most of the animals in the story that could part with their names if they so wished, the yaks were one of the few animals who found their name fitting.
Conflict and Suffering
"One of the reasons for doing what I did was that talk was getting us nowhere"
  • Eve feels the need to unname the animals, in order to get her point across. She tries to justify her actions in hopes of solving the present conflict between Adam, God, and herself.
Hope and Redemption
"This was more or less the effect I had been after"
  • Throughout this story, Eve's motives are evident to the reader. She keeps trying to get Adam to pay attention to her. While he seems preoccupied with other matters, Eve, in hopes of recognition from her husband, unnames the animals but still doesn't feel important.
Values and Relationships
  • It is obvious that the relationship between Adam and Eve is no longer one of unbreakable partership. This is evident through Eve as she unnames the animals which Adam had once already named. Also, many of the animals in the story do not value their names and wish to be unnamed. This idea of being unnamed is ultimately postmodern thought, because it changes the natural order of what was already in existence.
Truth and Reality
"I had only just then realized how hard it would have been to explain myself. I could not chatter away as I used to do, taking it all for granted."
  • The reality of the matter is that Eve is saddened by Adam's lack of awareness of her and all the things she does for him. She realizes how meaningless names and words have become. She forgets about God and his intent for the names, but simply surpasses all thoughts of Him and his ultimate dominion over creation. It seems as if for a while Eve forgets that she is the created and not the creator.
In conclusion, this story holds a world view of postmodernism because of the lack of meaning for words and names, and ultimately distancing herself from God, while she replaces Him by overruling his dominion.

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