The Slave: A beautiful tragedy

I am pleased to announce that yesterday I finished Isaac Beshevis Singer's The Slave. What an amazing story. Interestingly enough I didn't find the plot to be that "original", but something about the writing itself lends to the powerful and moving effect of the story on the reader. Lovers are destined for pain and suffering endured by the prospect of true love (e.g. Romeo and Juliet, Harold and Maude, Adam and Eve, The Odyssey). I find myself almost being able to tie love directly to life. Being alive entails suffering almost from the day a life leaves the womb. Similarly with love. The stronger the love for one another the more suffering endured by the lovers. The "love story" really has become archetypal in its portrayal of love- that it is almost always a tragedy. For instance even in a love story where lovers endure no pain and suffering, death is always looming in the background. For in death the lovers will be separated. Bringing to light that in even the most heavenly relationship there will always be a "breakup"- pain and suffering. Just look at The Slave it is absolutely beautiful portrayal of life and love, and further more it is absolutely tragic. I could even go as far as to say that what is incredibly tragic also makes the story incredibly beautiful. The loss of life and the loss of love and the prospect of reuniting seems to me to be a powerful driving force underlying the creation of heaven in The Bible. Just think the existence of heaven doesn't just serve the prospect of eternal life catering to human fears of mortality, but it is a place in which the image of our loved ones can forever reside. It would be too painful to know that the one you loved so dear is nothing more than food for worms (which is true in the most scientific sense). Not only that but the afterlife holds with it the prospect of reunion with those that we have loved and lost. Death brings about purpose, for example in the end Jacob's faith is never so clear and concise. His servitude his enslavement to religion, god, and love all come to a head with his approaching death. In those last pages is where Jacob acknowledges that his spirit will be united with that of god, and his love Wanda/Sarah. At this point there is no questioning his faith or his actions all had been preordained for that final moment. That destiny is never so clear when, "the spade struck bones." This also is a beautiful use of cosmic irony, again making the story that much more tragic. Ah...my heart pangs for Jacob. Job eat your heart out.

Those who have truly loved will not fear the prospect of death.