The Son of Laughter shows that the Bible characters were not perfect yet God consideredthem good enough to appear in the Bible. Fredrick Baucher, in his thesis, shows the Christians the weaknesses of the characters that God chose to use; he shows that they overcame the temptations they faced. He achieves his objective perfectly as, by the end of the read, one is sure that God is full of grace and mercy.
Biographical Statement
Frederick Buechner is an American Theologian and author. He has written and published over 30 books, which have highly been influential in the theological field. Fredrick writes fiction, sermons, essays, and several other genres. His books are translated in many languages to reach a wide audience around the world. His most famous book is his first book, which is titled A Long Days Dying , written and published in 1950. Godric , another of his books, is also an award-winning piece. Based on the success of his written pieces, the New York Times categorizes Frederick Buechner as a major talent. He mainly writes with the intention of communicating grace to his readers. Moreover, Fredrick is an ordained ministerof the gospel with the PresbyterianChurch. More than that, Frederick Buechner has more than eight degreesfrom Yale University among other reputable institutions.
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Content Summary and Overview
Fredrick takes the stories concerning Jacob from Genesis and turns it into his novel called The Son of Laughter . Since the Bible leaves some gaps in describing the characters, Fredrick fills in the gaps by providing more details about the characters than were provided in the bible. Although one wonders where Fredrick obtained more details and the Bible is the final thesis, one correctly assumes that he used his theological research findings to describe the characters. After all, the apostles wrote that only a portion of the total happenings is recorded in the bible.
Fredrik is far from boring, he alters the sequence of the happenings of the Bible so that the reader, who has already read Genesis,does not feel like they are re-reading what they already know. He achieves the above objective by the use of flashback as well as foreshadowing.
Fredrick tells about the human imperfectionsamong the biblical characters like Esau and Jacob who were rivals from the time they were born. In fact, he records that the two had fought right from their mother’s womb since they were twins. He also paints the trickster in Jacob, who is the narratorin the thesis. Jacob cheated his brother off his birthright for a meal. In exchange for a plate of food, Jacob who is described as a calculating trickster conned Esau of his blessing. Similarly, Jacob conned Esau with the help of Rebekah his mother at the time the dad was dying. However, Fredrik posits that what goes around comes around; Jacob had to face the consequences of his ill actions. After paying his uncle Laban with seven years of hard labor to earn the hand of Rachel in marriage, he was given Leah who was ugly. To earn Rachel, the beautiful one, hewas told to work for an extra seven years.
At the same time, Fredrik narrates of how Jacob’seleven sons planned to kill Joseph for they were jealous of his achievements. Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son; he kept dreaming of ruling the entire family. In trust, Joseph narrated his dreams to his family not knowing that the brothers would attempt to terminate his life. They sold him into slavery and cheated Jacob he was dead. Fredrick attains what the bible failed to achieve since he uses the main character as a narrator of the story.
Evaluation, Reflection, and Value
What is the author trying to communicate?
One of the major themes communicated is lust and sin. Potiphar’s wife is depicted as a seductress in a romance novel. Although the bible portraysJoseph as a supermanwho never felt any chills for the woman, Fredrick shows us that the connection between the two was deeper than the bible actually portrayed.
"She took his hand and set it on her breast as the magician had set his olive boughs. The boy felt his flesh stiffen like an olive bough. . . . She ran her hand down the curve of his neck and onto his brown chest and ribs. He was wearing a kilt of pleated linen, and like Potiphar before her, she slipped her hand underneath the knot, setting the flat of her hand on his warm belly. When she took him in her hand, he went as dumb as he had when they had thrown him in the pit."(Buechner, 2014)
Besides, passages like the one above show the reader that the biblical characters were as human as we are. This encourages a young man who may be caught in similar circumstances to understand that although they may have similar feelings, God will provide them with the required grace to run from the temptation.
Grief is also a major theme as Jacob mourns the loss of his son Joseph when he is presented with the tattered and bloodied robe that he wore when he went to see his brothers in the wilderness. Jacob is convinced that the son is dead. Before then, he had lost the wife whom he loved as she bore Benjamin. Jacob says that the pain was unbearable since he had worked for 14 years to pay for her bride price; He wishedthat Leah,whomnever wanted,should have died in the place of Rachel. The message is that although sometimes Christians lose what they love, they ought to remain strong for at the end of the story there might be laughter. Case in point, Jacob had no hope of finding Joseph again but he found him towards the end of the narration.
Faith is also a thematic message of The Son of Laughter . Abraham and Sarah waited on God for a son until they were too old to conceive. In fact, they named their son Isaac-meaning laughter; hence, the title of the book. The title is symbolic of hope and faith amidstsituations that look impossible. When the angels told Sarah she would bear a child, she laughed for she did not believe in their message. How could a 90-years-old-woman bear a son? Despite her mistrust,she bore Isaac by the miraculous hand of God. Fredrick,therefore, tells Christians to keep hope alive, even during trials and temptations.
Prayer and trust are also a primary message in The Son of Laugher as Jacob writes that a god named is a god summoned. Jacob asks the reader to trust God even when they cannot see him. He tells the reader to trust God even when God leaps like a stranger in the night to cripple and bless (Buechner, 2014) . He speaksthis in reference to the time he wrestled with God until God changed his name to Israel.
What did the book communicate to you?
The book taught me to trust in God even in hard and impossible situations. At the same time, Fredrick managed to communicate to me that am nottooweak to make it to heaven.After all, the biblical characters he mostly portrayedincluding himself were liars and sinners; others were adulterous while others were cons. Fredrick managed to pass his message to the reader well as he convinced the reader that they too were qualified to be Bible characters.
Despite that, I felt that he used a language that was not fit for the bible. Sometimes he made the book sound like a romance novel which am not sure is acceptable. He also really dwelt on the negative sides of the characters.
Conclusion
The Son of Laughter is narrated by Jacob who was the worst trickster in the bible. The story shows the twists and turns of his life from his side. He also fills the gaps that existed in the Bible concerning characters like Leah, Bilhah, Esau, Jacob, and Sarah. Overall, the book is valuable to the modern day Christian as it shows them that God is full of mercy.
Reference
Buechner, F. (2014). The son of laughter . Place of publication not identified: HarperCollins e-Books.
