The Slave and Zanzibar

I have delaying writing this blog even though I finished the book a week ago and, as I mentioned in class, I have a bunch of pink sticky notes in the book outlining some of my ideas. Why the delay? I have no foggy clue; I just (oops, don't say "just," Teresa)have not been able to make myself do it.

Have you heard of Bill Harley? He's a performer and he focuses primarily on childrens' songs and stories. He has a story called "Zanzibar" that tells about his experience in having to write a report on Zanzibar when he was in, I believe, 6th grade. He can't make himself do it; although, everytime he thinks about the report, he breaks into a Zanzibar song he made up. Anyway, the point is that everytime I'm putting off doing something, I end up humming the "Zanzibar" tune. So, in order to get the blasted song out of my head, here's the blog.

Wanda's people believe in (among others) Baba Yaga who according to Wikipedia is, "in Slavic mythology, the wild old woman, the dark lady, and mistress of magic. She is also seen as a forest spirit, leading hosts of spirits."

Wanda comes from a, for lack of a better term, pagan/Christian background and she converts to Judaism. While he is having an internal debate about Wanda’s conversion to Judaism, Jacob says, “something done selfishly may end up as a godly act.” (127) So I pondered, is conversion a selfish or a selfless act? Jacob wants Wanda to convert so that he may marry her (selfish) but his faith and belief are so strong that he is certain he is bringing a pagan peasant closer to God (selfless).

During her conversion and after, Wanda/Sarah questions Jacob unendingly. A predominant question of hers is a predominant issue throughout the book (and throughout time immemorial): why does God allow evil and sin to occur? Jacob doesn't seem to have a definitive answer for this question; his thoughts on pg 82 are that man must choose for himself between good and evil. Jacob told her (Sarah) repeatedly he couldn't solve all the world's riddles (158).

Lady Theresa Pilitzky had her own definitions of sin: ". . . everything comes from God - including lust" and ". . . a secret sin where there is no sacrilege injures no one." (189) Her rationale was rooted in her desire for Jacob and in defense of her past actions. And she defends her past in a heated argument with her husband as well, telling him that she came to him as an innocent girl (211). Interestingly enough, Theresa's husband blames her for all his troubles (210) - another case of Adam blaming the woman.