Literary Analysis of David and Goliath
A Character Analysis of David and Goliath
When studying any piece of literature there are many different methods and techniques that can be used. The Bible, in specific, is often referred to as a source of moral code, hope, and answers to social, ethical, and political questions. However, this incredibly influential book can also be read as if it were any other novel. The events, settings, and characters can all be evaluated for what they are, forgetting the notion that they are from a religious text. This approach is called narrative criticism. When regarding to the Bible in this way, we do not need to know any historical information or focus on seeking a deeper theological meaning. Instead, the stories are evaluated in terms of how well the characters, settings, and events portray the overall theme or message of the narrative. The story of David and Goliath in particular, does a great job in using its characters to achieve this goal. Though there are many different interpretations of this story, I am going to focus on one: the idea that power and strength is not needed to succeed or win, but instead it is our heart and determination, intelligence, and above all, our faith in God. To get this point across, the implied author uses narratives to tell us about David and Goliath as well as show us specific and relevant character traits through their actions and beliefs. In order to understand how the characters portray the message of the story we must first develop a set of traits based on what the information given to us by implied author. In the very beginning of the story we are given a detailed description of Goliath:
And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion names Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. He had greves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slug between his
When studying any piece of literature there are many different methods and techniques that can be used. The Bible, in specific, is often referred to as a source of moral code, hope, and answers to social, ethical, and political questions. However, this incredibly influential book can also be read as if it were any other novel. The events, settings, and characters can all be evaluated for what they are, forgetting the notion that they are from a religious text. This approach is called narrative criticism. When regarding to the Bible in this way, we do not need to know any historical information or focus on seeking a deeper theological meaning. Instead, the stories are evaluated in terms of how well the characters, settings, and events portray the overall theme or message of the narrative. The story of David and Goliath in particular, does a great job in using its characters to achieve this goal. Though there are many different interpretations of this story, I am going to focus on one: the idea that power and strength is not needed to succeed or win, but instead it is our heart and determination, intelligence, and above all, our faith in God. To get this point across, the implied author uses narratives to tell us about David and Goliath as well as show us specific and relevant character traits through their actions and beliefs. In order to understand how the characters portray the message of the story we must first develop a set of traits based on what the information given to us by implied author. In the very beginning of the story we are given a detailed description of Goliath:
And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion names Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. He had greves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slug between his