Margaret Walker's God

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how Margaret Walker, in her novel "Jubilee", illustrates the differences in the ways slaveholders and slaves in America perceived God. The paper explains that, in the book, the same God who justified slavery for white slave owners was also the God who provided hope for freedom to black slaves. Despite these separations, though, Walker brings to life a common bond that unites slaves and slaveholders - a fundamental belief in the Judeo-Christian God. The paper then explains that by setting up two contrary views of God, Walker is able to prime the reader for one theology to prevail. In the end, Walker demonstrates how her God dispels any claim that slavery is just on the grounds of the Bible.

From the Paper:

"It was been famously said that God is whatever you want Him out to be. Whether, personable, omnipotent, or humorous, the interpretation of God lies greatly in the eye of the beholder. In Jubilee, Walker demonstrates this concept by showing how despite the fact that slaves obtained religion from their masters, both groups ultimately held two irreconcilably different views of God. To the whites, God was "a just and righteous God" who endowed them the right to own slaves. The white preacher reiterates that slaves are a mere object possession, saying, "Remember, slaves are your sacred property. They are committed to you as a sacred trust from God. Read in His Holy Word where he tells you that your bondservants are yours and you are responsible for them," (pg. 122). This divine revelation was the driving force behind Dutton's and many other slave owners' justification for owning slaves. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Stringfellow, Thornton. Bible argument: or, slavery in the light of divine revelation.
• The Bible and Slavery. Gardners Books, 2007.
• Walker, Margaret. Jubilee. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1966.

More papers on Margaret Walker's God:

• Analytical Essay # 55044 : "Margaret Walker: A Creative Survivor"
• Analytical Essay # 54527 : "Margaret Walker's "Jubilee"
• Book Review # 133053 : "Jubilee" by Margaret Walker"

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