First Impressions and Character introductions

Hello, and welcome to my blog! Throughout the next month or so, I will be journeying into the world of Anita Diamant’s novel, The Red Tent. The story recounts aspects of the bible from a completely different perspective; the female one. As someone who has always found the lack of emphasis on female biblical figures frustrating, I was excited to read this novel. I am about ¼ of the way through the book, and my initial impression is definitely positive.

I have found the introduction to the plot and characters to be intriguing, especially in the prologue, where Diamant establishes the first-person narration that continues throughout the story. This point of view gives readers a unique view of the characters, because their knowledge and perception of them is limited to the details that the narrator, Dinah, chooses to include. This makes Dinah a central character to the novel. I will explain a bit more about Dinah below, but first, I want to address a different leading character, Jacob.

Jacob is the son of Isaac and Rebecca, two prominent biblical figures, and the brother of Esau. He has four wives (all of whom are the daughters of Laban), and thirteen children among them. He is illustrated as someone who many people are drawn to, thanks to his confidence and kindness. Despite having multiple wives, he still manages to treat them each with individual love and care. However, he is depicted in somewhat of a negative light through Dinah's eyes, because, as she reveals, he does not treat her with the same attention and care that he shows to the rest of his children, all sons.

Dinah is the only daughter among Jacob's thirteen children. As I mentioned earlier, she is central to the novel because she essentially narrates the whole thing. Despite the aforementioned fact that she did not always receive the best treatment from her father, she is greatly loved by her mother, Leah, and her father's other wives. Something I like about Dinah is her representation of the women in this time period. Because she is the only daughter among so many sons, she is somewhat of an in-depth depiction of the minority of women in society, especially in this historic time. In addition to this, she also provides a view of the struggles that women faced, which is a primary purpose of this novel, making her role as the narrator even more critical. She gives readers a look into the "Red Tent", where women go when they are menstruating or giving birth. The tent clearly holds a lot of symbolism in regards to women and their roles and struggles in society, which is something I will discuss in a future post.

Leah is, as mentioned earlier, one of Jacob's wives, and the mother of Dinah. In addition to Dinah, she is the mother of seven sons, making her the wife of Jacob with the most children. She struggles at times with fitting in in society, because she has two different colored eyes. Dinah explains how when her mother was born, she was accused of being "a witch. . . [who would] bring a curse on the family" (page 11), simply because of this. Dinah also describes the power Leah's eyes hold - the ability to "[make] others weak. . . and most people looked away rather than face them-one blue as lapis, the other green as Egyptian grass" (page 11). Dinah discusses the ways that her mother "rewarded" the few people who could look her in the eyes with "kisses and laughter and bread wet with honey" (page 12). Personally, I have found Leah to be one of the most intriguing characters so far, and I am interested to see her character development throughout the novel.

Rachel, another of Jacob's wives, is the first to meet him. She is primarily described in terms of looks, such as "her brown hair shaded to bronze, and her skin was golden, honeyed, perfect" (page 8), and "[i]t is almost impossible to exaggerate the dimensions of Rachel's beauty" (page 9). Although this description of Rachel appears positive, it is also revealed that her beauty does not define her happiness with her life. She struggles with having a child like her sisters, which causes her to feel a lot of jealousy and insecurity, which can be seen when Dinah explains that "Rachel could not smile at her sister while her own body remained fruitless" (page 46). I will be interested to see where Rachel's character goes as I get further into the book, but my initial impression of her is that she represents the falsity in society, especially in women, that beautiful people are the happiest. I think this is an important aspect to address concerning the topic of this novel in regards to women.

Bilhah is the third wife of Jacob, and the youngest of Laban's daughters. She is described as being "the family orphan" (page 15) as a child, implying that her life has not been the best. She is quiet, yet very observant, and despite not being "beautiful like Rachel, or capable like Leah" (page 15), is "tiny, dark, and silent" (page 15).

Zilpah, Jacob's fourth wife, is generally seen as the least valued of them all. She is depicted as the somewhat quiet one, who tends to keep to herself. Despite this, she is very observant of things happening around her, claiming to remember "everything that ever happened to her" (page 13).

From what I have read so far, Rachel and Leah are the more valued of Jacob's wives, while Bilhah and Zilpah are more overshadowed. I think that the comparison between these four women is very interesting given the concept of the book, and I will be paying close attention to the development of their relationships with one another as I get further into the novel. This book has been interesting so far, and I am looking forward to continuing reading it and sharing my thoughts. See you in my next post!

Photo Citation:

Red Tent Novel Cover. Allen & Unwin Book Publishers.