Assignment:
Respond
to the following discussion post using at least one of the required readings
and one of the supplemental reading.
Discussion
post:
Class,
In
some interpretations of the myth, the Golem was transformed from clay…As God
“formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7), Rabbi Loeb “went
into the street, stopped before a heap of clay…and molded a clay image. He blew
into the nose of the Golem—and it began to stir” (Peretz). Rabbi Berakhaya
said: When God wished to create the world, He began His creation with nothing
other than man and made him as a golem” (Scholem). Though the Golem myth may
develop from the creation myth of man, several interpretations exist and modern
interpretations are consistently introduced.
In
all interpretations the Golem exists to help, always listening to his master’s
demands. One myth states, a Rabbi immersed in Kabbalah mysticism created the
Golem from clay to save the Jewish people in Prague from religious persecution
(Wegener). In some myths, the Golem has emet or emeth (truth) written on
his head. “On his forehead is written emeth”(Grimm). In another, “the golem
appears with the Hebrew word emet ‘truth’ on his head” (Glinert 80). Again,
other interpretations conceive the Golem in different ways. The film “Der
Golem” adopts the idea of placing a star in his chest with magical words inside
to bring the Golem to life. Frankenstein, a modern interpretation of the Golem,
uses lightning to create life. The movie “I, Robot,” as well, perhaps, adopts
the Golem myth. Though all these examples illustrate a soulless creature
commanded by their master, the later two, Frankenstein and I, Robot, implement
science more than magic as in “Der Golem.” Science, in general, replaced magic
by answering mysteries and bringing new technology. In a way, science became
the new magic. And, to use the transitive property, if magic = science and
science = technology then magic = technology. In fact, the Oxford English
Dictionary defines Golem as “an automaton, a robot.”
In
most interpretations the Golem runs amok for various reasons. Once the Golem
becomes out of control, the master must end his life. In one example, erasing
the first letter causes the Golem to die or return to clay. “By erasing the
first letter, one is left with the word met ‘he is dead,’ and the Golem returns
to dust” (Glinert 80). Once the Golem is no longer a helper and becomes the
hindrance, becomes the outsider, different than the rest, one that cannot fit
into everyday society, the Golem is more monstrous than ever before. Now, is
time to destroy the monster, to rid these qualities to form a more functional
society. To be a bit more philosophical, if the monster represents a
“forbidden” side of humanity, a duality within, do we try to destroy
our inner monsters? For example, we use our monster within to help us at times.
Anger can be a monster to bear. However, our anger can protect us, help us in
some way, but we can’t live all the time, every day being angry, especially a
monstrous anger. Once we used our inner monster, we must suppress it, destroy
it. Unfortunately, some of us stay monsters.
Dr.
H
Works
Cited
Glinert,
Lewis. Golem!
The Making of a Modern Myth. 78-94.
Grimm,
Jacob. Zeitung
fur Einsiedler. Journal for Hermitz. 23 Apr. 1808.
Peretz,
I. L. The Golem.
Scholem,
Gershom. On the
Kabbalah and Its Symbolism. New York: Schocken Books, 1996. 162.
Wiesel,
Elie. The
Golem: The Story of a Legend. New York: Summit Books, 1983. 31.
What To Do:
Respond
to the following discussion post using at least one of the required readings
and one of the supplemental reading bellow.
·
Responses should be a
minimum of 200 words.
·
Responses must
intelligently integrate required reading(s); students must use, quote, and cite
required reading in their posts.
·
Readings must use proper
MLA citation (in-text and Works Cited)
Step 1-View “Der Golem”Links to an external site. directed by Paul Wegener and
Henrik Galeen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A0lMPde6q8 & Part
#1 (or both) of “Frankenstein”Links to an external site. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaJftrcR8IM
Step 2-Read Required Scholarly Readings: “Golem!
The Making of a Modern Myth” by Lewis Glinert & “I’m the
Person, You’re the Monster” from the book Frankenstein and Philosophy: The Shocking
Truth edited by Nicolas Michaud
Step 3-Read Supplemental Readings:
“The
Making of Frankenstein’s Monster: Post Golem, Pre-Robot” by Norma Rowen
“A Golem
in Prague” by John Sheply
“The
Frightening Frankenmetaphor” from the book Frankenstein and Philosophy: The Shocking
Truth edited by Nicolas Michaud