Onslaught against Innocence

Description

This is a literary-critical analysis of the myth of Cain and Abel, masterfully related in Genesis 4 by the Yahwist, probably the greatest storyteller in the Hebrew Bible. The Yahwist (commonly refered to as J, responsible for much of the Chapters 2–11 of Genesis) narrates the initial slaughter of one human being by another, and strikingly, it is described as fratricidal. Onslaught Against Innocence explores the anthropological, theological, and psychological dimensions of this universal myth. LaCocque provides a close reading of J's story by using literary and psychological criticism, revealing that the biblical author has more than an "archaeological" design. Rather, his characters – including God, Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel, plus minor figures – are paradigmatic, and as such they allow J to proceed with a fine analytical feel for the nature of evil. LaCocque shows that this well known story is much more than it seems at first sight; it is a portrait of a humanity that is always torn between the innocence of Eden and its denial; between what J calls "doing well" and "not doing well".