This week's readings led us to 2 Samuel, a book that is part of the Deuteronomistic History (DtrH). In it, we read the story of Amnon, a son of David, who rapes his half-sister, Tamar. Absalom, Tamar's brother, seeks revenge and ends up killing their brother, Amnon.
In the first portion (2 Samuel 13:1-22) of this scripture passage, I felt like Tamar's voice is the one missing. Her perspective is unheard, yet is one that I feel is important. The second half of the passage (2 Samuel 13:22-33) is missing the voice of Absalom. Again, this is important. I have taken the liberty to re-write these halves from each of the above mentioned perspectives. Consider this a mid-quel (Read: my made up word for a re-write in the middle; not a prequel, nor a sequel. Thus a mid-quel. If you don't like my made-up words, move on, Folks - even Shakespeare did it!)
Tamar's Voice
My father, King David, asked me to go and serve my half-brother, Amnon, as he is very sick and has asked for me to come. I guess my serving him isn't completely out of the ordinary, after all, I am a Biblical woman. Amnon asked for some very specific, heart-shaped cakes (yes, heart-shaped cakes!) to be made for him to eat and feel better. So I "went to [my] brother Amnon's house where he was lying down" (2 Samuel 13:8 CEB) and I "took dough, kneaded it, made heart-shaped cakes in front of him, and then cooked them" (2 Samuel 13:8 CEB). When I went to feed my brother the cakes, he wouldn't eat them. Seriously?! I went through all that work and he won't eat them? He must really be sick... he had better be really sick!
I thought it was a bit strange that after Amnon refused to eat these specially-ordered cakes, he sent everyone out of his room. Even though I thought his dismissal strange, I thought maybe Amnon just wanted to rest. But then he told me to stay. Perhaps he wanted to tell me, his half-sister Tamar, something important? Perhaps he wanted the comfort of family surrounding him? Then Amnon told me to kneel in front of him and serve him the cakes from his own hand. What was he thinking? I did what he asked, because I wanted to show him loyalty and familial care, but then all of a sudden, he grabbed me and said, "Come have sex with me, my sister" (2 Samuel 13:11 CEB). What?! My own brother, my own flesh and blood? He can't mean what he says!
I cried out to Amnon "Please don't do this to me! Raping me will bring such shame to us both, to our family! I will have nowhere to hide from my shame and you will be made a fool! Ask the king to let me marry you instead!" (2 Samuel 13:12-13 CEB).
Then, he did the unthinkable. It was horrible, the worst thing I could imagine. But then, then his seeming love for me turned to anger. HE was mad at ME! How could this be? I did nothing to him but serve him and care for him like he asked. And those STUPID heart-shaped cakes. How could I have been so DUMB to make him cakes. Heart-shaped cakes. Hearts. Those cakes should have been a foretaste for me of the things to come. The horror of this, my own brother. One whom I had loved and cared for. How could I have stopped this? What had I done wrong?
I was kicked out of his room and I fled. I tore my virgin-sleeves off and put ashes on my head. I am mourning the loss of what I have had torn away from me. My brother Absalom told me not to let it bother me and not to tell anyone (2 Samuel 13:20 CEB). My father, the king, was angry but refuses to punish Amnon (2 Samuel 13:21 CEB). After all... I am a woman.
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Absalom's Revenge
My poor sister, Tamar. How could our brother, Amnon, do this to her? To our family? Doesn't he know that a.) you don't do this to anyone, let alone family and b.) this will bring disgrace to all of our people. I will never, NEVER speak to him again (2 Samuel 13:22 CEB). Not a good word nor a bad word should pass my lips in the way of Amnon again. How dare he do this?!
I know I told Tamar to not let this bother her, but I am a hypocrite. It makes me so angry that I must do something. But what? How can I avenge a rape that has made me so angry that I do not even speak to my own brother any longer?
I have a plan: I will hold a fine banquet, will wait for Amnon to get drunk, and then will instruct my servants to kill him. Only once Amnon is dead will justice be served for our dear sister Tamar's rape (2 Samuel 13:27-28 CEB).
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If you've never taken the time to read this passage, I encourage you to do so. What perspective do you draw to? Is there another perspective to be had? Perhaps the other servants who were dismissed, but likely put two and two together?
T-OOTLE-oo!
Melissa
I wonder how Tamar felt after she was raped by her brother. I wonder what kinds of preconceived notions she has about what her duty is as a woman and as a sister. I wonder what she was thinking of to take away some of the pain while her brother dominated her. I couldn't bring myself to enter into the narrative in this way on my post. It brings up past trauma and it makes me very uncomfortable. These streams of thought and wonder should be something we can talk about as a society. We tend to take away the voices of the victimized and the perpetuator. Look at our justice system-- it's always the state against the offender. There is no room for restoration. We take away the parties involved voices. I think this exercise is very interesting and important. Maybe I should find a way of suggesting it to our youth development editor as a lesson suggestion. Might be a great session as we as a society continue to wrestle with our rape culture.
ReplyDeleteWow, well done Melissa! I appreciate that Tamar focuses the blame on herself and the "stupid heart shaped cakes". In my counseling experience, it is sadly true that the victim often blames themselves for the violence that has happened. And, we don't hear the rest of her story. Death or no death, she would no longer be welcome in her culture, no one would marry her etc. The violent crime never ends for Tamar...
ReplyDeleteThank you for this Melissa! So well done. I really like the way you did this. I hadn't thought about the fact that both Tamar and Absalom's voices are missing in this narrative, but after reading it the way you shared I realize how little their voices are heard in the story. It's interesting to view this story through their eyes and see their reactions and thoughts. Like Tania said, I thougth about the fact that Tamar ultimately takes the hardest hit from all of this. She is now unclean, she will carry this sin against her with her for the rest of her life.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a difficult story to wrestle with, but this excercise has made me connect with this in a far more human way than I expected. This story contains elemenst that are far too pervasive in our own society still.
Thank you so much for this great post.
I LOVE that you presented these as journal articles! In fact, I had started writing that way and then I didn't think it would meet the criteria of the make! I struggled to get rolling with my version of the make, where I feel I would have made it better from this approach. I think looking at the text through the eyes of the characters really makes the text come alive, as you reflect upon what Tamar must have experience following the assault, what Absalom must have thought/felt. I also wonder what David would have thought, as I wrote, all I could think of was the prodigal son and the forgiving father and how it would be a perfect example to extend God's grace, which potentially is what David did to Amnon, but Absalom doesn't see it the same way.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your insights from the characters point of view!
Thanks for shifting perspectives! I think this is a very important question the text raises - from whose perspective do we experience the story? We bring our own history into our readings (for instance, as a female-bodied person in a culture that has an epidemic of sexual violence against female-bodied people, I immediately identify most with Tamar), but the text itself shows what it values by highlighting certain voices and perspectives. I think one of the most troubling aspects of the original passage is that it is written basically from the perspective of Amnon (suffering from obsession he apparently cannot control) and David (mourning for his favorite son). These characters behave appallingly, yet are portrayed as sympathetic. Your shifting the perspective gives the other characters room to be complex and for the reader to identify more with them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with view of Tamar and Absalom's voices being missed in the story. Aside from Amnon, they have two of the most important parts in the story and yet, the text doesn't explore to any real degree their perspective. The one that is also missing, and has the other major role in my opinion, is David. As King and father, he had the power and responsibility to address Amnon's actions more decisively. Under the Judean Royal Theology, he was to reflect God's righteousness and yet we don't see any of that - no punishment for Amnon, and conversely, no comforting to Tamar. As a parent, he had to have struggled with what happened between his children and I would have loved to see more insight into that as well.
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