Genesis Coen Brothers Style

The movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? by the Coen brothers was based off of Homer's The Odyssey; however, after the movie's release and positive reception, the Coen brothers admitted to drawing inspiration not from a classic translation but rather a graphic novel form of Homer's epic. So, like these great artists, I have decided to read the graphic novel of Genesis I-III (see image) for this blog post.

 

From what I gathered from the story, God created the world in record time, populating it with lovely woodland critters. Adam, the first man, was created in God's image to be the leader of this cuddly bunch, and, from his rib, Adam's companion was created by God. Adam and Eve spend the first two chapters of existence frolicking and enjoying the paradise that was the Earth. 

Trouble arises when God plants the Garden of Eden, which contains the Tree of Knowledge that grows magic fruit of good and evil. God warns Adam and Eve not to eat from that tree because, if they do, they will be doomed to die. But, the serpent convinced Eve to eat from the Tree by tempting her with the power of God (which is, incidentally, the same reason why Satan was cast down from Heaven). Eve eats the fruit and convinces Adam to eat it too (How do you like dem apples? Sorry.). I have learned in history that this story has been used to justify women's inferior station in society through the concept of original sin, but it seems to me that Eve was tricked by the king of all tricksters, while Adam was convinced to break the only divine rule by someone who didn't even know what a trick was (eat your heart out Sommer). Anyway, Adam and Eve gain knowledge of good and evil, they get clothes, God gets furious and casts them out of Eden (which he sucks into the nether world), the serpent looses it's legs (and slithers off to gather followers; see South Park S8 E14), and sin is created.

Feel free to groan, but this story reminded me of Plato's The Cave. Yes, I know Adam and Eve weren't chained to a rough stone wall and entertained only by shadow puppets, but the concept of unintended enlightenment from which there is no return is a definite parallel between both stories. I think that a revisit to Plato's story (which we discussed last year) after reading Genesis would definitely add a new perspective into the analysis of the morality of forced enlightenment.

I know that the official prompt asks us to connect this story to our own origins, but, reading the responses of others, it seems that that may have fallen slightly to the wayside. Regardless, I will relate to you, at least, the fact that my origins do not contain any form of demonic intervention or divine fury, rather, I would describe my childhood as incredibly blessed. 

My copy of The Book of Genesis