Resumo de Joseph And His Brothers

SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Thomas Mann; Joseph and his Brothers, Novel

This epic tetrology of approximately 1200 pages
revolves prinicipally around the 2nd Book of Moses (Exodus) in the bible. The
novel is divided into the following books:
Die Geschichten Jaakobs (1933) The Tales of Jacob
(1933),
Der junge Joseph (1934), Young Joseph (1934),
Joseph in Ägypten (1936), Joseph in Egypt (1936),
Joseph der Ernährer (1943). Joseph the
Provider (1943).
The underlying biblical text is interlaced with a very
clear and thoughtful examination and re-interpretation by Thomas Mann. The
extensive 40-page introduction to the book is intended to focus the reader on
the author?s thought processes and to call attention to the ceaseless, hidden
procession in the unfathomable depths of time, in front of which our own life
stories are played out.
Although the title of the novel refers only to a part
of the exodus story, the fate of Joseph - incensing his brothers until they
sold him into slavery in Egypt and telling their father that he was dead - is
covered in the novel from the exodus to his death, including the story of Jacob
and his wives Rachel and Leah; also here is the story of Abraham and Isaac from
the 1st Book of Moses (Genesis).
The prolixity of Thomas Mann?s books could be very
tiring, if they did not satisfy so deeply with their complexity and spirited
references to salvific history of the old and new testaments as well as
creating such memorable and often very comical images.
The experiences of Joseph during his years spent in
the house of Potiphar, the rich Egyptian, create, in the main, a further novel
within the novel, where he entered as a simple slave and rose in the ranks to
become a kind of manager of the house. Special care is taken in the increasing
precariousness of his situation through the growing love of Potiphar?s wife to
him, which finally lands him in prison through no fault of his own.
Thomas Mann wrote this novel over a period of many
years with long interruptions. He himself went on an educational trip to Egypt, and it
is recognizable in the book through many rich details of the country and
situations detailed therein.
It is very difficult to describe the unique subtle
humor which runs through the work from start to finish and makes the formidable
and sometimes very dark themes surmountable. Whoever can get into the book will
see what our own society has lost with the flood of cheapened talk - a feeling
for the power of language and spirit which cannot be controlled by outside
influences, but thinks and interprets for itself.

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