The Man Who Died by D.H. Lawrence - A Blasphemous Work...

D.H. Lawrence’s novella, The Man Who Died, is undoubtedly one of the most audacious attempts in depicting a Jesus diversified from the biblical Jesus. Although the novella does not refer to Jesus’ name itself, it is conspicuous throughout the short story that the man who died is in fact the messiah. The novella commences with the savior resurrecting into life after a â€Å"long sleep†, referring to the messiah’s execution. As the novella progresses, Jesus revolutionizes into a mundane human being repudiating his former lifestyle. Throughout the novella, the reader sees a Jesus that is analogous to all other humans and a Jesus that is in contradictory to the universal Jesus everyone knows. Since the depiction of Christ contravenes the†¦show more content†¦When the priestess sanctions Jesus to dwell at her villa, she scrutinizes the beauty of his suffering and deems that he is the lost Osiris, the god who has been killed and scattered and who awaits reintegration and re-creation at the hands of Isis. Moreover, both characters engage in sexual intercourse in the temple of Isis: â€Å" He crouched to her, and he felt the blaze of his manhood and his power rise up in his loins, magnificent. I am risen!† (80). Through the savior’s encounter with Isis an illicit child is born, which displays a dissimilar Jesus. This climactic encounter is unacceptable in accordance with the teachings of Jesus in the bible. Furthermore, when both characters engage in sex and create an illegitimate child they go against the traditional tenets of the bible because they are not married. Jesus becomes the lover of a priestess of Isis making him, in effect, the reborn Osiris, the lost dismembered god for whom the goddess Isis searches. Prior to the sexual intercourse, Jesus consents to be the pagan God, Osiris, only if the priestess mitigates his wounds: â€Å" And art thou not Osiris? Yes, if though wilt heal me!† (63). Furthermore, by consenting to be a pagan God Jesus repudiates his own teachings. When Jesus becomes the lost Osiris he mutineer’s against the one Christian god and has sex with a pagan goddess, which is in fact blasphemous: â€Å" He doesn’t even discreetly couple, as any decent Anglo-Saxon should, with a respectable Christian woman; butShow MoreRelatedLangston Hughes Research Paper25309 Words   |  102 PagesHowever, during this visit, no affectionate bond would develop between Langston and Jim. Jim Hughes was a cold, difficult man, who was driven by ambition to make money and achieve respect. He had moved to Mexico to avoid s egregation and racial injustice in the United States. As the manager of an electric company and owner of a ranch and mines, Jim expressed contempt for black Americans who continued to submit to segregation and live in poverty. Langston Hughes, 1933 (Library of Congress) Langston