No Miracle was a very interesting chapter to read on Easter
Sunday. I am technically a Catholic, I
was baptized and confirmed and all of that jazz, but I admit I lost my faith
through a series of events, such as realizing I am an outcast who can never marry
in the church. My Women’s Studies class
has also done some damage to my already shaken faith. I went to church today with my religious
suitemates and had some similar thoughts to Oskar’s. For instance, why is Jesus white? It makes no sense, if you believe the fairy
tale that the old white men have been telling for centuries, that a man from
the middle east will have white skin and blue eyes. The whole point of the Catholic religion is
to have an excessive amount of power over the followers. As a woman I am particularly offended by the
fact that a woman cannot be a priest.
The brainwashing is so effective that we just accept that we are
supposed to listen to the old men and call it “tradition.” It is these powerful old white men who
invented the illusion of the Virgin Mary, the perfect woman, she never has sex
and yet breeds for the men. There is
nothing more impossible for girls to strive for than the Virgin Mary. By making every woman a sinner for having sex
the Catholic church keeps them guilty and powerless. Oskar describes it well when he says, “it’s
all over for that character…who looks like me yet is false” (Grass 132). Oskar looks like this depiction of Jesus yet
cannot believe in him. There was too
much proof that Jesus did not fit into his world. I didn’t mean to make this post all about me,
so I’ll write some more about the book.
Jesus the gymnast is such an interesting concept. From a perspective not bogged down by
tradition and guilt, Oskar can see the unrealistic depiction of Jesus. He makes a joke at Christ’s expense. I find myself wondering what Grass is trying
to do with this chapter, beyond the obvious point of showing Oskar as a prophet
or Christ figure. Is he disproving all
other Christ figures in novels?
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