The Wine of Astonishment Essay Example for Free

The Wine of Astonishment EssayGod dont reveal you more than you can bear. The opening line of the novel suggests that it is a deeply rooted religious novel. As the story unfolds, we explore the religious journey that the disconcert Spiritual Baptists in Bonasse have to embark on, in efforts to restore their rights to practise their faith. The title of the novel, The Wine of Astonishment can be analysed in two ways. Firstly, the literal translation of The Wine of Astonishment stems from the meanings of the words drink and astonishment. Wine is an alcoholic beverage typically made of fermented grape juice and is usually bitter. Astonishment refers to something unexpected. compounding the meanings, one can deduce that the Wine of Astonishment refers to something bitter and unexpected. As one of the major themes in the novel is struggle, we can interpret the fuddle to ask bitterness the austerenesss and sour experiences the Spiritual Baptists had to withstand and astonishm ent the unexpected.Therefore, the Wine of Astonishment can literally mean an unexpected hardship. Secondly, if analysed from a biblical perspective, the phrase the wine of astonishment is mentioned in sing 603 Thou hast shewed thy people hard things thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment. To David, the psalmist, in Psalm 60, he felt as though God withheld His protection, that God had turned his back on them because when the Israelites were at war away in the North, they were invaded in the south.It appeared as though instead of granting them the wine of blessing, God had rejected them unexpectedly. This was Gods way of testing the faith of his people. He made them endure unexpected hardship to see just how strong they were. In the novel, Eva knows that the trials they experience was Gods challenge to them.It seemed as though God rejected them and showered them with tribulations but real abet comes from God alone and when a situation seems out of control, we can tr ust God to do mighty things. Hence, God made the Spiritual Baptists drink the wine of astonishment to test their faith as a church and in the end, God restored his protection of his people and freed them from the torment they endured in attempts to keep their religion. The books title introduces the reader, to a religious plot that will examine the course of a struggling people.