LITERATURE ANALYSIS: THE YEAR OF LIVING BIBLICALLY

Nonfiction Analysis: The Year of Living Biblically

TOPIC(S) and/or EVENT(S):

• The Year of Living Biblically was written by A.J. Jacobs and he speaks of how he lived an entire year following the words of the Bible in a literal meaning instead of the metaphorical meaning.
• Jacobs gives several reasons on why he chose to embark on his journey. From changing his agnostic views on religion, to taking inspiration from his ex-uncle Gil that would also take what he learned from the Bible in a literal meaning.
• Such as my last nonfiction analysis, this novel was also recommended to me by sophomore English teacher Mrs. Byrne. Since the last novel she gave me truly entertained me I wondered if she could help me choose another novel. Long story short, she did.
• To be honest, it is truly hard for me to find this novel realistic. Reason being is that I have never heard of anyone deciding to live their life to the literal meaning of the Bible.

People:

• Throughout the novel, Jacobs gives his own interpretations based on his own personal observations.
• Main Characters:
• A.J. Jacobs - the main protagonist and author of The Year of Living Biblically. His physical appearance changes dramatically from the beginning to the end of the story. First we have this average clean cut looking guy with a nice suit. In the end however, we don't see this guy anymore. We see a shaggy bearded men who looked like he lived off the street and never had a chance to shave. Going to a nice formal suit to a one piece clothing attire and sandals. He likes to challenge himself and questions his own abilities. If I were to rewrite him as a fictional character, I would use direct characterization because he tends to speak out his mind throughout the novel.
• Julie Jacobs - is the wife A.J. Jacobs. Julie is shorter then her husband by a couple of inches, and based on the way she dressed you wouldn't think that she was married to a man devoted to living to very little thing the Bible says. She is willing to put with all the shenanigans that her husband does. If I were to rewrite Julie as a fictional character, I would use direct characterization. Reason being because we don't really get to know what her exact feelings were towards her husband during the entire year.
• I think what is interesting to write about these people is their struggle. One living his life based on the words of God (A.J. Jacobs), and the one who has to put up with it (Julie).
• Jacobs uses both direct and indirect characterization in order to represent his view towards other character and his views toward the audience.
• Direct Characterization:
• "A lot of my friends expect me to speak like a walking King James Bible. They want me... to spout words like thou and woe unto and whosoever shall"" (Page 99)
• "I was reading in one of my Bible commentaries about how the flood is such a tragic story...and how strange it is that it's always made into cute kids' toys." (Page 116)
• Indirect Characterization:
• "Yea, I shall rejoice in a feast of pizza." (Page 99)
• "I had tried to show off my biblical knowledge, and I ended up insulting my only friendly neighbor. The Bible tells us not to be know-it-alls." (Page 116)
• Jacobs changes his syntax and diction as often as he can when they focus on a character. One moment Jacobs will talk philosophically about a topic and then talk about his child to a fellow character.
• Jacobs is a very dynamic and round character. Dynamic in the sense that he goes through his own biblical journey, and round because we get to learn with Jacobs and his journey.
• After reading this novel, I would think that Jacobs was a fictional character that I just read about. While I was reading this novel, I was completely baffled that someone who grew up in a not very religious household would decide to dedicate a year of their life living almost word by word of what the Bible said.

Style:

• Jacobs uses fictional writing techniques in his novel. One of these techniques is allusions. Throughout his novel he makes allusions to the Bible (kind of obvious). He just doesn't do it to show the rules of the Bible, he uses these excerpts when they are necessary. Whether to show a point or to show that it relates to the previous topic that he was talking about.
• This novel has his fair amounts of dialogue, but when it comes to how the majority of the novel is written, Jacobs is very meticulous when it came to writing this because of lengthy descriptions. To someone like me, I am not fond of reading about descriptions. I find it rather boring, and prefer more action and dialogue.
• From just the front cover of the novel we can tell that Jacobs tone is going to be sarcastic. Holding the ten commandments in one hand and holding a cup of coffee in the other.
• I think that Jacobs like to torture himself. I don't mean that he hurts himself physically, but he likes to make things harder on himself. I came up with this due to reading this novel, and hearing about his previous book where he tried to learn everything by reading an encyclopedia.
• At the end of the novel, Jacobs gives a list of the works he has cited. Jacobs uses different versions of the Bible, and using works of others and their views on religion. Actually this hasn't affected me. Most writers tend to use different resources in order to support their ideas.

Enduring Memory:

An idea that I learned from this novel is that when reading a book like the Bible, make sure to distinguish the literal and metaphorical meanings. Not everyone tends to pick up the Bible daily and live life as if it is portrayed. Well that's how God may want it, It sounds impossible! We as humans will always make mistakes, and cannot be perfect.

"And he shall read it in all the days of his life..." - Deuteronomy 17:19