The Book of Job strongly relates to a recent New York Times article called “Suicides Put Light on Pressures of Gay Teenagers” where the protagonists are in a dilemma. As a result, the protagonists Job and Seth Walsh are both suffering. In addition, both of them are the characters or persons being attacked by an attacker who is the opposing force. Job is being attacked by God who places several obstacles before Job by basically cursing his fortune he has. Job is cursed in several ways, for example, “the fire of god fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them” (126) in which the fire god annihilated Job’s sheep and servants as a result of God’s curse. In the New York Times article, Seth Walsh is being abused for being gay, “Seth went into the backyard of his home in the desert town of Tehachapi, Calif., and hanged himself, apparently unable to bear a relentless barrage of taunting, bullying and other abuses at the hands of his peers.” They are both in a sense, helpless because Job is a mortal, and Seth Walsh is only part of a small community.
Although there are similarities between Job’s story and the New York Times article, there are also differences. In Job’s case God’s curse on Job can not be comprehended by mortals. In Seth Walsh case, he was abused because the teens wanted to taunt and bully him out of pure enjoyment. Secondly, the end result of both stories is different because although Job and Seth Walsh cursed their lives, Job did not commit suicide, but Seth did. Lastly, Job was actually rewarded by God after the trials he faced, but Seth doesn’t seem be even remotely rewarded.
McKinley, Jesse. “Suicides Put Light on Pressures of Gay Teenagers.” New York Times 4 Oct. 2010, New York ed.: A9. Print.
