The Mark of Cain and the Mark of Pain
In the early chapters of Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament, there is a murder story. Readers may be vaguely familiar with it.
In this story, there are two brothers who represent the first two occupations of the nascent Agrarian Culture, when humans first took control of the Food Supply.
Cain is the Farmer who tills the fields. Abel is the Herdsman who tends the flocks.
At the County Fair, Abel's succulent lamb chops take the Blue Ribbon, while Cain's soggy platter of suffering succotash is rudely dissed by the judges. In a foolish fit of jealousy, Farmer Cain rises up in anger and butchers the Herdsman, Abel.
This unexpected turn of events — the first murder in the nascent Agrarian Culture — is a bit of scandal. Cain, the surviving murderer now fears retribution by the aggrieved Meat Lovers of the Fertile Crescent.
To forestall a civil war between the Meat Eaters and the Vegetarians, Farmer Cain is obliged to wear a visible sign on his forehead, a stigma known as the Mark of Cain.
The Mark of Cain is a mark of stain, a sign of anguish and remorse.
Today, miscreants in our culture no longer wear stigmatic Marks of Cain on the outside of their skin. But many who have been stained by haphazard misadventures wear Marks of Pain on the inside.
Can you recognize someone who has been traumatized, stigmatized, or victimized by an unfortunate misadventure?
Can you recognize an anguished Mark of Pain on the soul of a fellow traveler?
In this story, there are two brothers who represent the first two occupations of the nascent Agrarian Culture, when humans first took control of the Food Supply.
Cain is the Farmer who tills the fields. Abel is the Herdsman who tends the flocks.
At the County Fair, Abel's succulent lamb chops take the Blue Ribbon, while Cain's soggy platter of suffering succotash is rudely dissed by the judges. In a foolish fit of jealousy, Farmer Cain rises up in anger and butchers the Herdsman, Abel.
This unexpected turn of events — the first murder in the nascent Agrarian Culture — is a bit of scandal. Cain, the surviving murderer now fears retribution by the aggrieved Meat Lovers of the Fertile Crescent.
To forestall a civil war between the Meat Eaters and the Vegetarians, Farmer Cain is obliged to wear a visible sign on his forehead, a stigma known as the Mark of Cain.The Mark of Cain is a mark of stain, a sign of anguish and remorse.
Today, miscreants in our culture no longer wear stigmatic Marks of Cain on the outside of their skin. But many who have been stained by haphazard misadventures wear Marks of Pain on the inside.
Can you recognize someone who has been traumatized, stigmatized, or victimized by an unfortunate misadventure?
Can you recognize an anguished Mark of Pain on the soul of a fellow traveler?
posted by Moulton | 5:10 AM
8 Comments:
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Genuine remorse, as depicted in the illustrative sculpture by Henri Vidal, is indeed a shield against Retributive Justice.
I, for one, would like to see more demonstrations of remorse in the wake of lamentable misadventures in our increasingly shreklisch lives.
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I think the term of art is "crocodile tears."
I wonder if it's possible for the audience of Greek Tragedy to recognize anagnorisis without a subsequent dithyramb.
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Feel free to invite him, if you still have his contact information.
I published his research on Sabina Spielrein under my own byline because he declined to allow me to append his name as the primary author.
Are you following any of my peripatetic ramblings on Facebook?
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The missing dialogue in the comments can be found here.
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