Mr Zuss Believes J.B. example essay topic

From the view of Mr. Zuss and Nickles, two characters in the book J.B., J.B. suffers from God's will. J.B.'s children, his wife, his health, and his home are taken from him. Nickles and Mr. Zuss have different reasons why God makes all humanity suffer. Mr. Zuss believes that man should always have faith in God, whether in grief and pain, or in delight. Nickles thinks that God prepares humans for death through suffering. He believes that God makes people suffer, but doesn't have to. He is upset with J.B. because J.B. does not reject God after God miserably humiliates him.

At the end of scene 9, J.B. learns the he will never know why he was suffering. God shows how powerful he is, and J.B. repents. His repentance, though, disappoints Mr. Zuss and Nickles. Mr. Zuss is disappointed by J.B.'s arrogance of forgiving God, and not praising God, while Nickles is disappointed by J.B.'s ongoing faith, in spite of all of the hardships God has put upon him.

He believes that J.B. had the chance to lose faith in God, but instead repented. After J.B. asks for God's answer to his suffering, God comes down to talk with J.B. God tells J.B. that he has no right to question God's authority because God is the one who "laid the foundations of the earth" (page 128). Therefore he doesn't have to give an answer to J.B.'s suffering because God has his own reasons. Zuss and Nickles witness this event with very different views on how J. B should handle this situation. On the one hand, Zuss thinks that J.B. should appreciate seeing God's majesty. On the other hand, Nickles wants J.B. to reject God after God humiliates him. J.B. disappoints Zuss and Nickles because he does not reject God nor does he praise him; J.B. forgives God and still loves God's creations because of his human capacity to love and forget.

Nickles views God as a negative force that doesn't deserve the respect he demands. He believes that the Lord is unworthy of the reverence of the reverence of the people. Throughout the play, Nickles sings a song; "If God is God He is not good, if God is good, he is not God" (page 14). He finds God's testing of humans to be unfair and unnecessary. J.B. has not sinned; nor has he has not committed crimes.

He is simply made to suffer because God wants it. Nickles thinks that the suffering God brings upon J.B. "isn't decent! It isn't moral even! It's disgusting!" (page 93).

Nickles believes that all J.B. needs to see is "that bloody drum-stick striking; see who lets it strike the drum" (page 75). The "bloody drum-stick" is referring to the deaths that God has brought to J.B. and his family. In the play, every death that J.B. comes to is signaled by the beat of a drum. God is making innocent people die for no reason. Sarah realizes this, but J.B. never does.

Nickles thinks that humans should see the absurdity of God's testing of J.B., which, from his perspective, is pointless. Mr. Zuss, a faithful and dedicated believer of God, thinks of Him as the most powerful influence in the world... Zuss always admires God as the almighty creator who sees and knows all. He believes that God has seen everything from the "enormous pattern of the steep of the stars" to seeing the "minute perfection of the frozen crystal" and has reasons for all of these wonders. He concludes that all of humanity must suffer at one point or another in order to find true faith in God. He believes that the perfect human is one that "fear eth God and eschew eth evil" (page 51).

This is how Job was in the Bible. He accepts God, and still has faith in God, even after everything has gone wrong for him. Mr. Zuss realizes that the only way J.B. could ever really appreciate the work of God is to have everything of value to him taken away. As Mr. Zuss tells Nickles "it is from the ash heap that God is seen always" (page 50). Mr. Zuss's belief that God is the almighty creator who sees and knows all leads to his disappointment with J.B. at the end of scene 9. God angrily shows the power and strength that he has, tries to put fear into J.B., while J.B. is calm, relaxed, and keeps his composure. J.B., although maybe not purposely, gives the impression that he is trying to ease or calm down the Lord by assuring him faith.

The Lord believes that by trying to calm him down, he is showing no respect for God. He is showing that he thinks he is superior to him. J.B. is being arrogant, egotistical. His confidence over the Lord outrages Mr. Zuss. Mr. Zuss is insulted because whatever God does is supposed to be the right thing. God "does not love. He is".

(152) God doesn't care about love. He doesn't have human feelings or characteristics, he doesn't care what humans think about his decisions because he knows what is right. Sometimes humans think that what he does is unjust, or unfair, but he knows what is best for humans because he knows everything and he sees the bigger picture. God is reason, and because of this, whatever he does is the right thing; nothing God does should be forgiven because there is always a purpose for what God does. J.B. is disrespecting God and his perfection by suggesting that he did something wrong. He doesn't appreciate God's sight, you can tell by the sadness in his voice. J.B. lacks what Job had, the fear and deference of God.

This is what Mr. Zuss believes J.B. should have as well. He needs reverence and trepidation in order to be the "ideal man". Nickles, who was almost positive that J.B. would go against Bible and lose faith in God and his reasoning, is disappointed when J.B. repents and assures his undying faith to the lord. Nickles believes that J.B. is not being logical.

He is irritated because he has seen the kind of things the Lord has made J.B. go through, yet J.B. is just able to forgive and repent. He is exasperated because of J.B.'s repentance, which assures his faith in God. He is submitting himself to the will of the Lord. J.B. had a chance and reason to be angry and upset with the Lord, but he gave that up and apologized. J.B., like a "worm", is weak and can be controlled by God (page 136). He is not able to see how unfair it is what God is doing. Nickles thinks that J.B. has no reason to be punished, and that J.B. should realize this as well.

He thinks that J.B. should.