"A Canticle for ..." All About Benjamin - (all spoilers all the time)

[[deleted user]]

The Wandering Jew is seen in all three books. And his search for his Messiah is a central theme to the novel. He was portrayed much differently in all three books. What are your thoughts on Benjamin? How did the portrayals in each period reflect that period's time and were they the same man?

[Veronika KaoruSaionji]

I wish to know it, too!
For me personally, he was.
But I wonder why? Was he prophet or saint, who can live for hunderts years? Or some kind of mutant human? Deep mystery...

[Sandy]

Geoffrey noted he was portrayed differently in each book, and I've been thinking about that, rather than the search for the Messiah. It may have been obvious to everyone else, but it just now occurred to me that we only ever saw Benjamin from others' viewpoints. In the first book, Francis was such a simple soul he was prepared to believe the old man was St. L. himself. But the observers in the last two books were much more sophisticated, learned men: in the second part, on the brink of a Renaissance, the Abbott considers him a friend, but perhaps it's that more sophisticated people lose vision, not that Benjamin changes. In the final part, Benjamin is really on the periphery. By that point perhaps the viewers have simply lost faith. Zerchi sees him only at a distance, right?

[Sandy]

Also, at the end I was hoping somehow they would make room for Benjamin on the star ship. Did anyone else have that thought?

[Kersplebedeb]

Weirdest thing. Read this book many times before, but i had misremembered the ending -- i was sure that Benjamin recognized Rachel as the second coming. Unless i missed it this time round (always possible). If not, it's the weirdest literary false memory i can remember having...

[[deleted user]]

Sandy wrote: "in the second part, on the brink of a Renaissance, the Abbott considers him a friend, but perhaps it's that more sophisticated people lose vision, not that Benjamin changes. In the final part, Benjamin is really on the periphery. By that point perhaps the viewers have simply lost faith. Zerchi sees him only at a distance, right? "

Very good point. To a large degree, in the 3rd part he's pretty much a nobody. Abbott Zerchi probably wouldn't have recognized him as the Wandering Jew if that was what, in fact, he was. It is definitely a difference in our times. Today, we don't tend to see the miraculous in everyday life.

[Terence]

Maybe Benjamin, whoever he is (I've always leaned toward the idea that he is Leibowitz), is a symbol of Man's increasing distance from God?

In "Fiat Homo," his presence is crucial since without him Francis would never have discovered the saint's relics. In the second part, he confronts the Thon and has a talk with Dom Paulo but could have been edited out without compromising the story. And in "Fiat Voluntas Tua," he doesn't even speak (IIRC) but only appears as one of the homeless in the monastery's soup kitchen.

[Sandy]

Does that mean Benjamin himself is losing faith, or maybe hope, after all those centuries? I wonder. Without the likelihood of a Messiah, his life becomes a pretty horrendous punishment.

[Terence]

No, I was looking at it from the perspective of the civilization that grew up over the centuries.(Including the monks, who also are tempted by worldly snares. Remember the statue that one of the brothers carved in Francis' day that bore a remarkable resemblance to Benjamin: In that time, it was part of the monastery's public decor; in Dom Paulo's day it was in a niche in the abbot's office; in Zerchi's day it was buried in a vault and didn't see the light of day until the bombs threw it up out of the earth.)

And it's pretty clear that a Second Coming is imminent (I think Rachel is another Mary; she's not the Messiah) so Benjamin's long wait is almost over.

[Sandy]

Terence, I saw the starship as the only hope. I like your interpretation better.

[Ben]

Hmmm..don't know if you have already found this but...Benjamin is Lazarus (he is called Lazar, and even Lazarus, also he refers to being commanded to "come forth"(from the grave)) this reawakening from the dead gives him semi-immortality. He represents for me the voice of the past and the voice of the aged observer. He offers inflection and observations on the state and habits of men, lamenting their shortcomings, and educating the abbot on mankind's self-immolation. He is an immortal philosopher waiting for God.

[Terence]

Sandy wrote: "Terence, I saw the starship as the only hope. I like your interpretation better."

You know, I had completely forgot about the starship but I don't think it obviates my point.

Earth's role in God's plan is over, though what the role man's extra-solar colonies will play is anyone's guess.

[Jon]

The last monk on the starship, was it really a monk? Or was it Benjamin/Lazarus, shaking off the dust of the doomed world? Or was it Joshua?

I only ask because of the reference to him scratching his beard and to the sandals. I believe Miller noted that Joshua scratched his beard but couldn't remember if Benjamin did in the previous two stories.

[Terence]

Jon wrote: "The last monk on the starship, was it really a monk? Or was it Benjamin/Lazarus, shaking off the dust of the doomed world? Or was it Joshua?

I only ask because of the reference to him scratchi..."

I think it's Joshua. And even if it isn't, I don't think it's Benjamin - How would he have gotten aboard the ship? He certainly wasn't a child and never would have been a monk. And he's spent 2,000 years (or 4,000 if he's the Wandering Jew of the First Coming) waiting for his Messiah - why would he leave now?

PS, Jon - I'm glad you liked this book so much; it's been one of my faves since 6th grade :-)