ii
THE IMPORTANCE OF RECREATING ELIJAH’S BIBLICAL
MIRACLES IN PAULO COELHO’S
THE FIFTH MOUNTAIN
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
YOHANNES BRAMANDA RYAN KHARISMA Student Number: 134214093
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
THE IMPORTANCE OF RECREATING ELIJAH’S BIBLICAL
MIRACLES IN PAULO COELHO’S
THE FIFTH MOUNTAIN
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
YOHANNES BRAMANDA RYAN KHARISMA Student Number: 134214093
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
vii
“
There is a reason
for everything under the sun.
”
viii
For
My Beloved Parents, Frans and Luhur,
My Brother, Bonaventura,
and My Sister, Carolina,
ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I am blessed to express praises and immense thanks to
Jesus Christ for His continuous guidance, showers of blessings, and mercy in every
step throughout the process of making this undergraduate thesis.
Second, I would like to thank my family, especially my parents. They have
become my motivation to finish this undergraduate thesis. I thank them so much for
their supports, both for moral and financial and the endless love and prayers. I hope
that I can make them happy and proud of what I have done.
In particular, my sincerest gratitude is extended to my advisor Paulus
Sarwoto, S.S., M.A., Ph.D. for his advisory support to conduct this undergraduate
thesis, motivating discussion and suggestions, and for reading and re-reading my
undergraduate thesis. My special thanks also addressed to Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd.,
M.Hum. as my co-advisor for agreeing to review this thesis and her valuable
comments. I would also like to thank all my English Letters lecturers at Sanata
Dharma University whose teachings have enriched my knowledge.
Last but not least, I deliver my best thanks to all my friends of English
Letters Department. I thank them for bringing one more color in my rainbow. All
of our memories will always be carved in my heart.
x
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ... ii
APPROVAL PAGE ... iii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ... iv
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH ... v
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ... vi
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ... 5
A. Review of Related Studies ... 5
B. Review of Related Theories ... 7
1. Theory of Narratology ... 8
a. Theory of Narratology According to Aristotle... 8
b.Theory of Narratology According to Vladimir Propp ... 9
c. Authorship of the Text ... 11
2. Theory of Hypertextuality ... 12
3.Theory of Miracle ... 14
C. Review of Related Background ... 16
D. Theoretical Framework ... 17
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ... 19
A. Object of the Study ... 19
B. Approach of the Study ... 20
xi
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ... 22
A. The Recreation of Elijah’s Biblical Miracles in Coelho’s The Fifth Mountain ... 22
B. The Importance of Recreating Elijah’s Miracles ... 43
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ... 46
BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 48
APPENDIX ... 50
xii ABSTRACT
KHARISMA, YOHANNES BRAMANDA RYAN. The Importance of
Recreating Elijah’s Biblical Miracles in Paulo Coelho’s The Fifth Mountain. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2017.
Bible is one of the most influential books in the world. Not only for being the holy book for the Christians, but it also becomes the most discussed book. Bible is divided into two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The New
Testament tells about Jesus’s life and the continuance of his teachings by His
disciples. The Old Testament tells about the creation of the world and the prophets before Jesus. One of those prophets in the Old Testament is Elijah. He escapes from Israel because the king wants him dead. In his exile, he is accepted in the house of a widow in Zarephath and performs two miracles there. Paulo Coelho, an author
from Brazil, also writes a novel about Elijah’s journey. However, the miracles in his novel are different from the miracles in the Bible. Those differences move the writer to have an academic analysis in this undergraduate thesis.
There are two problems observed in this study. The first one is to see how
Elijah’s biblical miracles are recreated in Coelho’s novel. Second is to find out what is the importance of recreating Elijah’s miracles. The answer of the first problem becomes the basis to answer the second problem formulation. Therefore, the two problems are connected one another.
In this study, the writer uses library research method. The first problem formulation is answered by using narratological approach. The writer identifies the narrative functions of each story and tries to see how the miracles in the Bible are recreated and constructed in Coelho’s The Fifth Mountain by using Vladimir
Propp’s theory of narratology. Hypertextuality also helps the writer to compare the same stories in the Bible and in the novel. The analysis of the narrative functions in both literary works becomes the basis to the analysis of the second problem formulation which leads to the importance of recreating Elijah’s miracles.
Two findings in this study become the result of the analysis. There are 9
narrative functions in the Bible and 21 narrative functions in Coelho’s novel. The
events related to the miracles have the same order, but the rest are different. One
miracle in the Bible is differently described in Coelho’s novel. Instead of God, Paulo Coelho writes that Elijah is the one who makes the miracle of the multiplication of flour and oil. It shows that Elijah can perform a miracle. The
xiii ABSTRAK
KHARISMA, YOHANNES BRAMANDA RYAN. The Importance of
Recreating Elijah’s Biblical Miracles in Paulo Coelho’s The Fifth Mountain. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2017.
Alkitab adalah salah satu buku yang paling berpengaruh di dunia. Tidak hanya menjadi Kitab Suci kaum Kristiani, Alkitab juga merupakan buku yang paling banyak dibahas. Alkitab dibagi menjadi dua bagian: Perjanjian Lama dan Perjanjian Baru. Perjanjian Baru mengisahkan kisah hidup Yesus dan kelanjutan ajaran-ajaran-Nya oleh para murid-Nya. Perjanjian Lama mengisahkan penciptaan dunia dan para nabi sebelum Yesus. Salah satu dari para nabi di Perjanjian Lama tersebut adalah Elia. Ia melarikan diri dari Israel karena sang raja menginkannya mati. Dalam pengasingannya, Ia diterima di rumah seorang janda dari Sarfat dan membuat dua mukjizat di sana. Paulo Coelho, seorang pengarang dari Brazil, juga menulis sebuah novel tentang kisah perjalanan Elia; akan tetapi mukjizat-mukjizat di novelnya berbeda dari mukjizat-mukjizat di Alkitab. Perbedaan itulah yang menggerakkan penulis untuk melakukan analisis akademik dalam skripsi ini.
Ada dua pokok masalah yang diteliti di dalam studi ini. Pertama, untuk melihat bagaimana mukjizat biblis Elia dibuat ulang di dalam novel Coelho. Kedua, untuk melihat pentingnya pembuatan ulang mukjizat-mukjizat Elia. Jawaban atas rumusan masalah pertama menjadi dasar untuk menjawab rumusan masalah kedua. Oleh karena itu, dua rumusan masalah tersebut saling berkaitan satu sama lain.
Di dalam studi ini, penulis menggunakan metode studi pustaka. Rumusan masalah pertama dijawab menggunakan pendekatan naratologi. Penulis mengidentifikasi fungsi-fungsi narasi dari setiap cerita dan mencoba melihat bagaimana mukjizat Alkitab dibuat ulang dan di susun dalam novel The Fifth Mountain karya Paulo Coelho dengan menggunakan teori naratologi milik Vladimir Propp. Hipertextualitas juga membantu penulis untuk membandingkan cerita-cerita yang sama di Alkitab dan di novel. Analisis dari fungsi-fungsi narasi di kedua karya sastra menjadi dasar untuk menganalisa rumusan masalah kedua yang menuntun pada pentingnya pembuatan ulang mukjizat Elia.
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Bible has become the most important book for Christians throughout
centuries. It is also one of the oldest literary works in the planet. The Bible tells
about Jesus’ story, teachings, preaches, encounters, messages, commandments and
prohibitions, and the most important, it tells the Gospel or Good News for human
kind. Bible itself is divided into two major parts, the Old Testament and the New
Testament. The Old Testament contains the stories start from the creation of the
world until the moment just before Jesus’ arrival. The tales of the prophets are also
told in the Old Testament, such as Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Jonah, Hosea,
Amos, Haggai, Micah, Nathan, Elijah, Samuel, Elisha, and many more. The New
Testament contains the stories starting from the nativity until the revelation, which
is written by Saint John.
Prophet Elijah is one among great prophets in the Old Testament. He is the
only prophet who is not dead, but instead carried by chariots of fire into heaven. He
answers God’s calling in such a young age and receives a huge impact because of
his decision. He is banished from Israel for telling God’s words to King Ahab so
that the king does not worship Baal or any idols anymore. Prophet Elijah escapes
from Israel and goes to the brook of Cherith where he gets foods from a crow sent
by God. So God sends him to a widow in Zarephath and Elijah performs a miracle
there by resurrecting the widow’s son. He lives with that widow and her son until
One of the world’s famous authors, Paulo Coelho, also writes the same story
about Prophet Elijah. Coelho re-tells, or re-create, the story by putting in some
additions such as romance, adventure and drama that are told in details. It seems
that the story itself is beautifully reconstructed by Coelho. In his novel, The Fifth
Mountain, Coelho creates the events which are not mentioned in the Bible. For
example, when Prophet Elijah is chased by Israeli troops and banished from Israel.
He creates a conversation between Prophet Elijah and a crow by the brook of
Cherith. He makes Prophet Elijah falls in love to the widow in Zarephath. He makes
Prophet Elijah struggling his calling when that widow burned in a fire caused by
Assyrians. In a way, Coelho makes Prophet Elijah accepts God’s design.
There are two different stories sharing the same idea of Prophet Elijah. The
Bible and Coelho tell us about Prophet Elijah’s story. Both are telling the story with
their own version. It is the writer’s belief that Coelho writes his novel based on
Bible, since the Bible is already written in the 3rd century. The story itself is all
about Prophet Elijah’s journey, his interaction, his encounter, and his conflict; but
there are so many additions that can be found in Coelho’s novel if it is compared to
the Bible. Of course there is a purpose why Coelho puts some additional stories in
his novel and that purpose re-creates the story of Prophet Elijah. Both stories have
their own narrative structures in telling and that is what makes them different. That
difference has encouraged the writer to conduct further research to analyse both
3
B. Problem Formulation
This undergraduate thesis is aimed to answer several questions related to the
topic, The Importance of Recreating Elijah’s Biblical Miracles inPaulo Coelho’s
The Fifth Mountain, such as:
1. How are Elijah’s miracles recreated in Paulo Coelho’s The Fifth Mountain?
2. What is the importance of recreating Elijah’s miracles?
C. Objectives of the Study
In accordance with the problems above, this undergraduate thesis is aimed
at discovering some points. Firstly, how Elijah’s miracles are recreated in Paulo
Coelho’s The Fifth Mountain. Secondly, the importance of recreating Elijah’s
miracles. The first and the second problems are related to each other. The answer
of the first problem helps the writer to answer the second problem. The process of
recreation of Elijah’s biblical miracles in Coelho’s novel makes the analysis of the
importance of the novel becomes essential. Those are the objectives which are
going to be described and explained in this thesis.
D. Definition of Terms
Narratology
Narratology is the study of narrative structure. It focuses on how a narrative
is constructed and how the meaning is attached to it. Narratology sees the nature of
a story as a cultural practice, therefore an author has a major influence to his/her
Hypertextuality
Hypertextuality is a relation of two texts which makes a text cannot exist
without its pre-text. Gerard Genette defines that a text may exist because of the
transformation of the previous text. It means that text B may have no reference to
5
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A. Review of Related Studies
There is a thesis by Jimmy Joseph Uzhunnupara which is related to this
undergraduate thesis that discusses the same novel, The Fifth Mountain. He states
that themes that run throughout the novel are faith and love which help people
to have trust in the providence of the Lord. There are some symbols related to the
novel: the crow is symbol of one who helps at the moment of needs; the two faces
of the river Cherith symbolize the abundance and the scarcity; the hospitality shown
by the widow and her son and the shepherd family is the symbol of the custom and
practice that any foreigner who comes as a guest must be treated well; the killing
of the general is as equal to that of the Stephan the first martyr; and the angels which
are seen and unseen stand as the providence of the Lord in the moments of needs
(Uzhunnupara, 2016).
There is no other previous undergraduate thesis in English Letters in Sanata
Dharma University that discusses the same novel, however there are two
undergraduate theses in Faculty of Teacher Training and Education which analyse
The Fifth Mountain, although the topics are different. Stephanus Dio Christi
Nugraha conducts a research about the motivation behind Elijah’s confrontation
and struggle with the Lord. He argues that there are two motivations behind his
confrontation. First, Elijah wants to get God’s acceptance. Second, he wants to
is conducted by Christina Rindang Kurniasari. She says in her undergraduate thesis
that there are three Christian values in Paulo Coelho’s The Fifth Mountain: love,
faith, and hope (Kurniasari, 2009).
There is also a study about narrative structure in sea adventure fiction by
Margaret Cohen by analysing the well-known sea novels of the nineteenth century,
such as Daniel Defoe’s Life and Strange, Surprising Adventures of Robinson
Crusoe of York, Mariner. She concludes the plot of such adventure novels focus on
the action. The performance entails a form of human agency skilled at overcoming
dangers. The core of narrative poetics in maritime literature is the saltwater
adventure (Cohen, 2009).
Another study comes from Francisco Collado Rodríguez. He argues in his
paper that the narratological analysis of the famous poem offers one of the best
ways to re-think or to start a process of doubt about some of the most difficult parts
of the text, such as the ultimate or "real" intentions of the author, the effect created
by the editorial work, or the importance of a certain element for the final
understanding of the whole construction. A narratological analysis will reveal the
important role played in the text by technical devices. He also sees that hypertextual
references and the mixture of a "brown fog" in a "winter dawn" in Eliot’s The Waste
Land can make a parody of the cycle of myth, temporal dissolution, and more
hypertextual and ironic references accumulate in the last fragment which ends with
the metaleptical and hypertextual ideas. Eventually, the result created by the use of
hypertextuality can be understood as an indirect comprehension of many different
7
Irene de Jong also states in her paper that narratology as a discipline is also
applicable to oral poetry, but it has further consequences as well. It might stimulate
additional narratological research on oral poetry and increase our knowledge of the
narrative techniques applied in these texts. In the particular case of the Homeric
epics, a narratological approach has proved to be fruitful. It contributes to a
stimulating combination of formulaic research and literary interpretation. She
argues that a narratological analysis does not need to restrict itself to the purely oral
nor written elements (Jong, 1991).
This undergraduate thesis is different from the previous studies that have
been reviewed above because the focus of this undergraduate thesis is to analyse
how the narratives structures could construct a meaning and what is its significance,
especially in Paulo Coelho’s The Fifth Mountain. This undergraduate thesis does
not analyse the intrinsic elements of the novel, but it emphasizes on how the
meaning is constructed by narrative structures. In a way, this undergraduate thesis
is trying to discover something new if it is compared to the previous studies.
B. Review of Related Theories
The theory which is related to this undergraduate thesis is narratology. The
review of the theory will help the reader to be able to comprehend the whole concept
1. Theory of Narratology
According to Peter Barry, narratology is the study of narrative structures. It
is about the study of how narratives make meaning, and what the basic mechanisms
and procedures which are common to all acts of story-telling. Narratology is not the
reading and interpretation of individual stories, but the attempt to study the nature
of story as a concept and as a cultural practice. He differentiates the definition of
story and plot. The 'story' itself is the actual sequence of events as they happen,
whereas the 'plot' is those events as they are edited, ordered, packaged, and
presented in what we recognize as a narrative. So the 'plot' is a version of the story
which should not be taken literally (Barry, 2009).
a. Theory of Narratology According to Aristotle
The history of narratological analysis comes from Aristotle. He identifies
'character' and 'action' as the essential elements in a story, and says that character
must be revealed through action, which is to say through aspects of the plot.
Therefore, plot is very essential to every narrative. The structure of a narrative can
be identified by analysing the elements in its plot.
Aristotle identifies three key elements in a plot. The first element is
hamartia, a 'sin' or 'fault' which in tragic drama is known as the 'tragic flaw'. The
second element is anagnorisis, 'recognition' or 'realization', this being a moment in
the narrative when the truth of the situation is recognized by the protagonist - often
9
'reversal' of fortune. In classical tragedy this is usually a fall from high to low estate,
as the hero falls from greatness; or the otherwise (Barry, 2009).
b. Theory of Narratology According to Vladimir Propp
There is another theory of narratology that comes from Vladimir Propp. His
work is based on a study of his 'corpus' of a hundred Russian folktales, and he
concluded that all these tales are constructed by selecting items from a basic
repertoire of thirty-one 'functions'. No tale contains all the items in his list, but all
are constructed by selecting items from it (Barry, 2009).
The basic 31 functions of Propp’s narratological theory are these: first, one
of the members of a family absents himself from home. Second, an interdiction [that
is, a prohibition] is addressed to the hero. Third, the interdiction is violated. Fourth,
the villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance. Fifth, the villain receives
information about his victim. Sixth, the villain attempts to deceive his victim in
order to take possession of him or his belongings. Seventh, the victim submits to
deception and thereby unwittingly helps his enemy. Eighth, the villain causes harm
or injury to a member of a family/or one member of a family either lacks something
or desires to have something. Ninth, misfortune or lack is made known; the hero is
approached with a request or command; he is allowed to go or he is dispatched.
Tenth, the seeker (that is, the hero in 'questor' mode) agrees to or decides upon
counteraction. Eleventh, the hero leaves home. Twelfth, the hero is tested,
interrogated, attacked, etc., which prepares the way for his receiving either a
donor. Fourteenth, the hero acquires the use of a magical agent. Fifteenth, the hero
is transferred, delivered, or led to the whereabouts of an object of search. Sixteenth,
the hero and the villain join in direct combat. Seventeenth, the hero is branded.
Eighteenth, the villain is defeated. Nineteenth, the initial misfortune or lack is
liquidated. Twentieth, the hero returns. first, the hero is pursued.
Twenty-second, rescue of the hero from pursuit. Twenty-third, the hero, unrecognized,
arrives home or in another country. Twenty-fourth, a false hero presents unfounded
claims. Twenty-fifth, a difficult task is proposed to the hero. Twenty-sixth, the task
is resolved. Twenty-seventh, the hero is recognized. Twenty-eighth, the false hero
or villain is exposed. Twenty-ninth, the hero is given a new appearance. Thirtieth,
the villain is punished. Thirty-first, the hero is married and ascends the throne
(Barry, 2009).
Those 31 functions are the basic tools to make a narrative. Even though a
narrative does not have all the 31 functions, it can be still constructed by selected
or some of those functions. Peter Barry does not mention the minimum
require-ments of Propp’s functions to make a narration, therefore there can be differences
of narrative functions of one’s story compared to other narrative. The identification
of a narrative based on those functions make the analysis of one’s story becomes
11
c. Authorship of the Text
Monika Fludernik argues that there is a new concept in literary research
which concentrates to the author who becomes the original constructor of the
ideology in her work:
Among literary specialists, there is currently a renewed interest in the
author. Roland Barthes’s contention that the author is dead did not prove
particularly useful to British Cultural Studies and the New Historicism. These approaches foreground the idea of the author as a conduit for ideologically charged discourses rather than as an individual responsible for her/his text. At the present time, narratologists are also more immediately
concerned with the figure of the author (Fludernik, 2009: 13).
The author of a text is not necessarily the person who composed that text.
As Harold Love explains in his book on textual criticism, there are different types
of authorship: for example precursory authorship, executive authorship, declarative
authorship and revisionary authorship (Fludernik, 2009).
The first kind is precursory author, an author that has the authority to
influence a text. The second type is executive author who responsible for the
creation of the text, we can say that these writers are the ones who write down the
words on the page or composes text. The third type is declarative author, the person
who features as author on the title page, even if that person has had nothing
whatsoever to do with producing the text. The last type is revisionary author who
is responsible for amendments to the text and is often the publisher or editor of a
2. Theory of Hypertextuality
The concept of hypertextuality can be ambiguous if it is compared to the
concept of intertextuality. Intertextuality as a term was firstly used by Julia
Kristeva. The concept of intertextuality she initiated as a dynamic site in which
relational processes and practices are the focus of analysis instead of the static
structure (Alfaro, 1996). The interpretation of Bible already depended on an
intertextual practice and, at a time in which literature was subordinated to Theology,
what was true of religious texts was also made extensible to secular ones. All
literary works were seen as going back to the Bible and all could be read like it. The
production of art and literature during 1800s – 1900s has become an act of creation
based on a re-cycling of previously existing works. Sometimes it becomes
ambiguous if we read some literary works, in this case is a text. Ambiguity exists
only as a stage in the reading process and serves to alert the reader to the presence
of an intertext that will resolve the work’s difficulties. Such "clues" are enough to
set in train an intertextual reading, even if the intertext is not yet known or has been
lost with the tradition it reflected. Alfaro also re-states Genette’s ideas in
Palimpsestes and offers five subcategories on the globality of the notion of
transtextuality. They are:
a. Intertextuality: the relation of co-presence between two or more texts, that is, the effective presence of one text in another which takes place by means of plagiarism, quotation or allusion.
b. Paratextuality: the relations between the body of a text and its title, subtitle, epigraphs, illustrations, notes, first drafts, and other kinds of accessory signals which surround the text and sometimes comment on it.
13
d. Archtextuality: the generic category a text belongs to. The text may not recognize its generic quality, which should be decided by its readers, critics. However, this generic perception determines to a great extent the reader's "horizons of expectation", and, therefore, the work's reception. e. Hypertextuality: the relation between the late come text (hypertext) and its pre-text (hypotext). He defines hypertext as every text derived from a previous one by means of direct or indirect transformation (imitation), but not through commentary. In the former, direct or simple transformation, a text B may make no explicit reference to a previous one A, but it couldn't exist without A (Alfaro, 1996: 280-281).
Therefore, by seeing those definitions, there are major differences between
intertextuality and hypertextuality. It is important to understand the meaning of both
terms because they are often revered in an ambiguous way. The ambiguous concept
of them may create a confusion, however Riffaterre mentions that there are four
differences between intertextuality and hypertextuality (Riffaterre, 1994):
First, hypertextuality comes from the text in a concerted effort to summarize
the ideas, of the descriptive and narrative sign-systems, of the thematic material the
text has appropriated to its own purposes, and, finally, of the text's social, cultural,
and historical backgrounds, while intertextuality comes from textuality which
beyond the text's limits, the production of those formal features that make for the
text's unity.
Second, hypertextuality is a metalinguistic tool for the examination and
interpretation of an existing text. This analysis may go beyond the text, while
intertextuality is a linguistic network connecting the existing text with other
Third, hypertextuality contextualizes the text, examining literature in the
light of what is not literature but what may lead to the creation of it. Intertextuality
decontextualizes the text.
Fourth, hypertextuality is open-ended analysis because it leads to a further
analysis, while intertextuality is a closed-circuit exchange between text and
intertext. As this closed circuit defines the autonomy of the text and depends on
necessarily perceived signs.
3. Theory of Miracle
Humans are striving to comprehend the questions regarding chance and
miracle as a natural desire for a broader and more thorough study of the perspectives
revealed by contemporary natural history. In everyday life, human sometimes
misunderstands miracle as fate or chance. In common parlance, the word "chance"
means an event or occurrence, unexpected and unlooked-for, which we are unable
to predict on the basis of either the known laws of nature or experience. It is
sometimes called "coincidence," "a twist of fate," or "a stroke of luck;” nonetheless,
Leucippus posited that nothing happens by chance, but everything arises from a
cause and an inevitability, while the successor of his thinking, Democritus of
Abdera, believed that humans devise an illusory image of chance for themselves as
a cover for their powerlessness. The common understanding of chance was as the
materialization of an event unintended by the causative factors, due to their inherent
15
Baruch Spinoza also argues that, in nature, nothing occurs by chance;
everything, of nature's divine necessity, is determined with a particular way of
existing and acting. Many persons believe, for instance, that the natural calamities
visited upon us are a matter of chance. They believe so for no more reason than that
they know naught of the laws governing these matters. If they were to become
familiar with those laws, if they were therefore to learn, that such-and such a
calamity is determined by such-and-such a previous event, on the strength of the
laws of nature, they would no longer hold that calamity to be a matter of chance
(Spinoza, 2001).
It should be noted that chance can appear or disappear as soon as the
perspective from which we view a given event changes. Kazimierz Kloskowski
considers that two types of event exist; that determined by circumstances, which we
are not always able to define, and the miracle, understood as phenomena that elude
the laws of nature, phenomena that we fail to understand, and the role of which is
an affirmation of God (Kloskowski, 1990).
The understanding of the miracles itself is very various. There are some
definitions of miracle related to certain literatures. First, it is an unusual occurrence
by means of which God gives humankind a sign, through which they are filled with
wonderment (Léon-Dufour, 1977). Second, an event caused specifically by God's
intervention, stepping beyond the normal law of nature and bringing with it a
religious message for the people of today and later times (O'Collins, 1911). Third,
a marvel act by God, who as a Creator is able to interrupt the operation of ordinary
by God, and of religious significance (Swinburne, 1970). Fifth, a miracle is God's
intercession in the natural order of things (Kellenberger, 1968); and the last one, a
special or immediate act of God, as opposed to God's continuous work of creating
and sustaining the world. The result of this act will be beneficial and religiously
significant (Corner, 2005).
There are also some classifications of miracle by Świeżyński related to the
miraculous events. Those classifications are (Świeżyński, 2011):
a. The miracle in the wide sense, the "relative miracle," where the empirical
element can be considered as momentary chance.
b. The miracle in the strict sense, the "absolute miracle," the empirical element
of which can be defined as constant chance, or as ontological chance.
C. Review of Related Background
Paulo Coelho’s background contributes a lot in the analysis of this
undergraduate thesis. His role as the author also contributes in making his novel.
He was born on August 24, 1947, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Coelho studied in Jesuit
school and was raised by his devout Catholic parents. He determined to be a writer
but was discouraged by his parents, who saw no future in that profession in Brazil.
Coelho's rebellious adolescence made his parents to send him to a mental asylum
three times, starting when he was 17. Coelho eventually got out of institutional care
and enrolled in law school, but dropped out to indulge in the "sex, drugs and rock
17
protesting the country's military rule. He was jailed three times for his political
activism and subjected to torture in prison. After drifting among several
professions, Coelho changed his life's course while on a visit to Spain in 1986 at
the age of 36. Coelho walked more than 500 miles along the Road to Santiago de
Compostela, a site of Catholic pilgrimage. The walk and the spiritual awakening he
experienced inspired him to write The Pilgrimage in his native Portuguese. He quit
his other jobs and devoted himself full-time to the craft of writing (Hefner, 2016).
Paulo Coelho’s country, Brazil, was also affected by the global economic
crisis in 1990s. Inflation is the primary reason of Brazil’s crisis. Brazil’s central
bank made an action during the 1990s to rein in inflation and public spending.
Investors, attracted by high interest rates, poured money into the Brazilian economy
at unprecedented rates. In 1997, foreign direct investment grew by 140% over the
year before (Evangelist, 2006).
D. Theoretical Framework
There are two problems in this undergraduate thesis. First, how are the
Elijah’s miracles recreated in Paulo Coelho’s The Fifth Mountain? Second, what is
the significance of recreating Elijah’s miraclesfor the novel’s readers?
The first problem is answered by applying the theory of narratology. The
theory of narratology by Aristotle stands as the base and theory from Vladimir
Propp helps to identify the narrative structures in both literary works. They are very
important in analysing narrative structure in the novel and in the Bible. The theory
foundation on which the further ideas are built; the theory from Vladimir Propp
helps to conduct further analysis related to the narrative structure of both literary
works. Both theories support each other to make a clear stressing on the miraculous
events. By comparing and analysing the narrative structure on miracle in the novel
and in the Bible, the question about how Elijah’s miracles are recreated in Paulo
Coelho’s The Fifth Mountain is going to be answered.
The answer of the first problem contributes a lot in answering the second
problem formulation. The review of hypertextuality creates a relation between the
novel and the Bible, while the review of miracle will help us to see the difference
of the miracle in the novel if it is compared to the bible. The authorship of the text
also stand as an important element. The review of author’s background and the
condition of Brazil in the late 1990s (time when the novel was firstly published)
also help the writer to see the significance of the novel in the bigger scale. Such
differences become the significant things for novel’s reader in comprehending the
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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
This undergraduate thesis analyses a novel by Paulo Coelho, entitled The
Fifth Mountain. It is a fictional novel which is similar to an event in the Bible (Book
of 1 Kings Chapter 17: 1-24). This novel is the eighth novel written by Coelho and
it contains of 245 pages. Those previous novels are Eleven Minutes, The Alchemist,
The Pilgrimage, The Valkyries, By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept,
Veronika Decides to Die, and Warrior of The Light: A Manual. The novel itself,
The Fifth Mountain, was originally published in Portuguese version in Brazil in
1998. It was translated later into English by Cliford E. Landers and internationally
published by HarperTorch in June 2004.
The novel tells a story about Prophet Elijah in the ninth century B.C., when
the Phoenician princess Jezebel orders the execution of all the Israelite prophets
who refuse to worship the pagan god Baal. Commanded by an angel of God to flee
Israel, Elijah seeks safety in the land of Zarephath, where he unexpectedly finds
true love with a young widow. But this newfound rapture is to be cut short, and
Elijah sees all of his hopes and dreams irrevocably erased as he is swept into a
whirlwind of events that threatens his existence. In what is truly a literary milestone,
Coelho gives a quietly moving account of a man touched by the hand of God who
Ejilah’s journey is not easy. He must face many obstacles in achieving his
goal. Elijah, as the representation of humankind, put all of his life in God’s hand.
Instead of getting help from God, Elijah has to face never-ending tests in his life.
Finally Elijah can see God’s grand design for him after overcoming those test. In
the hard times, God performs miracles through him. He can create a miracle.
Humans, in a way, can do the miracle; therefore, it is essential to see how the
miracles are recreated in Coelho’s novel to know its importance.
B. Approach of the Study
This undergraduate thesis uses theory of narratology as the literary approach
to analyse the novel. Narratology is a study about narrative structures. It is a branch
of structuralism, but it has a certain independence from structuralism. Different
from structuralism which relates narratives to some larger structure and interpreting
literature in terms of a range with the structure of language, narratology looks at
individual narratives seeking out the recurrent structures which are found within all
narratives. Narratology also counteracts the tendency of conventional criticism to
foreground character and motive by foregrounding instead action and structure
(Barry, 2009).
It seems appropriate that narratology is used as the approach in this
under-graduate thesis since the title is The Importance of Recreating Elijah’s Biblical
Miracles in Paulo Coelho’s The Fifth Mountain. Narratology helps the writer to see
the narrative structure and the significance of miracles in the novel. The same
21
structure and so does the novel. Each work share a different structure with the same
miracles. Therefore, narratology can be applied to see how the biblical miracles are
recreated in the novel and the importance of those miracles.
C. Method of the Study
There are two main texts used in this undergraduate thesis: primary texts
and secondary texts. The primary texts are the novel, The Fifth Mountain, by Paulo
Coelho and the Bible, Book of 1 Kings 17:1 -24. The novel is used to analyse the
narrative functions of the biblical miracles and to see how those biblical miracles
are recreated in the novel, while the Bible is used to see how the miracles are
originally narrated and stands as a comparison to the miracles in the novel. The
secondary texts are the books, journals, other undergraduate theses, and internet
articles in reliable websites which provide supporting literary theories, approaches,
and information to this undergraduate thesis.
This undergraduate thesis uses library research method. There are several
steps needed in finishing this undergraduate thesis. The first step was that the writer
read Coelho’s The Fifth Mountain several times and focused on the miraculous
events. After reading Coelho’s novel, the writer read the Bible, Book of 1 Kings
17:1 -24, to comprehend the miracles within the text. Then, the writer identified the
narrative functions of each story and tried to see how the miracles in the Bible were
recreated and constructed in Coelho’s The Fifth Mountain by using literary theories.
After knowing the identification of each story, the writer observed the Brazil’s
condition in 1990s to see the effect of the recreation of the miracles in the novel in
22
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
This chapter aims to answer the two problems that have been stated in
Chapter I in this undergraduate thesis. This chapter is divided into two parts. The
first part discusses how the Elijah’s miracles are recreated in Paulo Coelho’s The
Fifth Mountain. The second part of this chapter discusses the significance of
recreating Elijah’s miracles. In answering those two problems, the analysis is based
on the steps in the Theoretical Framework which have been discussed earlier in the
Chapter II.
A. The Recreation of Elijah’s Biblical Miracles in Coelho’s The Fifth Mountain
There are two tales that tell Elijah’s story and of course one story is different
from the other. Knowing the differences between these stories is very essential in
analysing them. Narratology provides a just answer in that matter. There are two
important terms in narratology that can be used to differentiate two similar stories;
they are 'story' and 'plot.' The 'story' is the actual sequence of events as they happen,
whereas the 'plot' is those events as they are edited, ordered, packaged, and
presented as a narrative. It can be summarized that the 'plot' is a version of the story
23
It can be concluded by those definitions that the story of The Fifth Mountain
is the 'plot,' and the Bible (1 Kings 17: 1-24) is the 'story.' Bible not only stands as
the Holy Scripture for Christians, but also as historical recorder as well. It records
human history, especially Israelite history, excluded from their experiences of
God’s companionship. Therefore, Bible is considered as the actual sequence of
events that happened, whereas the novel is those events as they are edited, ordered,
packaged, and presented in what we recognize as a narrative. Paulo Coelho is the
author who created all the events in the novel, arranged them by structure, and
edited them so that the novel has a greater impact toward its readers.
There are three elements of plot in the novel if it is seen from Aristotle’s
point of view. First, the hamartia is the moment when Elijah decides to do God’s
command and he is banished from Israel (Coelho, 2004: 14-15). Second, the
anagnorisis is when Elijah has understood God’s will and accepts himself as an
Israelite prophet (Coelho, 2004: 236). The last one, the peripeteia is when everyone
in Akbar against Elijah and decide to banish him to the Fifth Mountain, however he
could live and resurrect the widow’s son. People of Akbar respected Elijah ever
since (Coelho, 2004: 55-58).
In order to know Elijah’s biblical miracles, it is necessary to analyse the
Bible as well. However, there is something interesting. The hamartia is not found
in the Bible. There is no sin or fault done by Elijah as a character. If there is a tragic
flaw, it is done by God for bringing the drought to Israel (1 Kings 17, 2016). The
anagnorisis does not exist in the Bible as well. It is because there is no truth of the
truth sent by God and he knows it from the beginning of the story, but there are two
peripeteia-s in the Bible. Those are the stories when Elijah performs miracles in
Zarephath and followed by other characters’ acknowledgement (1 Kings 17, 2016).
The Aristotle’s elements are complete in the Coelho’s novel. The events
which are encountered by Elijah bring a major role to his presence, while the
absence of hamartia and anagnorisis in the Bible becomes the fact that the Bible
does not consist of sufficient elements of plot to analyse. The two peripeteia-s
becomes a significant point to show that the Bible wants to emphasize the miracle
as its core.
The analysis about the structure of the story of The Fifth Mountain and the
Book of 1 Kings Chapter 17: 1-24 is classified by using Vladimir Propp’s thirty
-one 'functions.' The stories are identified by using those functions. It is very
important to see how the miracles are seen from both stories.
According to Propp’s functions, the structure in the Book of 1 Kings 17:
1-24 starts when the misfortune or lack is made known; the hero is approached with
a request or command; he is allowed to go or he is dispatched. It happens when God
brings drought to Israel for several years as it is stated in the first verse (1 Kings 17,
2016). The drought or the misfortune stands as the starting point of the narrative
that leads to another narrative function.
The function goes when the hero leaves home. God commands Elijah to
leave Israel and go to the brook Cherith, which is in the east of the Jordan and stays
there for a period of time. Elijah drinks from the brook and the ravens deliver bread
25
The next event continues and the hero is transferred, delivered, or led to the
whereabouts of an object of search. After a while the brook is dried as God has told
Elijah before. God speaks to him to go to the Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon
and dwell there, where God has commanded a widow to feed Elijah (1 Kings 17,
2016).
The narrative keeps going and the hero is tested, interrogated, attacked, etc.,
which prepares the way for his receiving either a magical agent or helper. Elijah
meets a widow that is gathering sticks when he arrives at the gate of Zarephath. He
asks her for water and she gives him water, but she refuses to give to Elijah bread
when he asks for it. That widow tells him that she does not have anything left, only
a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. She gathers the sticks so that she
could make a bread for her son and herself for the last time and die. Even though
Elijah knows the condition, he tries to persuade her to make him the bread and give
a little piece of it to him first (1 Kings 17, 2016).
The story continues with the magical agent that is used by the hero. Elijah
tells the widow that she does not need to be panic for God has spoken to him that
He will keep the flour in the jar and the oil in the jug running until the day that He
sends rain on earth. The widow does what Elijah has said and it is true that the flour
and oil are multiplied. Elijah stays in her house and her household can survive for
many days (1 Kings 17, 2016). That is the first miracle according to the bible: the
The next two Propp’s functions come in inseparable order: the villain causes
harm or injury to a member of a family and the hero acquires the use of a magical
agent. The widow’s son becomes ill after Elijah stays in the house. The illness
becomes so severe and it leads to the boy’s death. She blames Elijah over her son’s
death because he was fine before Elijah’s arrival. It becomes an unfortunate event,
but it prepares Elijah to perform the second miracle. He takes the boy to the upper
chamber in the house. Elijah prays and cries three times to God so that He would
give the boy’s life back. After listening Elijah’s voice, God gives what Elijah asks.
The boy is back from the death. He lives again. Elijah takes him downstairs so that
the widow could see the miracle (1 Kings 17, 2016). That is the second miracle: the
resurrection of the widow’s son.
Finally, the task is resolved along with the widow’s final utterance at the
final verse of the chapter that shows her belief in God: 24 And the woman said to
Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in
your mouth is truth” (1 Kings 17, 2016).
The novel The Fifth Mountain by Paulo Coelho also has that kind of
Propp’s narrative function as well. In order to make an equal comparison, the
novel is also classified using Propp’s 'narrative functions.' However, they may
appear in a different order than the Bible. It begins when Misfortune or lack is
made known; the hero is approached with a request or command. It all starts when
Elijah receives a vision from God in his carpentry shop. He sets a task to Elijah
to remind King Ahab because the king worships a Phoenician god after marrying
27
always makes time to see his subjects. Then, Elijah tells King Ahab about his
vision that the king must stop worshiping the Phoenician god or there will be a
great drought upon Israel. Even though Elijah talks to the king, his eyes are fixed
to the queen because that Phoenician princess is now his queen. He never sees a
beautiful princess before. He knows that the queen also pays attention to him.
Elijah returns home after telling the king about his vision and thinks that his job
is done. By the morning, the king has ordered to capture all prophets in Israel who
refuse to worship Baal, the Phoenician god, but there is no option other than death
for Elijah (Coelho, 2004: 14-15). Jezebel knows that Elijah is a great threat for
her religion and he has to be eliminated. Now she is the queen of Israel, the wife
of King Ahab, and she has persuaded the king to capture all prophets and to kill
Elijah.
The stories continues and the hero leaves home. Elijah is forced to leave
Israel because of Jezebel’s threat. There is an archer, the greatest among King
Ahab’s infantry, that tries to shoot an arrow while Elijah tries to escape from
Israel. That archer misses his shoot and he stops because he thinks that God
protects Elijah. Elijah does not waste that opportunity and runs leaving the city.
He keeps running away from the city until he arrives at a bank of the rivulet of
Cherith (Coelho, 2004: 17-18). Elijah is ashamed for his cowardice but glad that
he is alive. He keeps thinking and reflecting about his experience during his time
there. Yesterday he was in his carpentry shop but that day he runs away from his
The next function comes when the hero is tested, interrogated, attacked,
etc., which prepares the way for his receiving either a magical agent or helper.
There is a crow comes every day and gives Elijah a piece of meat to eat. In the
morning Elijah pretends to be a crow and in the evening he pretends to be the moon
that both interrogate him. The crow asks who Elijah is and he answers that he is a
man that has found peace in the desert and he has known himself, but he cannot
give an answer when the moon asks the same question in the evening. It always
happens until one day Elijah answers the crow differently. He says that he is a
prophet in confident. He has heard God’s voice and banished because doing God’s
command. He knows that a man must go through many challenges to fulfil his
destiny (Coelho, 2004: 29-30). The crow and the moon stop asking him ever since
he gives that answer. This is the fact that Elijah has passed the test or the
interrogation.
The next two Propp’s narratve functions come in inseparable order: the hero
acquires the use of a magical agent and he is transferred or led to the whereabouts
of an object of his search. One day Elijah meets his guardian angel in his dream.
The guardian angel reminds Elijah that he must go to the brook of Cherith. Elijah
tells his guardian angel that he has done that command. Then his guardian angel
tells him to wake up because an angel of God is waiting to speak to him. Although
it is night, Elijah sees a great light. That is the angel of God. That angel tells him
that his task is to avenge God that is forsaken by the Israelis. Elijah is ready to go
back and destroy Jezebel, but the angel tells Elijah not to destroy anything until he
29
belong to Sidon, for God has ordered a widow to help him there (Coelho, 2004:
30-31). By the help of the angels, Elijah knows his next task. He is led to a widow
in Zarephath.
The narrative structure keeps going when the hero, unrecognized, arrives
in another country. In this case, Elijah arrives at Zarephath as a stranger in a strange
land as the angel’s guidance. Zarephath is also known as Akbar by the locals. He
meets a widow that is gathering woods as he enters the city (Coelho, 2004: 32). It
is just like what the angel has said: there is a widow in Zarephath to help him.
The event goes when a misfortune is made known; the hero is approached
with a request or command. Elijah lives in the widow’s house in Akbar. That
widow has a son, her only son that lives in that house too. One day, the boy
becomes sick after Elijah’s arrival. He cannot stand, nor recognize people who
come to visit him. The high priest comes to the house for two weeks to give the
boy herbal poultices. The women of Akbar also come to the Fifth Mountain to offer
a sacrifices so that the boy’s soul wouldn’t leave his body. One day the boy wants
to go outside and he is accompanied by his mother and Elijah. After a few steps,
he falls on the floor. The boy is dead (Coelho, 2004: 45-47). The death of the boy
is the misfortune that leads Elijah to the next development.
The narrative function continues when a difficult task is proposed to the
hero. The Phoenicians believe that their gods live on the top of the Fifth Mountain
and they strike whoever tries to climb that mountain with lightning as punishment.
Because of the death of the widow’s son, Elijah is forced to climb up the Fifth
him with lightning. If the gods don’t strike Elijah, the people would execute him
by the morning. His head would be removed from his body and his heart would be
removed from his breast. He is scared to be executed because according to ancient
beliefs, a man without a heart could not enter the paradise. He asks God for help
but nothing happens at that time (Coelho, 2004: 49). Climbing the mountain
becomes the difficult task that is proposed to Elijah.
The next event comes when Elijah, as the hero, finishes the difficult task.
He enters the forbidden terrain and begins to climb the slope of the Fifth Mountain.
He keeps climbing until he cannot hear the sound of the people behind him. He
walks a bit farther until he enters the mountain top. He thinks to run away but he
is afraid if the curse follows him. Elijah sits on the rock while he decides to go back
to Akbar (Coelho, 2004: 51-52). He finishes his task to climb the Fifth Mountain.
However, there’s nothing happens when he arrives at the top of the mountain. He
does not get struck by the lightning. Nothing happens.
The next narrative function goes when the hero is tested, interrogated,
attacked, etc., which prepares the way for his receiving either a magical agent or
helper. Elijah stays for a while at the top of the Fifth Mountain. He sees the scenery
of Akbar from distance and dwells on his past. Now he accepts himself as a failed
prophet and God needs someone else to continue His work. Suddenly there is a
light from the sky. Instead of being struck by lightning on the top of Fifth
Mountain, Elijah meets an angel that that gives him instructions. The angel
commands Elijah to return to the Akbar and pray three times for the boy to come
31
is for the grandeur of God. This is Elijah’s task and he must not question it because
no one can doubt God’s plan (Coelho, 2004: 52-53). Elijah is interrogated by the
angel who prepares Elijah performing the miracle.
The next Propp’s function in the story is that the hero acquires the use of a
magical agent. Elijah comes down from the mountain to resurrect the widow’s son
and does what the angel has commanded. Elijah tells the guard that has waited for
him that he must go to the widow’s house and ask for her forgiveness. Despite all
of his guilt, doubts, and fear, Elijah takes the boy’s body from his mother’s arm
and goes to a chamber upstairs. He prays and cries to God so that He makes the
boy lives again. Three times he prays and nothing happens. His mind travels to his
past where he was only a carpenter in Israel. He believes that something happens
for a reason. It is then that the boy opens his eyes. The boy tells him that he had a
strange dream but Elijah awoke him from that dream. Then Elijah takes the boy
downstairs to meet his mother (Coelho, 2004: 56-58).
The story continues with the recognition of the hero. There are already so
many people in the widow’s house when Elijah takes the boy downstairs. The
widow takes her son in her arm. She is fulfilled with joy. After experiencing that
miracle, the widow throws herself on her knees and believes that Elijah is a man
of God. The people who gather in the widow’s house cannot believe by what they
see. One by one, they also kneel before Elijah (Coelho, 2004: 58). It happens when
people of Akbar knows that Elijah has resurrected the widow’s boy and all of them
The next function comes when the hero is tested, interrogated, etc., which
prepares the way for his receiving either a magical agent or helper. Akbar is
surrounded by Assyrian army at that time. They want to have Akbar in possession.
Elijah sees that this event can bring chaos to the city, so he prays to God. An angel
of God comes before him. The angel instructs Elijah to gather people to the
mountain. He must make two altars with bullocks on the top; one altar is meant for
God and the other for Baal. Elijah must tell the Phoenician to call their god to
come forth and take the offering, but nothing will happen. After that, Elijah must
call upon the Lord of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and ask Him to receive the
sacrifice. However, that miracle can only happen once. Elijah must choose to use
it whether to avoid the battle for Akbar or free the Israelis from Jezebel. (Coelho,
2004: 124-125). Again, the arrival of God’s angel before Elijah is to help him
preparing a miracle. He must choose where to perform this miracle for it can only
happen once.
The next narrative function is that the villain causes harm or injury to a
member of a family. Elijah decides to use the miracle in Israel, so there is a war in
Akbar. The Assyrian army attacks the city during the night. They break through
every house and kill the people who live in it. Elijah is awoken from his sleep and
taken by force by the soldiers. He does not have a chance to check whether the
widow or her son are alive or not. Now he is out from the house. Elijah is there
when he sees the widow, whom he finally loves, is burnt alive in the house. The
33
by watching the widow dies. (Coelho, 2004: 158). This is the moment where harm
or injury is done to a member of a family.
The story keeps going when the hero is transferred to whereabouts of an
object of search. The Assyrians don’t kill Elijah because they think that he would
only become a burden. Then the soldiers leave Akbar because their true target is
Sidon and Akbar’s location is just before that city. Elijah meets the widow’s son
who also survived from the attack. The boy becomes the widow’s legacy for Elijah.
He is determined to take care of the boy. They walk together through the city. The
victims of the attack are countless. They go out of the city and walk to the valley
even though Elijah does not know a place to go (Coelho, 2004: 170). Elijah and
the boy are transferred to a place they don’t know yet. It is the process to
whereabouts of an object of search. The place that is referred in this function is a
shepherd’s house in a valley. The shepherd lives with his wife and two children
(Coelho, 2004: 176). They welcome Elijah and the boy in their house because there
is a law of hospitality. The law says that the host must welcome strangers is his/her
house so that he/she will also be welcomed in a stranger’s land.
The object of search that is referred in the previous function is Elijah’s
motivation in doing God’s will and be loyal to Him. The shepherd has seen so
many people on their way to Akbar. He tells Elijah that they are men without
purpose when the go to Akbar, but they return home with ardour and pride. There
are also some men that go back to their home with bags full of gold because Akbar
is a good for trading. The shepherd tells Elijah that those people achieve what they
life is a constant triumph. The shepherd’s words touch Elijah’s heart. Elijah realizes
the fact that it is not difficult to rebuild a life if he has the strength and
determination. The shepherd does not know Elijah’s past but he suggests him to
forget his past and start a new one. He also tells Elijah that there is a prophet in
Akbar who help him. The prophet is so powerful that he could bring back the dead.
The shepherd tells Elijah to go to him so that that prophet can help Elijah (Coelho,
2004: 180-181). After hearing those words, Elijah knows that he needs nobody but
himself to move on. The shepherd helps Elijah to rediscover that motivation.
The development of narrative function continues when the hero returns
home. Elijah decides to go to Akbar after staying in the shepherd’s house for two
days. He can see Akbar from distance. He is not strong enough to see the destroyed
city. He closes his eyes and asks the boy to guide him into the city. Elijah has asked
the boy to rebuild Akbar if he dies on the way into the city. His mind travels as he
walks. He knows that this battle is not between Assyrians and Phoenicians. This
battle is between him and God. He asks God to kill him now because Elijah would
destroy God’s plan if he opens his eyes. He is determined to rebuild the destroyed
Akbar. He wouldn’t let God destroys Akbar as God has killed the widow (Coelho,
2004: 185-186).
The next narrative function is difficult task is proposed to the hero. Elijah
know that he and Akbar are similar. But just like the city, his task is no yet
completed. God has told Elijah to remove Jezebel but He ignores and sends him
away from his homeland. God has forgotten Elijah. He must do things by his own
35
would always be with them. She has gone and united with the city. She is Akbar.
Elijah must help her recover her beauty (Coelho, 2004: 189). It becomes the new
difficult mission for Elijah to rebuild Akbar, which is already destroyed completely
by the Assyrians, as an act of protest to God.
The next development comes when the difficult task to rebuild Akbar is
finally done. In rebuilding the city, Elijah gathers all the survivors. He put them in
groups according to their capability: the men rebuild the houses, temple, and city
wall; the women collect food and treat the sick people; the children study the
alphabets and write what Akbar’s has been through in clay tablet so the people will
not forget it. Elijah goes to the high temple when the city is rebuilt. He sees the
Akbar from above, the great city of Akbar. The city is his lover, the widow. He is
proud for bringing back the beauty of his lover. He is one with his lover. He is one
with Akbar. Elijah realizes that he too is Akbar (Coelho, 2004: 226-227). The new
Akbar symbolizes the new Elijah. By rebuilding the city, Elijah also rebuild
himself.
The next two Propp’s narrative functions come in inseparable order. The
hero acquires the use of a magical agent and he is transferred or led to the
whereabouts of an object of his search. An angel of God comes to Elijah after he
has finished rebuilt the city. The angel tells Elijah to return to Israel to liberate his
people from Jezebel. Elijah refuses the angel’s command, then the angel says that
Elijah must return to Israel and apply what he has learnt in Akbar to rebuild Israel.
Elijah does not want to leave Akbar, but he knows that Akbar can survive without
leave Akbar and go to Israel. Therefore he leaves the city at night when all people
is asleep. Without looking back, he goes Israel (Coelho, 2004: 240).
The classification of narrative functions from the Book of 1 Kings 17 and
the novel are very essential for the analysis. They are put in a table in order to
simplify and to compare the order of narrative functions in both literary works as
15
Propp’s theory of narratology, it can be seen that The Fifth Mountain and the Book
of 1 Kings 17: 1-24 do not share the same order, yet they have some similarities. It
is very clear that the novel and the Book of 1 Kings Chapter 17: 1-24 share some
similar functions. They start with the same function: the misfortune is made known
which makes the hero (Elijah) approaches his task or command. The misfortune in
the Book of 1 Kings 17 is the drought sent by God, while in the novel, the
misfortune happens when Elijah tells King Ahab about his vision that leads to a
mass execution of Israelite prophets.
The second narrative function that appears in both literary works are also
similar: the hero leaves home. The Book of 1 Kings 17 tells that Elijah leaves Israel
to do God’s will.Elijah is displayed as an obedient servant that obeys God’s will
and he does not ask the reason why he has to go. God himself is considered as a
‘magical helper’ who helps Elijah in accomplishing his task that becomes the focus
in further structure, while the magical actions refer to the miracles done by Elijah.
The novel also tells the same sequence where Elijah leaves Israel, however the
reason is different. He has to leave his hometown because he is chased by king’s
soldier. God has spoken to him and made him to go to King Ahab as a messenger