We all may regard Jesus Christ as being a single, unique entity. However, his traits can be found in many other people. In Chapter 14 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster reveals to us how many characters in literature can be seen as a sort of figure of Christ as well as lists some average characteristics of him that could be found in other characters.
Foster begins this chapter by clearly establishing that because we live in a culture founded on Christianity and still somewhat represented by that today, it should not come as a huge surprise to one that Christian allegories are present in literature and other media. He elaborates to say that not all of us are Christian, but that due to the prevalence of Christian themes in literature, it is something extremely important for one to know. Foster then creates a large list which contains possible elements of Jesus that the person may have. These elements however are more literal with Jesus. They do not necessarily represent the sides of light and dark or Christianity as a whole all together, but instead rather focus on Christ himself. These include traits such as being at least thirty-three or being a carpenter. It was intriguing to me that Foster was focusing on such literal parts of Christ rather than simple attributes like “being innocent or unselfish.” Continuing on, Foster is able to create a very clever analogy that I was not able to figure out the main idea of until the very end when he explained it. It follows an old man and his parables that represent Christ’s story. This later turns out to be similar to a book Ernest Hemingway wrote called The Old Man and the Sea, which is filled with Christian imagery, as Foster points out. Thankfully, he then elaborates on his viewpoint further to match what my prediction was. This common Christ figure in literature does not have to be male, thirty-three or unambiguous. The literal elements of Christ like turning water into wine are not usually found in literature. Nothing can ever be as pure and perfect as Christ without being Christ himself. And that is why he is so unique. Foster opened my eyes yet again with this chapter. It is a very odd and complicated concept. Christ and his death and resurrection is indeed quite a remarkable story, one that nearly everybody knows. But some people restrict that story into just happening in its story, not realizing that in happens in media all the time.
I can easily relate this to a character in one of my favorite film franchises of all time, Star Wars. In Episode I, there is a character named Qui-Gon Jinn played by Liam Neeson. It was not until many times after I had seen this movie that I understood the Christian symbolism within him. First of all, he literally looks like Jesus with his hairstyle and looks. He is also a Jedi Master and the Jedi in Star Wars are very peaceful people who fight for the light side of the force and against the dark. Qui-Gon i very kind to everyone throughout there movie and never shows anger even towards the enemy. He works very well with children too, as evidenced with his relationship with Anakin. In addition, in the middle and near the end of the movie he has a duel with Darth Maul. Maul’s race is of the Zabrak, which have many black and red tattoos and horns. This gives him an appearance very reminiscent of the devil. And in the end, Qui-Gon sacrifices himself and is killed by Maul. You can almost feel the Christian symbolism in the air.
It is true about what they say in church. You can see Christ in many people, especially when these people happen to be characters created by writers. It all follow such a familiar story that we all know. And before you ask the question of if the character is supposed to be some sort of form of Christ, yes they are.
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