Week 6 Story: Be Thankful
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| Zuckerburg Smiling: Source |
I added this to my portfolio, check it out here
Story source: Folklore of the Holy Land: Moslem, Christian, and Jewish: Job and his Family by J. E. Hanauer (1907).
Be Thankful:
A man named Mark was a very successful tech giant in 2021. He had created multiple start-ups and was known as the face of Silicon Valley for a long time. His biggest social media platform was Facebook and it was a huge success. Mark had a very large family and had a very strong love for material things. He spent his money without thinking, making impulse purchasing a hobby.
Allah, who was Mark's god and god of the land. Took notice of Mark's love of material objects and lack of praise being given to his god. Therefore, he sought to test Mark's faith and gave him a horrid skin disease that smelled similar to rotten milk. All of Mark's assets were seized after being convicted of fraud.
Fortunately, the legal procedure was a very long process. Despite this, his skin disease was growing worse. His wife, Gina, took care of Mark through this hard time. Everyday they would praise Allah from their apartment. Allah took notice of this, but wanted to see how strong Mark's faith truly was.
Mark's children began to grow very sick and in a matter of months all passed away. Mark was devastated and confided in his wife explaining that he trusted in Allah's plan and was still thankful to be alive. He explained how no matter the circumstances, he would always trust his god.
Suddenly, Allah came and spoke to Mark and his wife. Allah explained how he was testing their faith to see how strong it really was. Mark and Gina began to weep and praise their god. Allah restored Mark's health and also brought his children back. In addition to this, Allah made Gina young and beautiful as she was in her younger days.
Mark eventually won the lawsuit and gained all of his assets back. It became clear to him how important his faith truly was. From that day forward Allah and his family always put Allah first. For they knew the importance of maintaining a relationship with him instead of praising material things.
Authors Note: I recreated the story with the same central theme and plot line. While the characters are different, I made a point to keep the same general story the same. I wanted to put a modern twist on the story to make it more understandable for the contemporary reader. I really enjoyed writing this and am looking forward to adding it in my Portfolio.
Hi Garrett!
ReplyDeleteI like that you took the classic story of Job and put a modern twist on it. I was surprised that you left out the devil in your retelling of the story! It made Allah seem kind of evil, testing Mark without any motives. I also feel like the devil tempting the wife in the story is also very integral to the plot. Have a great semester!
Hi Garrett,
ReplyDeleteInteresting story! The detail about the skin disease actually made me shudder, which was probably your intention. I'd have loved to hear a little more about the original story in the author's note since I'm not familiar with this one!
I like the way you've formatted this. The short paragraphs make it super readable.
Hey Garrett,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this story with us. Great job modernizing this story. Anytime you want to update an older story and add a modern twist I can be difficult to preserve the important parts of the original, but you did a great job of that! I’m looking forward to seeing what else you write this semester!
Best,
-JD
Hey Garrett,
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting and fitting that your main character is Mark. Facebook has certainly been in the middle of some chaos right now so it almost adds to the twist on the original story. I also like you choice to modernize it in general, it does relate the story more to our everyday lives. Your modernized story was an easy read also, because the reader is familiar with the character.
Garrett,
ReplyDeleteThis was so interesting and fun!! It was really fun to read a modern adaptation of such a classical story. What a great technique of using a character everyone is familiar with so you don't need to waste time with a big long introduction developing him. All the trials he went through in the middle really made the reader feel for him, since he isn't necessarily a bad person from how you describe him in the opening paragraphs. Great job writing this! Super straightforward and easy to read. Can't wait to read more of what you create!
Hey, Garrett!
ReplyDeleteThis was a fascinating read! Great job with retelling the story of Job--just one small comment: in the second paragraph it looks like the second sentence is supposed to be part of the first. Other than that, the story was perfect--what a great way to tell an old story in a modern way so that readers of today can better understand! Also, I found your choice to place the story in the future interesting--why did you chose to have events take place a year in the future? I am just curious! Either way, great work!