Gilgamesh And Book Of Job Comparison Essay

Although Star Wars, Gilgamesh and The Book of Job were all written at different times and have different story lines, they each share a few common archetypes. One of the most prevalent archetypes in all three is that of a wise man. In Star Wars the role of the wise man could fall on either Obi Wan Kenobi or Yoda. Obi Wan could also be considered Luke Skywalker’s mentor as he is constantly giving Luke advice and guidance throughout Star Wars even after his death. Obi Wan also provides Luke with the necessary training and tools to fight Darth Vader. In Gilgamesh, I consider Utnapishtim as the wise man. Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh to give up his search for immortality. Instead, Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh about a plant to make him young again. In The Book of Job there is less of a clear-cut wise man but the role could fall on Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. The three friends try to explain to Job why is it Job is in a period of misfortune. On the surface it seems that the wise men are all the same. They all give advice and seem to have wisdom. However, they actually have a few key differences. One is that while Obi Wan and Utnapishtim are trying to help, the wise men in The Book of Job (Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar) were actually part of Satan’s plans to try and destroy Job. Another key difference is that while Eliphaz, …show more content…
I had never read it before this class, but while reading I couldn’t help but make a comparison to a fable because of the important lessons contained within each. One of the important lessons I took from it was that humans are all mortal and our death is unavoidable. I linked this to what my mother used to tell me when I was young. She always used to tell me that it is simply a waste of our time to think about death; instead we should be living every day to the fullest and taking advantage of the time we have left. I think, in the end, Gilgamesh realized this and became a better ruler because of