Abraham the Jew PDF: A Story of Faith, Friendship, and Conversion

Character of nobility: They have friendship and they work hard. They also believed in religion. Attitude of the common people: No common people. Abraham the Jew Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron...

Character of nobility: They have friendship and they work hard. They also believed in religion. Attitude of the common people: No common people. Abraham the Jew Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron Day 1 story 2 by Arcturus Jerome B. Gonzales Attitude of men towards love: SUMMARY In Paris, a wealthy merchant named Giannott attempts to persuade his equally wealthy and dear Jewish friend Abraham to convert into his religion as he believes the Jewish faith is devoid and in decline. PARIS 1348  CHARACTERS A s u c c e ss f u l A devout Jew Chr i st ia n m e rc h a n t. A highly successful Thin k s h ig h l y o f h i s businessman Jewis h fr ie n d Honest and upright A b r a h a m t h a t h e is Best friends w o rr i e d th a t with Giannotto Ab r a h a m ’ s f a it h Loves his faith but is will doom him. open minded Beli e v e s t h a t t h e with other concepts of Jewish religion is in different faiths. d e c l in e a n d s o h e Is willing to go to pla c e s it u p o n great lengths for the him s e lf to sa v e h is sake of his good friend friend. Giannotto. There once lived a Parisian merchant named Giannotto di Civignì who had a friend named Giannotto tried his best to Abraham, an equally convince Abraham to convert to successful merchant, who Christianity, in every chance is also a Jew. His that he could. He would friend’s religion is a always tell Abraham how point of contention. better the Christian faith is, Giannotto believes that and the more obstinate his friend, upright and Abraham gets, the more honest Abraham may be, emboldened Giannotto becomes is doomed as the Jewish with his goal. religion is in decline. PLOT  Abraham eventually conceded with a condition, that he himself must visit the Christian Holy land to see if the preachings that Giannotto boasts do hold true, and should his visit bear no such proof then he will return to Paris still as a Jew. Hypocrisy of the church Giannotto knew the widespread corruption of the higher clergy, and feared that Abraham’s visit will turn all his efforts of converting him into nothing. He attempted to convince Abraham that such a large journey would be pointless, but his friend was firm, and so he could only helplessly watch as Abraham prepare for a journey. PLOT  And so Abraham came to the holy land, and he was welcomed by the Jewish community. He withheld his true intentions, knowing that it would not be received well by his Jewish friends. And being the highly successful merchant that he is, he stayed and simply observed. PLOT  What he saw was what Giannotto feared he will would. Abraham witnessed the corruption of the clergy that rooted itself deep in the institution. The unrestrained power brought by religious positions invited temptations that came so easily as whores and little boys slip into the sodomitical clutches of bishops and priests. Faith became a currency, and the Jewish merchant easily saw through the guise of religious practices how it is exploited as a means of income, taking a coin from the devotees too blind for their faith. PLOT  Bearing all these in mind, Abraham returned home. PLOT Abraham returned to an anxious Giannotto waiting for him. He told him everything, from the malice, greed and many other sin that permeates in the institution. But Abraham, as open minded as he is, admits that despite the corrupt clergy’s efforts in destroying Christianity from its roots in the holy land itself, the Jew admits that Christianity itself is still flourishing and is far from being rooted in the evils he saw in the Holy Land. He concedes that the faith in the Holy Spirit is strong to have stood its ground and spread as far as it did. ENDING Happily, Giannotto brought his friend to be baptized, and so Abraham now became known as Giovanni. ENDING THEMES  “I saw... no holiness, no devotion, no good FAITH work or exemplary life... among the RELIGION clergy; instead, lust, avarice, gluttony, fraud, envy, pride.” Abraham the Jew The discourse of Faith vs Religion is in the center stage of the second story of day 1. Giovanni Boccaccio portrays how different religions are treated and while it is still possible for people of differing faiths to be best friends with how Giannotto and Abraham are to each other, the clear religious bias is still there; Giannotto took it upon himself to convince Abraham to convert to Christianity, as Giannotto believes that Abraham’s upright and honest moral character would be wasted in the Jewish Faith.  RACE AND CLASS In medieval times, Jewish people are a highly marginalized and stigmatized members of medieval society. The bible does not explicitly states that money lending is a sin, but Christians are highly discouraged to borrow money from other Christians. The Jews on the other hand, are more than willing to fill in the void of money-lending, further fostering the stereotype of the money grubbing Jew. This kind of racism is prevalent of the time the Decameron is set, but as shown in Giannott and Abraham’s friendship, this does not appear to be true. Each men recognize each other’s good character and wisdom, with the only point they ever disagree upon is the matter of religion. If Abraham, a highly successful Jewish businessman is having his faith be actively eroded by his Christian friend, imagine how the lesser fortunate Jewish people are treated in medieval society.  INTELLIGENCE Giannoto and Abraham are friends, despite their different racial and religious backgrounds. They recognize each other’s good character and allowed it to foster a good friendship with each other. For all Giannotto’s attempts to convert his friend, not once does his intentions come off as malicious. He genuinely believes he is saving his friend, and so his efforts are more borne out of a blind devotion to his faith and a genuine care for Abraham. Abraham understands Giannotto’s intentions but also understood the magnitude of changing something as big as his own faith. He was slowly being convinced by Giannotto’s attempts of showing the superiority of the Christian faith, but he only needed one final proof that whatever Giannotto is advertising holds water. Abraham is firm enough to stand on his faith, but open-minded enough to accept if there is a higher faith whose values he agrees enough that he considers converting into it. REFLECTION