The Female Prophet and Religious Re-visioning in Marilynne Robinson’s Lila

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Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. See “Fictive Kinship in Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead” by N. Ghosal and S. Chatterjee for a vigorous discussion on ancient Christian kinship ties and communal bonds in Calvinistic theology vis-à-vis Marilynne Robinson’s artistic temperament.

2. Prophet is nabi in Hebrew with a verb form naba which means “to call, to announce” (Heschel 518). A nabi therefore is one who is ‘called’ or appointed by God; and a female prophet is often referred to as a nebiah. This essay suggests that Lila belongs to the tradition of women who are God ordained, but functions outside the conventions of the church.

3. Authorized King James Version, Ezek. 16:6

4. Michel Foucault defines the pastoral power as “an old power technique which originated in the Christian institutions” (“The Subject and Power” 213), and states that this power is possible only because Christianity organized itself as a Church which in turn was accorded “a very special form of power” (214). This power promises salvation for its subjects in the afterlife, and as opposed to other forms of power (such as royal power) pastoral power is prepared to sacrifice itself for its flock, it is focused on the individual’s life and not the community as a whole; and finally, this power stems from an intimate knowledge of the people’s minds (214–216). Pastoral power according to Foucault “implies a knowledge of the conscience and an ability to direct it” (214). In Lila, Ames clearly wields this power over his congregation, which proves to be dangerous since he is himself ignorant of many experiential realities and through his ignorance unknowingly participates in/encourages Gilead’s intolerance toward race, class, and gender, among others.