Intertextuality Example: Jeff Buckley Hallelujah

Hallelujah: Verse 2 By: Jeff Buckley 

"well your faith was strong but you needed proof 
you saw her bathing on the roof 
her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you 
she tied you to her kitchen chair 
she broke your throne and she cut your hair 
and from your lips she drew the hallelujah "

This verse draws from two very famous Bible stories about strong powerful men who are weakened by their love for a woman. The First three lines are directly referring to the story of David and Bathsheba. David was the powerful king of Israel but one night of poor judgement, when he saw Bathsheba bathing on the roof and then slept with her would lead to his downfall and a sequence of poor decisions. The last three lines refer to the Story of Samson and Delilah. Samson had supernatural strength because he never cut his hair as a covenant with God, but he fell in love with Delilah and told her his secret. While he was sleeping she tethered him an shaved his head and when the philistines came his strength was gone and he was captured. 

Blue Highways: 1st Impressions

Although Blue Highways and Northern Lights share a common theme of travel and running away from the past into an unknown future, they are very different as far as writing styles. Northern Lights was written on a very personal level, we got to know the character: her personality, her quirks and her impulses, how her past effected her present and future. The book was continuous in plot all her adventures and stories tied together to form the story of her life. The Author allowed the reader to understand Clarissa at the deepest level and wasn’t afraid to be informal and person. Although most of the book focused on her trip to lapland it was all in the context of her life and story. Blue Highways on the other hand is very impersonal and is filled mostly with facts, history and detailed descriptions. William Least Heat-Moon only dedicates one page to himself and his history, this trip seems to be described independently of his life and story.  In many places I feel that it reads more like a textbook than a novel. In Northern Lights the Author kept the reader interested with unanswered questions and plot twists that wove the plot together. Blue highways, on the other hand, feels more like a compilation of short travel adventures, each could stand independently, each new day accompanied with new scenes, people and places but no real constants. I suppose the reason this bothers me so much is because I’m a relational person and I can’t relate with the idea of taking a road trip by myself and I hate the way every time he starts to get to know someone he leaves. My favorite part of novels is reading about maturing relationships between people and how these relationships effect their lives but since this novel is desperately lacking in this aspect in many ways it feels incomplete and shallow.