Approach of the Study
truth sent by God and he knows it from the beginning of the story, but there are two
peripeteia-
s in the Bible. Those are the stories when Elijah performs miracles in Zarephath and followed by other character
s’ acknowledgement 1 Kings 17, 2016. The Aristotle’s elements are complete in the Coelho’s novel. The events
which are encountered by Elijah bring a major role to his presence, while the absence of
hamartia
and
anagnorisis
in the Bible becomes the fact that the Bible does not consist of sufficient elements of plot to analyse. The two
peripeteia-
s becomes a significant point to show that the Bible wants to emphasize the miracle
as its core. The analysis about the structure of the story of
The Fifth Mountain
and the Book of 1 Kings Chapter 17: 1-
24 is classified by using Vladimir Propp’s thirty- one functions. The stories are identified by using those functions. It is very
important to see how the miracles are seen from both stories. According to Propp’s functions, the structure in the Book of 1 Kings 17: 1-
24 starts when the misfortune or lack is made known; the hero is approached with a request or command; he is allowed to go or he is dispatched. It happens when God
brings drought to Israel for several years as it is stated in the first verse 1 Kings 17, 2016. The drought or the misfortune stands as the starting point of the narrative
that leads to another narrative function. The function goes when the hero leaves home. God commands Elijah to
leave Israel and go to the brook Cherith, which is in the east of the Jordan and stays there for a period of time. Elijah drinks from the brook and the ravens deliver bread
and meat for him every day 1 Kings 17, 2016.
The next event continues and the hero is transferred, delivered, or led to the whereabouts of an object of search. After a while the brook is dried as God has told
Elijah before. God speaks to him to go to the Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon and dwell there, where God has commanded a widow to feed Elijah 1 Kings 17,
2016
. The narrative keeps going and the hero is tested, interrogated, attacked, etc.,
which prepares the way for his receiving either a magical agent or helper. Elijah meets a widow that is gathering sticks when he arrives at the gate of Zarephath. He
asks her for water and she gives him water, but she refuses to give to Elijah bread when he asks for it. That widow tells him that she does not have anything left, only
a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. She gathers the sticks so that she could make a bread for her son and herself for the last time and die. Even though
Elijah knows the condition, he tries to persuade her to make him the bread and give a little piece of it to him first 1 Kings 17,
2016
. The story continues with the magical agent that is used by the hero. Elijah
tells the widow that she does not need to be panic for God has spoken to him that He will keep the flour in the jar and the oil in the jug running until the day that He
sends rain on earth. The widow does what Elijah has said and it is true that the flour and oil are multiplied. Elijah stays in her house and her household can survive for
many days 1 Kings 17,
2016
. That is the first miracle according to the bible: the multiplication of the bread and oil in the widow’s house for a period of time.