37 return to Israel, to go back to work as a carpenter, to travel to Greece to
learn the thoughts of wise men, or to journey with the Phoenician navigators to the lands across the sea. 184-185
On the journey to the ruined city of Akbar, Elijah demands the silence. He
wants to clear his mind from everything that has already occurred in the past. Yet, he is ready when the fire from heaven strikes and kills him at a moment. His mind
is free from everything. He felt silent. He emptied his mind and waited for death. For a long time
he concentrated on nothing beyond the sound of his footsteps in the sand; he did not want to hear the voices of angels or threats from heaven. His
heart was free, and no longer did he fear what might befall him. 187
By the end of the story, Elijah would like to have a new name. It is a name that gives him a strong feeling about his mission of life. It is not something that is
given by his parents or any other people, but a new name that truly reflects the goal of his life. Further, he chooses Liberation as his new name. Also, he asks
people in Akbar to determine to what kind of name they will use to inspire their future life.
Each one has a name from birth but must learn to baptize his life with the word he has chosen to give meaning to that life. At that moment he
named his life Liberation. Elijah rose and prayed, “I fought Thee, Lord and I am not ashamed. And because of it I discovered that I am on my
path because such is my wish, not because it was imposed on me by my father and mother, by customs of my country, or even by Thee. 205-206
8. Depressed
At the very beginning of his task, Elijah should accept that his soul is in danger. Queen Jezebel orders her soldiers to kill him and he feels left all alone.
Everything changes so bad and goes wrong after all. Whatever he had done in the past now lay in ruins – merely because he
had elected to carry out the Lord’s will. Tomorrow, and in the days,
38 weeks, and months to come, the traders from Lebanon would knock on his
door and someone would tell them the owner had fled, leaving behind a trail of innocent prophets’ deaths. 18-19
After Elijah follows his destiny to be a prophet, many unfortunate events come. Although some moments do not happen to his own life, but some people
around him like the Levite or the widow from Akbar end their life because of him. Sometimes Elijah feels so depressed that his talent as a prophet does not bring any
grace for everybody, which is according to Little Elijah is characterized as a person who sometimes fails to develop during the course of the story. Therefore,
the root of his depression is on his own failure. He regretted his decision and blamed himself for the death of yet another
man. If he had accepted the idea of the Council of Akbar meeting in secret, the governor could have taken Elijah with him; then it would have
been the two of them against the high priest and the commander” 112
Very often, Elijah feels so disheartened in carrying out the mission to destroy Queen Jezebel. All the things that he has done do not lead him in the right
path. Even, it brings misfortunes to another people, just like people in Akbar. He often gives up and becomes desolate.
Even if it comes to pass, I have doubted myself. I am no longer worthy of my task,” answered Elijah. “Every man hath the right to doubt his task,
and to forsake it from time to time; but what he must not do is forget it. Whoever doubteth not himself is unworthy – for in his unquestioning
belief in his ability, he commieth the sin of pride. 53 Submitting to the Lord’s demands, Elijah sometimes feels so confused.
Unlike any other people who are thankful for their talents, Elijah bitterly regrets that he has the ability to hear the voice of the Lord or of His angels. He truly does
39 not understand why the Lord demands him to stay rather than ask him to return to
his own country and destroy Queen Jezebel. He too was a person like all the others, and in this moment walking
through the valley he wished above all else never to have heard the voice of the Lord or of His angels. But life is made not of desires but of the acts
of each person. He recalled that several times in the past he had tried to renounce his mission, but he was still there, in the middle of that valley,
because this the Lord had demanded. 113
Finally, the battle comes. It happens when people in Akbar still sleep at night. Elijah suffers from such a great lose because the widow who he loves died
on that sudden attack. Yet, people in Akbar accuse him for bringing this misfortune. A group of people who see him on the street struck his body and
insists him to leave the city. Everybody puts the blame on Elijah. Elijah does not know what to do next, he feels extremely down.
The group withdrew. Elijah did not have the strength to rise to his feet. When he recovered from the same, he had ceased to be the same man. He
desired neither to die nor to go on living. He desired nothing: he possessed no love, no hate, no faith. 172
The climax of his desolate feeling, he decides to work by his own. Elijah thinks that God has left him all alone. Therefore, Elijah wants to revenge and
proves that he can build his life again from the ruins. First, however, he must avenge himself. He had dedicated the best years of
his youth to an unheeding God who was constantly giving commands and always did things in His own fashion. But his loyalty had been rewarded
by abandonment, his dedication had been ignored, his efforts to comply with the Supreme Being’s will had led to the death of the only woman he
had ever loved 185
40
B. The Christian Values Revealed in The Fifth Mountain
