45 All the efforts Elijah does to rebuild the city does not only give benefits
for those who are still alive, Elijah hopes that the spirit of the widow will be pleased of the things he has done. Further, after he saw her that time, he raises the
prayer that the widow will always be in peace and happiness. You told me you were Akbar. Well, I have taken care of you, healed your
wounds, and now I return you to life. May you be happy among your new companions. Long since, the desert wind wiped away our footprints in the
sand. But at every second of my existence, I remember what happened, and you still walk in my dreams and in my reality. Thank you for having
crossed my path. 227
2. Faith
Elijah teaches people in Akbar that everything they demand must be fulfilled by the Lord. The secret is that they might never know how it can be.
Therefore Elijah asks them to be patient. People should not lose their faith as everything in this world will not happen just in an instance, which according to
Fowler that faith is very fundamental in someone’s life. Even to understand angels. We so want to talk with them that we don’t
listen to what they’re saying. It’s not easy to listen: in our prayers we always try to say where we have erred, and what we should like to happen
to us. But Lord already knows all of this, and sometimes asks us only to hear what the Universe is telling us. And to be patient 127
In the light of knowledge, Elijah tries to define the essence of the tragedy
for human existence on Earth. By struggling, Elijah learns to find out the purpose of the tragedy happened to his life. While other people choose to give up and end
up in despair, Elijah determines to confront Him. Elijah says that sometimes it is necessary to struggle with God. Sometimes tragedy enters to one’s life; it might
be the destruction of a city, the death of a son, an unproved accusation, and a sickness that left one lame forever. Struggle here, according to Fromm, means the
46 one’s experience with God who is considered as the highest value and the most
desirable good. At that moment, actually God challenges one to confront Him and answer
why one should cling to a very short existence that is filled with suffering. He or she is demanded to find out what the meaning of their struggle is. In searching the
meaning of the life, Elijah proposes that there are two types of man. There are those who do not know how to answer this question and will resign themselves,
and another one who sought a meaning to existence, feeling that God has been unjust, but will challenge his own destiny. 204
Told by the Lord’s angel, Elijah finally won God’s love. Elijah successfully undergoes what the Lord demands. Courageously, he chooses not to
give up and determine his actions so as to learn that tragedy, in the light of knowledge, is a challenge for personal development instead of a punishment.
Precisely, related to the development of the individual, Elijah can show what Cooke proposes that faith brings personal fulfillment in terms of maturity.
What makes God smile contentedly is that He desires that each person takes into his hands the responsibility for his own life. Elijah has already learnt
that He has given His children the greatest of all gifts. Those are the capacity to choose and determine their acts. According to Elijah, only those men and women
with the sacred flame in their hearts have the courage to confront Him. And they alone know the path back to His love, for they understand that tragedy is not
punishment but challenge. 204
47 Elijah experiences that his love for the Lord grows bigger after he
struggles with Him. He wants to show that he passed from His test. In the light of knowledge, God orders his obedience, but sometimes He wants people to find out
what He actually demands from them. Elijah perceives that his struggle with the Lord is the same as when people struggle with men and women whom they love
in their lifetimes. For it is that struggle with the divine that blesses them and makes them grow.
That is why, according to Fowler, faith is considered as unique. The practice of faith is infinitely varied among many other people. Here, the author of
this novel drew an analog between the struggle with the Lord and the struggle with men and women. In my opinion, it can be said that the relationship between
one with God is as close as between one with his or her beloved one. Even though Elijah experiences the unavoidable events, he should do his
duty by Him, by proving that he is able to obey the order to walk on. Sometimes, Elijah says, Lord demands people’s obedience. But there are moments in which
He wishes to test their will and challenges them to understand His love. 224-225 Based on what he has undergone, Elijah becomes a role model that people
should have the rational faith. It is faith built by the personal experience with God, instead of something that imposed by religious teaching or any other people’s
saying. His own destiny will be determined by his own ability. The similar thing is also suggested by Fromm. Instead of having the
irrational faith that is usually based on the acceptance of something as true only because an authority or the majority says so, Elijah chooses to define his own
48 faith that rooted in his own experience of thought or feeling to God. Therefore,
Elijah’s faith comes from his power of thought observation and judgment. But Lord was generous and had led him to the abyss of the unavoidable, to
show him that man must choose – and not accept his fate. 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. 206 Elijah will do everything in his way. It is his own choice to struggle
against the Lord. What is important for him now is to rebuild the ruined city of Akbar. Nevertheless, it is turned out that this opportunity leads him to reencounter
with Him. “It is to Thee, O Lord, that I would return at this moment. I wish to praise
Thee with the strength of my will and not with the cowardice of one who has not known how to choose another path. But for Thee to confide to me
Thy important mission, I must continue this battle against Thee, until Thou bless me,” To rebuild Akbar. What Elijah thought was a challenge to
God was, in truth, his reencounter with Him. 207 Elijah believes that he is so blessed to learn the meaning of the tragedy in
his life. His faith gives him an extra power to struggle and alter the suffering moments into the positive actions.
Rise and go on proving that thy struggle hath meaning, because thou hast known how to cross the current of the unavoidable. Many navigate it and
founder; others are swept to places for which they were not fated. But thou confrontest the crossing with dignity; thou hast guided the path of thy
vessel well and transformed pain into action. 207 By the end of the story, it is shown how Elijah’s faith can ultimately
triumph over all the tragedy. The essence of the tragedy has significantly drawn him nearer to the Almighty one. His confession to praise Him reveals that Elijah
lives by his rational faith. It is the fruit that he has possibly harvested from the
49 field of tragedy. Faith plays such a fundamental role in Elijah’s life. Before he
departs from the City of Akbar, Elijah has already reconciled with God. What he has been through so far really opens his eyes that God is all-powerful. Elijah
admits that He can do anything, and nothing is forbidden to Him. He knows, for if it were, there would exist someone more powerful than
He, to prevent His doing certain things. And if it so, Elijah would prefer to worship and reverse that more powerful someone. Still, because of His infinite
power, God chooses only to do Good. As a conclusion, Elijah teaches the people in Akbar that they shall see that often Good is disguised as Evil, but it goes on
being the Good, and is part of the plan that He created for humanity, 239-240
3. Hope
