The Book of Job in Migrant Justice Fiction

This article seeks to unpack how the Bible informs a contemporary narrative of migrant justice in terms of form and content by considering Julia Alvarez’s Afterlife (2020). The novel dwells on the ethics of engaging with undocumented residents in the United States. Its discussion on forgiveness and compassion is informed by literature of morality and wisdom literature in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. Alvarez uses “The Book of Job” to frame her novel and invites readers to reflect on the moral dilemma her fiction features. The main character is preoccupied with the central themes self-care and responsibility to the other. Here, I analyse Afterlife as a contemporary Joban narrative, also commenting on the structuring and characterization of the two texts and offering a brief overview of other literary afterlives of the Book of Job

Afterlife · Compassion · Dilemma · Economic Justice · Forgiveness · Morality · Narrative · Resentment · Theodicy · Christian Theology and Mission · Philosophy, Ethics, and Existentialism · Religion, Theology, History, Judaism, Christianity