Contemporary Novel

The Red Tent

Anita Diamant

In this book the main character Dinah is the only daughter out of twelve sons. She has four mothers who are all sisters and one father named Jacob. Her real mothers name is Leah, and her three aunts are Racheal, Zilpah, and Bilhah. In this book Dinah sets an example of what it means to be a quintessential American. She comes from a family that shares a man to have many sons and daughters. Dinah has beauty which comes from her mother Racheal, she gets her spirit and happiness from her other mother Zilpah, her shy and quiet side comes from her third mother Bilhah, and from her real mother Leah, she gets nothing. Leah is very outspoken and determined. She is the sister that stands up for herself and runs the household. Dinah as a child is a quiet and intelligent girl. She learns how to sew, cook, take care of children and be a midwife by watching her mothers in the red tent. As Dinah gets older however she finds herself wanting to leave her home and wanting to explore something new. She goes to Shechem where she is set up with Shalem and gets pregnant. When she returns home her brothers find out about this and kill Shalem and his whole city. Her brothers Siman and Levi thought that Shalem raped Dinah, although Dinah actually did have feelings for him so it causes Dinah to hate her family and run away.

The meaning of being a quintessential American is to overcome challenges and obstacles put in your life and to make the most out of them. Everyone has problems, tragedies and fears but not everyone can overcome them. To be a quintessential American you have to get through the problems, tragedies and fears. Dinah was brought up in an environment where she had a father, and his wives were all her aunts. She grew up with twelve sons and four mothers who were very diverse and different. After getting the father to her child murdered by her own brothers, and Shalems mother claiming Dinah's child as her own, Dinah overcame it and moved on. She met a great and respectable man named Benia that she fell in love with and married. She forgave her family and started one on her own. She grew up into a lovely young woman that resembled her own mother more than any of her others. She turned into a strong, independent quintessential American.