Gibran's The Prophet is a strange work at first, as it seems to tell a story, but is really like the Tao te Ching, a series of meditations, or sermons, on various roles and relationships in life. Read through them slowly and don't worry about getting the overall story or even catching every metaphor. Just underline the ideas and sayings that grab you--and keep your ear open for phrases or ideas you might have heard before, some of which Gibran himself made popular.
Answer TWO of the following:
Q1: The Prophet is in part an allegory, which "is a narrative fiction in which the agents and actions, and sometimes the setting as well, are contrived to make coherent sense on the “literal” or primary, level of signification, and at the same time to signify a second, correlated order of agents, concepts, and events” (Abrams). In other words, it's an extended metaphor that works on two levels--the surface level, and the deeper level. What do you think the metaphor of the man leaving the city he's spent 12 years in for the ship from the land of his birth represents? What was he doing in the city? And why don't they want him to leave?
Q2: In speaking of love, the Prophet says that you should follow love, though "the sword hidden among its pinions may wound you," and "his voice may shatter your dreams." Why do you think he makes love sound so forbidding and desperate? And how might this relate to his thoughts on Marriage: "Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup...eat not from the same loaf"?
Q3: His advice on Children and Giving seems to echo many sentiments that we read in the Tao te Ching: what specifically here reminds you of the earlier work? Why might Children not truly belong to us, and giving not done in the spirit of giving be worthless?
Q4: One of Gibran's most famous sayings is, "Work is love made visible." What do you think this means? How is all work sacred, and why is it important to do work as if to benefit "your beloved"?
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