A Furnace Inside

With the presentation date coming closer everyday, I prepared for my group meeting by reading the Fourth Variation: The Furnace in Frye's book. At first I was a little overwhelmed, mostly by all the allusions he makes to numerous texts. I had a hard time following his train of thought as he referenced a diverse amount of works. So initially I skipped to the second section of the chapter where he begins to talk about the imagery related to the furnace. He characterizes it as having two different qualities a one and a negative one. I agreed with this notion because as I see it a fire can be both destructive and creative. The positive image of the furnace he illustrates to be, "purgatorial, a crucible from which the redeemed emerge purified like metal in a smelting operation." The negative is, "the traditional hell which is a furnace of heat without light." I think that both of these sides of the furnace can be analyzed in the light of Job. Arguably like metal, Job had to experience the heat and pain of the furnace in order to emerge as a purified person. I think that the positive is that he learned about God's ways and became a more humble person as such. And yes I do think that the negative is essential to this transformation. Job was able to experience the light in a more profound way because he was deprived of it for so long. So like a hot piece of metal being taken out of the darkness of the furnace so Job is taken out of his suffering by God and shown the light.