Moses, Man of the Mountain

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1939

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Author’s Introduction-Chapter 9

Chapters 10-19

Chapters 20-30

Chapters 31-40

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Themes

The Presence of God’s Power in Nature

Within the world of Moses, Man of the Mountain, the presence of God in nature is universally acknowledged. The Egyptians see gods in hawks, calves, and other wild animals. Jethro leads Moses to worship a god living on Mt. Sinai, and teaches him to identify God’s presence on the mountain. This link between God and nature forms an important thread connecting the religious experiences of characters of different backgrounds. Hurston’s introduction of Amram, the enslaved father of Aaron, Miriam, and perhaps Moses, is indicative of her thematic interest in the presence of God in nature. As Amram works under the “brilliant, cloudless, Egyptian sun” (12), his Egyptian overseer loudly praises “Horus, golden god! Lord of both horizons! The weaver of the beginning of things” (12). The inclusion of this prayer to the hawk-god Horus at the beginning of Hurston’s novel emphasizes the powerful presence of God in nature. For the Egyptians, the sun was a divine presence that had the power to begin the day and guide human activity. Repeated references to Horus throughout the novel (41, 51, 74, 180) provide evidence of the link between the presence of the divine and nature in the imagination of Hurston’s Egyptian characters.

Beyond Egypt, Jethro’s understanding of God also centers the divine presence in nature. Jethro explicitly identifies Mt. Sinai (also known as Mt. Horeb) as a “sacred mountain” (103) and tells Moses that “our people have worshipped on that mountain for many generations” (104). The fact that both Jethro and Moses initially refer to their god as “the god of the mountain” (106, 132, 139, 221) indicates that they both associate the divine presence with Mt. Sinai. Jethro encourages Moses to spend time with the god of the mountain to the extent that “he practically live[s] on the mountain, in the desert, beside streams, feeding his mind on Nature” (110). This education includes “the secrets of the plants and animals, and the living and the giving earth” (110); the narrative suggests that these secrets of the natural world help Moses to bring about the plagues and miracles that ultimately free the Hebrews from Egypt. Later, Moses has divine encounters with the god of the mountain in the form of natural phenomena, such as a burning bush, a cloud filled with lightning, and a blinding whirl of light. These natural manifestations of divine power point to the novel’s thematic interest in the presence of God in nature across many religious perspectives.

The Political Value of Storytelling

In Moses, Man of the Mountain, Hurston evidences the political value of storytelling in the longevity of rumor surrounding Moses’s Hebrew birth. When Miriam first claims to have seen her infant brother being taken up by the Pharaoh’s daughter, the story is heard by “believing ears” (40) and repeated by those desperate for any “Hebrew victory over Pharaoh” (40). Hurston’s narrative remains ambiguous about the veracity of Miriam’s story, but makes clear that the listening Hebrews “[do] not question too closely for proof. They wanted to believe, and they did” (40). Believing in the possibility of a Hebrew prince in the palace keeps the Hebrews “from feeling utterly vanquished by Pharoah” (40). This desperate belief in Moses’s Hebrew origins underscores the novel’s exploration of the political value of storytelling: Regardless of the truth, repeating the story of Pharaoh’s accidental adoption of a Hebrew prince serves as a small act of resistance. The story has political value for the enslaved Hebrews because it allows them to imagine a world in which one of their own has power in Egypt.

Later in the novel, Ta-Phar reappropriates the stories about Moses’s origin for very different political ends. When Moses calls for better treatment of the Hebrew people, Ta-Phar accuses Moses of “upholding those Hebrews and trying to put weapons in their hands” (66) because Moses is “one of them” (66). Ta-Phar resurrects the rumors about Moses’s birth in order to deflect his criticisms about Egypt’s treatment of the Hebrews and injure his reputation in the largely anti-Hebrew court. Ta-Phar’s reframing has the intended effect, and Moses is ostracized from court. Moses’s own wife rejects him, calling him a “Hebrew slave” (65). Ta-Phar uses the story of Moses’s Hebrew roots to damage his reputation at court, supporting Ta-Phar’s political goals.

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When Moses returns to Egypt, he also takes advantage of the legend of his Hebrew birth in order to gain political favor with the Hebrews, whom he has been called to lead out of Egypt. Moses is initially reluctant to acknowledge the legend, but “Jethro persuade[s] him that the connection might be useful down in Egypt” (127) and that Moses “[can] make the old legend serve him” (128). Although he does not personally believe it to be true, Moses allows Miriam and Aaron to repeat the story of his Hebrew birth in order to endear him to the Hebrews. The repeated use of this story by the enslaved Hebrews, Ta-Phar, and Moses underscores the political value of storytelling.

Freedom as a Constant Struggle

The ongoing struggles of the Hebrew Exodus after leaving Egypt reflects an understanding of freedom as a constant, ongoing struggle, rather than a single moment of emancipation. Within the context of Hurston’s political allegory, this theme speaks to the continued struggles of Black Americans and the descendants of enslaved Africans to escape oppression and fight for justice and equality in the United States in the early 20th century. At multiple points in the novel, the Hebrews resist the painful changes necessary to secure their freedom; Moses’s insistence that they push through this discomfort is evidence of his understanding of freedom as a constant struggle. When Moses tells the Hebrews that Ta-Phar has agreed to free them, they are overjoyed. However, some of the Hebrews resist Moses’s call for them to pack and leave Egypt, saying that “it’s too much like work and I just got free this morning” (171). This perspective suggests an understanding of freedom as an immediate change: Having been freed by Pharaoh, the Hebrews feel as if they are automatically and irrevocably freed. However, Moses knows that “tomorrow or the next day [Ta-Phar] will realize what he’s losing and send his army into Goshen to put [the Hebrews] back to work” (171). Moses understands that the Hebrews’ freedom is not guaranteed, and that they must sacrifice the comforts of their home and struggle in order to start a new life beyond Egypt.

The fact that the Hebrews have to earn their place in the promised land by wandering in the desert for 40 years further emphasizes the novel’s understanding of freedom as a constant struggle. Initially, the Hebrews are afraid to fight for their place in the promised land of Canaan because they believe it to be occupied by giants. As a result of their refusal, God calls for the Hebrews to wander the desert for 40 years until the current, fearful generation dies. It is only after 40 years of wandering that the “free and noble” (245) third generation finally earns the freedom of the promised land. This 40-year journey is a reflection of Hurston’s understanding of freedom as an ongoing struggle on the part of the oppressed. Within Hurston’s political allegory, the wandering in the desert may be interpreted as a reflection of the ongoing struggle of the descendants of enslaved Africans to achieve freedom and equality in the United States. Far from casting judgment on those oppressed for this struggle, the novel deftly highlights both the necessity and the challenges of continuing to fight even in the aftermath of personal and generational trauma.