The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare, 1962

To see one's loved ones taken away, tortured and killed can turn anyone into a rebel. Daniel vowed revenge after his father and uncle were carted away and publicly executed by the forces occupying his country. He is then sold to a master blacksmith so cruel that Daniel had to run to the mountains. Starved and barely conscious, he is rescued by the legendary robber, Rosh, who was rumored to be building an army so mighty, it would crush the invaders and free their people once more. Daniel grows up under Rosh's tutelage, and he sees his fighting skills and strength improve, even while the flames of his hate are fanned higher.

Then one day, through an old acquaintance, Daniel is pulled back to the village life from which he cannot escape - he is the only living relative of a sick younger sister. But he still believes in fighting for freedom and begins to recruit from the young, disillusioned men around him. They believe that their Lord is behind them and take their strength from a passage in their holy writings:

" - God is my strong refuge,
and has made my way safe.
He made my feet like hind's feet,
and set me secure on the heights.
He trains my hand for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze."

The group takes the Bow of Bronze to heart as only a man on whom the Lord bestows his righteousness and might may bend it.

In the meantime, a new leader is rising in the country. A carpenter speaking in the mountains, the market places, the fishing wharves - reaching to the common people in public places - is rallying people to a new cause. Is he the one that will rouse the people to fight against military oppression?

Disappointment is Daniel's when he learns that the new preacher's message is love and mercy. And yet he is attracted again and again to hear the man, even as his heart denies the message. Daniel is full of questions and doubts. He asks, Was it possible that only love can bend the bow of bronze? In the end, Daniel realizes that it is love and mercy that heals and strengthens.

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The novel could easily be about anti-Americanism in certain middle eastern nations and yet, Elizabeth George Speare's novel, published in 1961, is about the struggle in Palestine against their Roman conquerors. It is also about a young man, so steeped in hate since boyhood, and his struggle understand what is good for himself and for the people around him. Daniel's service to the renegade Rosh nearly cost him the life of his best friend. His hatred for all Romans nearly killed his only family - his sister.

Of all the Newbery medalists I've read, this one made me the most uncomfortable. I didn't want to be reading what seemed like a classic case of extreme fundamentalism - young men skulking in caves, plotting the downfall of an evil empire, justifying their acts through holy writings, sacrificing themselves in the struggle while at the same time hurting the cause and the people they aim to free.

This is not an easy read - not for the children and certainly not for their teachers nor parents. Teenagers may find it a hard slog, living in Daniel's brain, the hardships of his life, the pain he has suffered as a young men. It may seem that the reward of reading it is in seeing that love does conquer all and is the solution to life's problems. But I would disagree with that. The reward here is in the effort. It is in stepping into the sandals of people who see themselves as oppressed and peek into why they may engage in desperate acts of self-annihilation.

I do not know how a child living in Daniel's place would view this book. Love? Mercy? Let's see you feel that when you're an orphan and you're hungry and your sister is not getting the psychiatric care she needs. But for the children who are lucky enough to be born in the free world, seeing this life through the eyes of another may add to their wisdom and compassion.

I find my new prayer in Psalms 46:9. May the Lord make it so:

" He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
he burns the shields with fire."

The Bronze Bow

I certainly never expected to encounter among the Newberys a book of historical fiction where the main character meets Jesus!

Daniel is a young man growing up in Israel during the time of the Roman occupation. Daniel wants nothing more than to rid his land of the hated Roman legions. He joins a band of warriors who are preparing an army to go up against the Romans, but, in time, he sees that the hatred of the band against the Romans is not conquering them. He hears about a rabbi who goes from village to village, preaching love not hate, and he comes to meet up with Jesus and sees with his own eyes the power of love.

The Bronze Bow

The Bronze Bow awarded in 1962 to author Elizabeth George Speare was an excellent portrayal of Biblical times from a perspective we don't often consider. The main character, Daniel, is a young Jewish boy waiting for a great leader to rescue the Jewish homeland. His experiences and trials show a side of Jesus' ministry that is integral to the Biblical history of these times. To consider the daily life and agonies of the villagers occupied and often enslaved by the Roman legions was heartfelt and provacative. I found the following passage the most moving to me:

But Jesus said that the victory was God's promise. He called men to make ready their hearts and minds instead. Was it possible that only love could bend the bow of bronze? He sat trembling, glimpsing a new way that he would never see clearly or understand. We can never know, Simon had said. We have to choose, not knowing.

Isn't that really the heart of religion? We choose - we have faith without knowing. We will know all, but our hope and faith is our sustaining grace. When I worked with the Girl Scouts, I always told them that faith was at work when we took something that we percieved as really bad and recognized the good in the situation - seeing God's hand in the situation - accepting with faith that all will be well.

I also believe that this book would appeal to both boys and girls - the "band of brothers" fighting against the Romans for the boys and the love stories which are brief but significant in the story for the girls - no stereotypes intended. Overall, I really loved this book and felt that it brought some fullness to Biblical events. I suspect that this is a book I will read again.

Flusi

The Bronze Bow

I reread this book this past week; it had been a year or so since I'd read it and I recently ordered my own copy. (I've been buying a lot of the Newbery books I've read in the past that I've loved. I'm one of those people who likes to read the same books again and again--and while I adore the library, I like having my own copy of favorites!)

Daniel is a Jewish boy living at the time of Jesus, a boy whose father was killed by Roman soldiers, whose mother died soon after from grief, and whose sister was so affected by trauma that she has refused to leave the house for years. Daniel runs away to join a zealot leader, filled with hatred and with a burning desire to kill Romans. (That really doesn't give the story away--I promise!)

In the course of the story, Daniel meets Jesus and struggles to reconcile Jesus as Messiah with the zealous Messiah he's been waiting for. Love and hate, freedom and oppression, friends and enemies--Daniel grapples with all of these as the story--and he himself--develops toward completion and maturity.

I love historical, biblical fiction--and this book is no exception. Speare does a great job of setting the scene in a such a way that the places and people all come alive for the reader. She also does a superb job of showing Jesus from the perspective of a somewhat ordinary boy--a boy like many others who never show up in the pages of the Gospels.